Blue Jays activate right-hander McGowan off 60-day DL  —  TORONTO — Dustin McGowan's long road back to the major leagues is complete.  —  The Toronto Blue Jays activated the right-hander off the 60-day disabled list prior to Monday's home game against the Boston Red Sox.

Playoff seeding races heating up  —  Seven of the eight playoff teams are all but determined, but the rest of the season will not be without drama.  —  The races are just taking on a different form, that's all.  —  Postseason seedings are up for grabs, and the intrigue extends far beyond …

Cardinals hope to keep Furcal  —  General manager John Mozeliak confirmed strong organizational interest in retaining pending free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal and indicated Sunday he plans to “explore” a pre-emptive move within the next month.  —  “When you look at our club since he came to our team …

Despite Jered Weaver's struggles, his arm seems fine  —  Ace right-hander has had some tough outings recently.  'Sometimes you're going to be out of sorts,' Manager Mike Scioscia says.  —  Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver delivers during the fourth inning of Sundays game against the Texas Rangers.

Bedard to have next turn in rotation skipped  —  TORONTO — Trying to keep their pitching in the best shape possible down the stretch, the Red Sox will take a conservative path with lefty Erik Bedard and skip his next start, which would have been on Friday in St. Petersburg vs. the Rays.

Shake-up needed to save Twins from complacent ways  —  Bill Smith needs to hire someone to make tough decisions for him; might I suggest Wayne Krivsky?  —  ANAHEIM, CALIF. - Joe Mauer's illness this weekend prompted one of his teammates to play a prank, so when he walked to his locker Sunday, he found a handful of surgical masks.

Umpire Joe West explains Marlins-Phillies replay flap  —  Veteran umpire Joe West just answered a few questions about the controversial play in the sixth inning of today's 5-4 Marlins win over the Phillies in 14 innings.  —  And you know what?  I'm as confused as ever.

Joe Girardi sticking with six Yankees starters for now; A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes get another start  —  Ah, the joy of six.  The Yankees just can't get enough of it.  —  The Bombers once again have canceled plans to move one of their six starting pitchers to the bullpen; they will continue to go with a six-man rotation indefinitely.

Orioles notes: Reynolds commits two more errors at third base  —  Most recent struggles help make case for full-time move to first base next season  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Mark Reynolds is making the Orioles' pending decision this offseason on whether he'll play first or third base in 2012 an easy one.

Tigers rout White Sox 18-2 to finish sweep  —  DETROIT (AP)—Miguel Cabrera(notes) homered and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers finished a three-game sweep of Chicago in emphatic fashion, routing the White Sox 18-2 on Sunday night.  —  Max Scherzer(notes) (14-8) …

Forget division, Chipper says Braves can take Philly in playoffs  —  It would have been easy for the Braves to slip on their rose-colored Annie sunglasses Sunday and proclaim that they're going to shake the baseball world at its foundation, storm Philadelphia and miraculously come back to win the National League East title.

Angels rotation could be key to success  —  BOSTON  —  Know what I'm starting to think?  That if the Angels win the AL West, they actually might sneak their way into the World Series.  —  The Angels feature three ace-caliber starting pitchers — Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana.