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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Game 160: Yankees at Red Sox — YANKEES (87-72) — RED SOX (94-65) — Alfredo Aceves (1-0, 1.38) has never faced any of the Boston hitters. — Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80) vs. the New York hitters. — Notes: The Yankees have won seven of eight and 10 of their last 12. ...
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Kobrien / On the Yankees beat:
Rivera considering surgery — Mariano Rivera is back with the team, as we await official word for them to cancel this game. Seriously, it's torrential rain out there. I don't know why they haven't called it yet. Even if it stopped right now, the field would be too wet to play.
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Ken Davidoff's baseball …
George A. King III / New York Post:RIVERA TO HAVE MRI EXAM ON SHOULDER
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NY Daily News, The Bronx Block, My Pinstripes, Heartland Pinstripes, New Jersey Online, Newsday and The LoHud Yankees Blog
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:Cranky, cranky, everybody is cranky
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The Joy of Sox, MLB FanHouse, Mike Silva's NY Baseball …, New York Times, Sliding Into Home and Projo Sox Blog
Pat Borzi / New York Times:
Brewers Take Lead in Wild Card — MILWAUKEE — The last time the Chicago Cubs faced the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, on July 31, the capacity crowd was so full of Cubs fans that Chicago center fielder Jim Edmonds received a standing ovation after his second home run of the day.
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Associated Press
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Associated Press:
Sheets will toe mound for Brewers against Cubs — MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets will start Saturday against the Cubs despite a sore elbow that forced him to leave his last appearance on Sept. 17 against Chicago. — Sheets says he's ready to pitch and he feels like his arm is ready to let him return to the mound.
MLB.com:
Manuel unhappy with Phils' recent slip — Skipper calls meeting to convey importance of final games — PHILADELPHIA — Charlie Manuel was angry. He didn't say so, but words weren't necessary. — A lieutenant went to the message board in the players' den and scribbled: Meeting. Friday.
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Phillies Nation
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Associated Press:
Howard goes deep, Phillies edge closer to NL East title — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 48th homer, Joe Blanton pitched six effective innings and the Philadelphia Phillies moved closer to clinching the NL East title with an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
Mike Fitzpatrick / Associated Press:
Marlins put Mets' playoff hopes in peril — NEW YORK (AP)—It's all slipping away for the New York Mets again. — With a listless loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday night, New York relinquished control of its playoff fate. Now, the desperate Mets will start ace Johan Santana …
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The Musings and Prophecies …
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Geoff Baker / Mariners Blog:
Bedard: no labrum tear, could start season on-time — It looks like Erik Bedard is not as bad off as had initially been feared. He underwent surgery today to remove a cyst in his shoulder area and also to have “a minor labral debridement.” — But a medical update issued by the team …
Associated Press:
Mariners hint they may hire woman as next GM — SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said his team is vetting a wide range of general manager candidates, pointedly leaving open the possibility of Seattle hiring the first female general manager in major league history.
Geoff Baker / Seattle Times:
M's respond to clubhouse anger toward Ichiro — Ichiro reached base on... Another loss Thursday night for the Mariners at Safeco Field began the way so many other contests have this season. — Ichiro reached base on his 176th single of the season and the 1,800th hit of his career.
Kary Booher / Baseball America:
Brackman Kicks Off HWB — 2007 first-rounder makes pro debut, finally — Out in Hawaii Winter Baseball, Yankees' 2007 first-round draft pick Andrew Brackman already has his eyes on grabbing a surfboard and hanging 10. — Well, that and finally launching his pro career come Saturday night.
Chicago Tribune:
Fans sue over seats for Cubs playoffs — A budding legal dispute over the divvying up of Cubs playoffs tickets reflects the tensions and possible treacheries that abound as fans who share season-ticket packages attempt to split their much-coveted seats for the upcoming postseason.
Dlamothe / Red Sox Monster:
Does nobody want the bed of the Large Father? … A week back, I started some fuss after posting that David Ortiz has offered up his autographed bed for charity. It seemed like a good enough idea, right? Who can't use an autographed bed? — Apparently, the answer is, “just about anybody.”
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Percival impresses Rays, Maddon in return — DETROIT — The Rays liked what they saw in RHP Troy Percival's return to the mound Thursday, and if the veteran closer handles his next outing as well, they could be seeing a lot of him in the playoffs. — “It was better,” manager Joe Maddon said.
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Kat O'Brien / Newsday:
Giambi wants to re-sign with Yankees — TORONTO - Jason Giambi's seven seasons in pinstripes have run the gamut. He had 40-homer, 100-RBI seasons his first two years before being diagnosed with an intestinal parasite and a benign tumor and testifying to a grand jury that he had used steroids.
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