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.

Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran set for return after rehab stint  —  The Mets are expecting good news Tuesday.  It may be too late to change their ultimate fate, but the return of Carlos Beltran is plenty welcome for a club that's suffered one misfortune after another.

Castoffs Paying Dividends In NL West  —  Has Jason Giambi been a good acquisition so far for the Rockies?  Yes, yes he has been.  —  View full size photo uploaded September 7, 2009  —  With all the hype surrounding the non-waiver trading deadline of July 31, there have been some moves …

Bumgarner to start tonight for Lincecum?  —  Henry Schulman reporting from the ballpark:  —  I want to stress that I have not confirmed this directly, but I'm getting a strong vibe that Madison Bumgarner is being promoted so he can start tonight's game in favor of Tim Lincecum, who presumably cannot start because he is hurt.

Fair ball: Just clean hits for Jeter  —  was Mark Teixeira, whose first of two home runs in Game 2 landed just in front of the Iron Horse's granite block in Monument Park.  —  But no matter.  —  Rooting for Derek Jeter to break the record?  Follow LIJeterFans on and be the first to know when he breaks the record.Twitter

No, Really: Now Will You Believe Us When We Tell You How Heidi Hamels Is Ruining Everything Beautiful That Was Once Cole Hamels?  —  Words can barely do justice to this ad for The Residences At Two Liberty Place, in the current issue of PhillyMag.  First off, is Heidi really pimpin' that baby bump for rent credits?

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.

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 …

MASSIVE TIE SCENARIO  —  In the National League yesterday, the Phillies lost, which helped the massive tie scenario, but the Dodgers won, which didn't.  The Marlins and Braves didn't play, but Colorado and San Francisco kept pace with wins as well.  —  The following outcomes result in a six …

Give Chase His Due  —  In all likelihood, the National League MVP is going to Albert Pujols for the second consecutive season, and probably rightly so.  He's at or near the top in many of the traditional and non-traditional stats and is 2nd behind Tim Lincecum in wins above replacement with 7.5.

Chiefs 5, PawSox 3: Miserable season ends with a thud  —  •THE MERCIFUL END: The PawSox' last contest of the season turned in the bottom of the eighth when Syracuse rallied for three runs against Pawtucket reliever T.J. Large (3-4).  Syracuse catcher Gustavo Molina produced the winning runs …

Nationals to promote five players  —  Shortstop Desmond, four pitchers and coach coming up  —  WASHINGTON — The Nationals have decided to promote pitchers Ross Detwiler, Marco Estrada, Logan Kensing and Zack Segovia and shortstop Ian Desmond to the big leagues.

Mets assistant GM Ricco not after the boss' job  —  John Ricco's baseball playing career ended after his sophomore year at Cresskill High School, when he decided golf and the student newspaper suited his undersized frame better than a spot on the pitcher's mound.

Depth missing from free-agent class  —  Teams in need may not find perfect fit this offseason  —  When it comes to rating disappointing seasons for Major League teams, you have to put the Mets and the Cubs at the top of the list.  —  If two teams wanted to close the door on one season …

Nick Johnson's Odd 2009  —  Nick Johnson  —  #20 / First Base / Florida Marlins  —  Nick Johnson's career has become one of the major oddities of professional baseball over the last decade.  Johnson debuted in 2001 with the New York Yankees, and after mediocre seasons in 2001 and 2002, Johnson broke out in 2003.

Rodney suspended, fined for throw  —  Closer claims no malice intended in heave toward stands  —  KANSAS CITY — Fernando Rodney's throw into the press box at Tropicana Field over the weekend is going to cost him some time off from the mound.  Major League Baseball announced Tuesday …