Rays rout Red Sox 10-3, lead East by 2  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Baseball's feel-good story of the year is on the verge of getting even better.  —  The AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 10-3 Wednesday night, moving closer to their first playoff berth with another …

MLB reveals 2009 schedule  —  Next season features old rivalries, new parks and more  —  The 2009 Major League Baseball season: A late start and the probability of November baseball; two grand openings in New York, one grand re-opening in Kansas City and one farewell season in Minnesota …

postGame: Mets 9 Nationals 7  —  OK Mets Nation ... E-X-H-A-L-E ...  It was just another wild night of September baseball as the Mets (84-67) snapped their losing streak with a 9-7 win over the Nationals (57-95) in Washington, D.C.  —  For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., click here.

A-Rod passes Ruth for most 35 HR seasons  —  NEW YORK (AP)—Alex Rodriguez did his part to help make New York's final homestand at Yankee Stadium milestone week.  —  Rodriguez became the first player with 35 home runs and 100 RBIs in 12 seasons—one more than Babe Ruth …

Not Every Seat in the New Yankee Stadium Is a Winner  —  By this time next week, “Yankee Stadium” will no longer refer to the historic (if poorly remodeled) park on the south side of 161st Street in the Bronx, but the shiny, new palace currently being built across the street.

3 UP: Joba, Giambi/Abreu and Epstein  —  1. The Yankees are strongly weighing sending Joba Chamberlain to some form of extra pitching — likely either the Arizona Fall League or the Instructional League — as a way to further build his inning load this season to better prepare him to start in 2009, Hardball has learned.

Pirates Notebook: LaRoche, team face questions  —  Center fielder Nate McLouth attempts to corral a ball hit by Los Angeles' Casey Blake as it caroms off the wall last night at PNC Park.  Blake wound up with a triple — one of his three hits.  —  The Pirates face what some might …

Giambi's legacy with Yankees?  Generosity  —  It could be that Jason Giambi's finest hour as a Yankee didn't occur on the field, or in the dugout, or in front of a grand jury in San Francisco.  —  No, Giambi, whose colorful Yankees tenure is very likely coming to an end after seven memorable seasons …

Firing line: Sources say Attanasio made call to can Yost … Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, not general manager Doug Melvin, is the one who made the call to can manager Ned Yost, multiple sources told SI.com  —  While the official word out of the Brewers camp was that the firing was a group effort …

M's Bedard could miss 6-9 months after surgery  —  KANSAS CITY — Given his general demeanor, Erik Bedard wasn't about to spend much of the past three months talking about his injuries.  He's not big on talking, and what would have been the point?  Bedard couldn't pitch, his left shoulder was sore and it wasn't getting better.

Offseason Outlook: Atlanta Braves  —  By Tim Dierkes [September 17 at 10:43pm CST]  —  Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Braves.  Here's how they set up for '09 using internal options only:  —  C - Brian McCann - $3.5MM  —  C - Clint Sammons - $400K  —  1B - Casey Kotchman - $1.45MM+

Ichiro ties MLB record for 200-hit seasons  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki matched Willie Keeler's major league record of eight straight 200-hit seasons Wednesday night, beating out on infield single in the eighth inning for his third hit against Kansas City.

Jeter on Cano and Clubhouse Decorum  —  Two days before Yankees Manager Joe Girardi pulled Robinson Cano from a game for not hustling after a deflected grounder, I asked Derek Jeter how much blame Girardi deserved for Cano's regression as a player.  —  Jeter said that managers get blamed …