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].
Discussion:
Fire Brand of the …, Mike Silva's …, Circling The Bases, Cursed To First and Projo Sox Blog
RELATED:
Mike Puma / New York Post:
AL East title within weekend reach — Uncork the champagne and use red socks to mop up spills on the clubhouse carpet. That would be quite a Yankee Stadium party. — Lights, camera, AL East title. The Yankees can make it official this weekend, appropriately enough with the Red Sox across the field to witness the celebration.
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 …
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Sox could punch ticket at rivals' home — Boston (91-61) at New York (97-56), 7:05 p.m. ET — KANSAS CITY — The Yankees have already qualified for the postseason and the Red Sox are on the verge of doing so. So if the latest rivalry showdown — which kicks off on Friday night in the Bronx …
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Game 154: Red Sox at Yankees — YANKEES (97-56) — Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-6, 4.73). — RED SOX (91-61) — Ellsbury CF — Pedroia 2B — Martinez 1B — Youkilis 3B — Ortiz DH — Bay LF — Drew RF — Varitek C — Gonzalez SS — Pitching: LHP Jon Lester (14-7, 3.33).
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.
RELATED:
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Dotel Would Play For Mets Or Yankees — The White Sox told Octavio Dotel that he's not in their long-term plans when the righty approached the club about a contract extension last month, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The 35-year-old reliever says he'd like to play in New York for the Yankees or, his preferred team, the Mets.
Joseph White / Associated Press:
100 losses and counting: Dodgers top Nationals 7-6 — Buzz up! — WASHINGTON (AP)—The Washington Nationals' 100th loss had plenty of elements from the first 99. — A starter who needed five batters to record an out and was gone before the fourth inning.
Discussion:
Walkoff Walk
RELATED:
Elizabeth Doran / Syracuse Post-Standard:
Baldwinsville family says teacher told fourth-grader to turn Yankee shirt inside out — Van Buren Elementary fourth-grader Nathan Johns thought his teacher was kidding when he instructed him to go to the bathroom and turn his Yankees T-shirt inside out. — The blue shirt read “New York No. 52” …
David Brown / Yahoo! Sports:
Answer Man: Denard Span talks beaning, OBP, Target and Spam — About 48 hours after getting hit in the head with a pitch against the White Sox on Monday, Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span — was still feeling the effects. So what better way to test his mental faculties and ease …
Corey Brock / MLB.com:
Padres create affordability for 2010 tix — All pricing plans to be either reduced or remain same — DENVER — Holding true to a mantra that they want to “create affordability,” the Padres announced on Thursday that a majority of their tickets for 2010 will either be reduced or remain at the pricing level they were this season.
RELATED:
Canadian Press:
RICCIARDI SAYS HIS SUCCESSORS WILL FACE SAME CHALLENGES — TORONTO - The calls for J.P. Ricciardi's dismissal as general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays have been coming fast and furious of late. In some corners there's a belief that his firing is already a done deal.
RELATED:
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 …
Matt Eddy / Baseball America:
Appalachian League Top 20 Prospects With Scouting Reports — Electric stuff earns Braves' Julio Teheran the No. 1 spot — BURLINGTON, N.C.—Order was restored in the Rookie-level Appalachian League when Danville dispatched Elizabethton in two games to win the title.
Discussion:
Talking Chop
Jerry Crasnick / MLB:
GM Kevin Towers says San Diego Padres could have interest in Milton Bradley — When Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry begins aggressively shopping troubled outfielder Milton Bradley this winter, don't be surprised if one of his first phone calls is to San Diego.
Mary Kay Cabot / Plain Dealer:
Cleveland Browns' Coye Francies loses temper in locker room — BEREA, Ohio — Browns rookie cornerback Coye Francies, an apparent victim of a rookie prank, threw a bucket of ice at some of his fellow defensive backs in the locker room Friday and even threw a punch at safety Abe Elam before being led outside by some veteran teammates.
Tom Verducci / Sports Illustrated:
Looks like Billy Beane is right: The playoffs really are a crapshoot … 1) What are the chances that Fox gets its dream World Series matchup of Dodgers-Yankees, the teams that today have the two best records in baseball? The way this decade has gone, not very good at all.
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
