A-Rod reaches a milestone of his own  —  New York (81-71) vs. Chicago (84-67), Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET  —  NEW YORK — It has been a homestand of milestones for the Yankees, who are bidding farewell to the storied Yankee Stadium by reaching a little history of their own.

Mets Survive Another Parade of Pitchers  —  WASHINGTON — Brandon Knight retreated to the clubhouse Wednesday night after pitching five innings and with the Mets leading the Nationals by five runs.  Six relievers had joined Knight as Manager Jerry Manuel emptied his bullpen at the same rate …

Schilling: Manny's antics disrespected teammates  —  The media called Manny Ramirez's quirks “Manny being Manny.”  Curt Schilling sees it differently.  —  In an interview Wednesday on Boston radio station WEEI-AM, the injured Boston Red Sox starter took his former teammate to task …

Sheets' elbow pain has lingered, not structural  —  Chicago - Even when something finally went right for the sagging Milwaukee Brewers, it came with a large dose of bad news.  —  The Brewers finally won a game Wednesday night, toppling the Chicago Cubs, 6-2, at Wrigley Field but might …

Ramirez talks Torre out of rest  —  Dodgers manager scraps plan to give slugger Thursday off  —  PITTSBURGH — Dodgers manager Joe Torre made a couple more lineup changes for Wednesday night's game with the Pirates and scrapped another one he planned for Thursday's getaway day game.

Likely there's a Sabean in Giants' future  —  (09-18) 04:00 PDT Phoenix — William Neukom will have many important items on his agenda when he becomes the Giants' managing general partner Oct. 1, but it appears his to-do list will not include a general manager search.

A Brian Cashman audit - and there's a live chat today  —  So I was watching The Show That Shall Not Be Named last week, and they were doing a bit, something like “The 5 Reasons Brian Cashman Shouldn't Be Brought Back.”  One of the reasons was Jaret Wright.  —  And as I am prone to do sometimes …

Drunk fan at Shea falls victim to fans' prank  —  If you are going to get drunk and pass out in a public place, Shea Stadium might not be the best place to do it.  —  One fan during the second game of a doubleheader in Queens learned this the hard way when he apparently passed out in his box seat …

TBS Announces Broadcast Teams for MLB Postseason  —  TBS announced today its broadcasting roster for its exclusive coverage of all four MLB League Division Series (LDS) and the American League Championship Series (ALCS).  The play-by-play voices for the ALDS and NLDS will be “Sunday MLB on TBS” …

Suns agree to be a Marlins affiliate  —  Bragan wanted a team with Florida ties after eight Dodgers seasons.  —  The Jacksonville Suns are expected to announce today that they have reached a two-year deal with the Florida Marlins to serve as that major-league team's Double-A affiliate, replacing fellow Southern League member Carolina.

Aybar leads way in Rays' rout  —  Three early homers chase Sox's Wakefield in series clincher  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Years from now, there's a good chance the Rays will look back on the just-completed series with the Red Sox and fondly remember how they made their bones.

CHANGE: GIRARDI'S MANTRA FOR 2009  —  YANKEE Stadium will not close its doors until Sunday night, but in many ways the 2009 season started last night with Phil Hughes back on the mound and Joe Girardi talking about learning from his experiences this season.  There is only one way to learn …

Moores reclaims active role with Padres  —  Personal issues have kept owner absent for much of season  —  SAN DIEGO — For those who may be wondering, John Moores intends to maintain his principal ownership of the Padres into “the foreseeable future” and have a significant impact …

Dodgers' Garciaparra may be able to play this weekend  —  Torre says the infielder did no additional damage to his knee Wednesday and might be out only a couple of days.  —  PITTSBURGH — Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra did not badly injure his left knee while stumbling on the basepaths …

Ramirez exits win with bad shoulder  —  NL East standings Team W-L Pct GB  —  Philadelphia 85-67 .559 -  —  New York 84-67 .556 1/2  —  Florida 79-72 .523 51/2 NL wild-card standings  —  New York 84-67 .556 -  —  Milwaukee 84-68 .553 1/2  —  Houston 80-71 .530 4  —  Florida 79-72 .523 5

Under The Knife  —  About halfway into the e-mail barrage that happened last night, reader Bobby Mueller fired this one off to me: “I'm guessing you're getting flooded with questions about Sheets.  I don't have a question, I just thought I'd mention that anyone who has Sheets on a fantasy team …

Indians, Columbus reach four-year, Triple-A deal  —  CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians are ready to make Columbus, Ohio, the club's top minor league affiliate.  —  The Indians said Thursday they have agreed to a four-deal with the Columbus Clippers, who begin play next season in a new $55 million ballpark.