Top News:
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Wagner to have Tommy John surgery — Mets closer has tear in MCL, expected to miss one year — NEW YORK — The pitcher the Mets put in charge of happy endings 2 1/2 years ago has come to an unhappy and premature ending for this season — perhaps for his career.
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New York Post:
AMAZIN'S STILL CAN WIN WITHOUT BILLY — SO now, it really does come down to team for the Mets. — Billy the Kid is shot, finished off by a left elbow that has turned to spaghetti. Billy Wagner gave the Mets all he had and now it's likely he has thrown the last pitch of his career.
Dan Graziano / New Jersey Online:Report: New York Mets' Billy Wagner to have surgery, could miss 2009 season
John Romano / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays have lost fighting spirit — BOSTON — Understand, there is no shame in being caught from behind by the Red Sox. — Boston has the bigger payroll and the greater pedigree, and most of the world has probably assumed the defending World Series champions would eventually end up on top of the American League East.
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Steve Buckley / Boston Herald:
Club calls up catcher George Kottaras for 1st big league stint — A little more than two years ago, the Red Sox [team stats] effectively announced they were conceding the 2006 season when they traded veteran left-hander David Wells to the San Diego Padres. — But now, as the 2008 Red Sox close …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Bill Chastain / MLB.com:
Rays see lead in AL East dwindle — Offense shut down at Fenway against dominant pitching — BOSTON — Monday night's game had a familiar theme when the Rays took yet another loss at Fenway Park. — The Red Sox took the game, 3-0, in front of a sellout crowd of 37,662 …
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Girardi will return in '09 — Steinbrenner: Manager will be back for second season — ANAHEIM — The Yankees appear likely to miss the postseason for the first time in more than a decade, but the club plans to retain Joe Girardi as manager for the 2009 season.
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Associated Press:
Yankees: Girardi ‘will be back’ as manager in '09 — TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees plan to retain Joe Girardi as manager next year. — “Joe will be back,” co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said Monday at the club's spring training complex. “He's done everything he could. That's the bottom line.”
Kat O'Brien / Newsday:
Pudge, Hunter fight in Yankees loss to Angels — ANAHEIM, Calif. - One veteran Yankee wondered aloud before Monday's game against the Angels if players had given up on the season. — But at least one player showed some fight - literally - in the Yankees' lopsided 12-1 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium in Anaheim last night.
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NY Daily News:
New home run apple at core of Mets' new ballpark — It looks like it will be a fresh apple rising after the Mets belt home runs at Citi Field. — The Mets had hoped to keep their intentions quiet for now about whether they would transfer the apple from Shea to their new stadium or commission a new one.
Discussion:
The 'Ropolitans
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Kevin Horan / MLB.com:
Phils prevail, trim Mets' NL East lead — Offense gives Blanton needed lift; Philly 1 1/2 games back — PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies' bats bailed out pitcher Joe Blanton after a rocky start, lifting Philadelphia to an 8-6 win over the Marlins on Monday night.
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Associated Press:
Giants' Lincecum pitches another gem to sink struggling D'backs — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tim Lincecum struck out nine, Bengie Molina hit a three-run homer and San Francisco sent the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks to their fourth straight defeat with a 6-2 victory Monday night.
Matthew Leach / MLB.com:
Pujols leaning toward elbow surgery — Slugger dealing with ligament tear since 2003 — ST. LOUIS — Slugger Albert Pujols told a local television station on Monday that he may be leaning toward undergoing Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery on his right elbow after the season ends.
Discussion:
It is about the money, stupid
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
At Current Pace, MLB Will Not Have Fifth Consecutive Attendance Record — Major League Baseball has enjoyed four straight seasons of record paid attendance, but at the current pace, the league will be coming in just below last year's record figure. — As of Saturday, Sept. 6 …
Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Torres has rough ninth in loss to Reds — Kendall, Hardy go deep; Bush solid in eight innings — MILWAUKEE — If Brewers manager Ned Yost did not feel comfortable with his team's hold of the National League Wild Card going into Monday's game, imagine how he felt afterward.
Associated Press:
Rain postpones Blue-Jays-White Sox — CHICAGO (AP) — Rain forced the postponement of Monday night's Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago White Sox's game. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader beginning at 1:05 Tuesday. — The four-game series that was to have started at U.S. Cellular …
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