Ramirez homers, gets tossed in Dodgers' 7-2 win  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Manny Ramirez (FSY) hit his 17th home run of the season before being ejected and Los Angeles late-season acquisitions Vicente Padilla (FSY) and Ronnie Belliard (FSY) contributed to the Dodgers' 7-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tampa Bay Rays' Carlos Pena done for season after breaking 2 fingers  —  NEW YORK — Tampa Bay slugger Carlos Pena broke two fingers when he was hit by a CC Sabathia pitch in the opener of Monday's day-night doubleheader against the Yankees.  —  Pena was hurt on an -1 offering in the first inning …

Braun not in lineup against Cardinals  —  Left fielder takes fifth day off, but reason is uncertain  —  MILWAUKEE — For the first time since July 18 and only the fifth time this season, Ryan Braun was not the Brewers' starting left fielder on Monday.  —  Why?  Well, that was a matter for debate.

Giants irked by homer celebrations  —  Brewers' display, Padres' Gonzalez stoke emotions  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For the second day in a row, an opponent's home run prompted complaints from the Giants about unprofessional behavior.  —  While several Giants — and a few players around the Major Leagues …

Valverde to explore free-agent market  —  Houston (67-70) vs. Atlanta (70-67), 7:05 p.m. CT  —  HOUSTON — Astros closer Jose Valverde, who has pitched well since coming off the disabled list, said he plans on testing the free-agent waters at the end of the season, though his first preference would be returning to Houston.

Surfing The Mets  —  Righthander Tobi Stoner is expected to join the Mets on Tuesday with the completion of Triple-A Buffalo's season.  The 24-year-old Stoner, a 16th-round pick in 2006 out of Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia, went 7-7 with a 3.96 ERA in 16 starts for the Bisons.

Struggling Franklin to get day off  —  St. Louis (82-57) at Milwaukee (66-71), 7:05 p.m. CT  —  MILWAUKEE — The one thing a closer usually wants after a blown save is the one thing Ryan Franklin isn't going to get: the chance to come back out and atone the next day.

How to make the Yankees perfect  —  It might be too late.  But I wonder if the Yankees should send Phil Hughes to their secret compound in Tampa and retrain him to throw six innings at a pop. Because lately the Yankees seem to have only three starters, and these days you need four in October.

Gaston should have done better  —  A season that got off to a magical start has left us with the nagging old questions about the Blue Jays' manager  — Weather - Video - Blogs - RSS Feeds - Globe Books - TV listings - Globe on Twitter - Columnists - TIFF 2009

Wallace won't be alone as he matures  —  Top prospect's favorite player, Chavez, happy to mentor  —  SACRAMENTO — For Brett Wallace, it was simply what his family did.  —  Whenever the Oakland A's were on TV, everyone would gather around and watch.  Wallace began playing traveling baseball at age 12 …

Yanks' late rally upstages Jeter, CC  —  Bombers nip Rays in Game 1 with three-run eighth  —  NEW YORK — Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia vied for the stage, but in the end, another late Yankees rally became the lasting impression from Monday's 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.