Kennedy finishes season with Yankees  —  SEATTLE - When Ian Kennedy got the news that he was headed to Seattle to join the Yankees, he almost didn't believe it.  —  Having missed four months of the season following surgery to repair an aneurysm in his right arm, Kennedy never expected to finish his year in the big leagues.

Francoeur stays hot in Mets win vs. Nats  —  Outfielder's two doubles, two runs drive New York's offense  —  NEW YORK — Though not renowned for his sense of style, Jeff Francoeur is mindful of how he dresses.  He plans his wardrobe; i.e., which jeans go best with which T-shirt, and do his kicks match the ensemble.

Pedro Martinez leaves Philadelphia Phillies game after 3 with stiff neck  —  ATLANTA — Pedro Martinez left his start after three innings because of neck stiffness in Philadelphia Phillies's game against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.  —  Martinez  —  Martinez was trailing 3 …

Minnesota Twins' Joe Crede plans to have third back surgery  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins third baseman Joe Crede plans to have another surgery on his injured back.  —  Crede, out for the season, said the procedure by Dr. Andrew Dossett, a Dallas orthopedist, will remove fluid from a herniated disk that is impeding on a nerve.

Offensive environments in the minors |  part two  —  The other day I looked at the run scoring environments in Triple-A and Double-A and today I will continue with the lower levels of the minors.  —  Advanced-A  —  California League- .270/.341/.416  —  Runs-5.114  —  2B- 1.914  —  3B- .350

Easy prey for Red Sox  —  Another game, another victory over Orioles  —  BALTIMORE - Any meeting between the Red Sox [team stats] and Baltimore Orioles is an intersection of two teams heading in entirely different directions, resulting in a predictable outcome.  —  Since the All-Star break, the Orioles are 20-44.

Game 150: Yankees at Mariners  —  YANKEES (95-54)  —  Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-5, 4.39).  —  MARINERS (77-72)  —  Suzuki RF  —  Gutierrez CF  —  Lopez 2B  —  Griffey Jr. DH  —  Beltre 3B  —  Hall LF  —  Carp 1B  —  Moore C  —  Wilson SS  —  Pitching: RHP Ian Snell (4-2, 4.86).

On the Beat  —  Weekend Wrapup  —  Just two in-season managerial changes have been made this year in the major leagues.  As a result, t will be interesting to see how many there will be once the season ends in two weeks.  Of the two made during the season, one has been credited for making …

Wright says beaning remains in the back of his mind  —  If David Wright were a different sort of athlete and a different sort of man, he would say he doesn't think about it when he gets in the batter's box.  —  He would say he doesn't think about the 93-mph fastball from San Francisco's Matt Cain …

Prospectus Q and A: Paul Konerko by David Laurila  —  Paul Konerko … David Laurila: How do you view the career you've had in the big leagues thus far?  —  Paul Konerko: Well, it's obviously still going, so you don't want to talk about things too much in the past tense.