Top News:
Sean McAdam / Boston Herald:
Jon Lester will start it off — Sources: Red Sox go with lefty in ALDS opener — KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In 2003, he won Game 5 for the Florida Marlins in Yankee Stadium on three days' rest and was named World Series MVP. — Four years later, he won all four of his postseason starts for the Red Sox [team stats].
RELATED:
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Yanks want to clinch against Sox — The Yankees and Red Sox are both headed for October, but the two rivals would love to make a statement to assert themselves as the favorites in the American League. — With only 10 days to go until the end of the regular season, the two AL East contenders …
Associated Press:
Dodgers one win away from playoffs; Nats hit 100 losses — WASHINGTON (AP) — Rafael Furcal (FSY) hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Thursday night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Washington 7-6 to hand the Nationals their 100th loss of the season.
RELATED:
Lisa Winston / MLB.com:
Dodgers cut playoff magic number to one — Furcal collects four hits, including winning homer in eighth — WASHINGTON — Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier quoted a wise baseball man — his own teammate, veteran outfielder Juan Pierre — to sum up the Dodgers' 7-6 win over Washington on Thursday night: “Both sides of the ball.”
Discussion:
Sons of Steve Garvey
Joe Posnanski:
What Our Eyes See — This is not — repeat NOT — that angry 20,000 word diatribe about Hall of Famer Jim Rice that I originally proposed after reading his Sullivan Tire blog post about Zack Greinke, the appropriately titled “Greinke is a Good Pitcher — Not Dominant.”
RELATED:
Canadian Press:
HERNANDEZ WINS NO. 17 AS MARINERS DOWN BLUE JAYS — TORONTO — There is lots of intrigue building around Felix Hernandez right now, and how his future plays out this winter is something the Toronto Blue Jays will be watching closely. — The dominant right-hander struck out a season-high 11 batters …
RELATED:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
After a Disappointing First Season, Girardi Adjusts — Joe Girardi's hair is the color of steel, buzzed close to his scalp, suited for the military. The reason is that anything else would look frizzy. But the haircut, it seems, has always informed the narrative.
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues, The Yankee Universe, Bats, It's About The Money and Zell's Pinstripe Blog
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Notebook: Russell, staff not in trouble — A month ago, the Pirates' front office, all the way up to owner Bob Nutting, strongly endorsed the return of manager John Russell and the full coaching staff. And despite the historic losing stretch of late, that stance has stuck.
RELATED:
Chicago Sun Times:
Three takes on the White Sox — Octavio Dotel said he approached the club about his immediate future and a contract extension last month and was told he wasn't in the plans. The reliever at least appreciated the Sox being upfront with him. As he turns his attention to free agency, New York is atop his wish list.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Associated Press:
Tigers' Verlander strikes out 11 as Indians drop 11th straight — CLEVELAND (AP) — Justin Verlander (FSY) pitched the Detroit Tigers closer to a division title and pushed the Cleveland Indians within one loss of matching a franchise record for futility with a 6-5 win on Thursday night.
Dan Connolly / Baltimore Sun:
Mora preparing to leave Orioles ‘with my head up’ — Third baseman's career with team likely to end with season; he says he still loves the city — When he joined the Orioles in July 2000, Melvin Mora was one of 14 unfamiliar commodities received in the club's now infamous trade-deadline fire sale …
John Shea / San Francisco Chronicle:
Giants Beat: Lincecum open to long-term deal — (09-24) 22:52 PDT — Tim Lincecum answered the question exactly how Giants fans wanted him to. For the first time, the ace will be eligible for arbitration, meaning his salary will skyrocket, and he was asked if he'd be open to a long-term deal.
Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Fielder is last candidate to play all 162 — Goal to be in lineup every day started in Little League — MILWAUKEE — When Baltimore right fielder Nick Markakis took a night off on Tuesday in Toronto, the Brewers' Prince Fielder became the season's lone iron man.
Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
FINAL: Red Sox 10, Royals 3 — SOX WIN (11:51, TOP 9, 10-3 SOX) — After a long, ugly victory, the Sox cut their magic number clinch the AL wild card down to three. Clay Buchholz pitched 6 2/3 sterling, shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits, all singles.
Jon Weisman / Dodger Thoughts:
Can you trust any national baseball writer? — National baseball columnists offer opinions on the Dodgers that you might or might not agree with. That's just the way it is. — Too often, however, their opinions are based on factual errors that, while not intentional, clearly reflect a lack of familiarity with the team.
David Lennon / Newsday:
No fun for Mets as they play out the string — MIAMI - Despite a break — in the schedule, the Mets boarded a late-night flight to Florida after Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Braves at Citi Field rather than take a leisurely trip the next morning for the weekend series against the Marlins.
ESPN:
Get in tune with Chris Coghlan … Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan recently spoke with ESPN.com about his musical tastes and preferences. — ESPN.com: I'm going to assume that being a rookie, you don't have control over what music is played in the clubhouse. Who does?
Discussion:
FishStripes
