The Rockies' Road to the Playoffs  —  With another extra-inning win, their second straight, the Rockies closed the Dodgers' National League West lead to just two games, the closest any NL West team has been to Los Angeles since April 24, coincidentally a day the Dodgers won at Coors Field.

Joba to go on regular rest, start Sunday  —  Yankees look ahead on young righty with eye on innings  —  NEW YORK — Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced prior to Tuesday's game that Joba Chamberlain will make his next scheduled start on Sunday against the White Sox.

Nats sign Hernandez to ease burden on young arms  —  Not wanting any of their young starting pitchers to pile up too many innings at this early stage of their development, the Washington Nationals turned to an old friend to help get them through the rest of the season.

OMAR KEEPS HURTIN' AMAZIN'S REP  —  FOR a little while, yesterday could have been classified as one of the finer days of the Mets' season.  —  SHERMAN ON TWITTER  —  Sure, Johan Santana needed surgery and all the Mets received for Billy Wagner were two players Boston considered non-prospects.

Martinez accepts challenge of knuckler  —  Chicago (63-63) at Boston (72-53), 7:10 p.m. ET  —  BOSTON — At 30 years of age, Victor Martinez already has quite the Major League resume.  —  A veteran of 843 career games, he's made three trips to the All-Star Game, finished in the Top 10 …

Angels had interest in reliever Billy Wagner  —  General Manager Tony Reagins says he continues to explore waiver claims and trades.  But Angels could face Red Sox in the playoffs.  —  Former Mets reliever Billy Wagner went to the Red Sox on Tuesday as the Angels continue to look for bullpen help.

Would You Have Asked?  —  The Yankees were staging a dramatic comeback against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.  They scored four runs in the ninth inning to trim their deficit to 10-9, and they had runners on first and second with no outs.  Frank Francisco, the Rangers' closer, was aching to get an out.

Stairs wants to return to Phillies in 2010  —  PITTSBURGH - Matt Stairs expressed two wishes yesterday, one obvious and the other newsworthy: to break out of an extended slump and return to the Phillies for one more season before retiring.  —  “I'll play one more year and I'm done,” …

Bradley: I face hatred on a daily basis  —  Milton Bradley said after Tuesday's loss he's “never” comfortable playing at Wrigley Field.  —  “It's hard to be comfortable when you don't get a hit and get booed every time,” he said.  “When I go home and look in the mirror, I like what I see.

Melvin not inclined to trade veterans  —  Milwaukee (61-64) vs. Cincinnati (53-71), 7:05 p.m. CT  —  MILWAUKEE — The metaphorical buzzards are starting to circle above Miller Park.  —  Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said he has been receiving calls from rival GMs interested …

Galarraga to Toledo, Robertson to start Saturday  —  Nate Robertson is returning to the Detroit Tigers to start.  Armando Galarraga is heading to Triple-A Toledo to basically recuperate.  —  The Tigers announced Wednesday that they've optioned Galarraga to the Mud Hens for what is expected …

The terrible message the Mets sent to their fans  —  When the Bernie Madoff case blew open last December, and we wondered how the Mets would function due to the Wilpons' losses, I requested that we all wait and see how things play out before rendering judgment.  —  Well, I think things have played out long enough.