NL Decision Day: 4 teams, 2 playoff spots

National League This is the way it ought to be. With one game left for the contenders - Philadelphia, New York, San Diego and Colorado - only two will reach the playoffs. With the Mets winning (finally) and Philly losing on Saturday, the two teams are locked in a dead-even tie for first place in the NL East. Out in the West, Arizona clinched the division and home field throughout the playoffs by virtue of the Padres' 4-3 loss at Milwaukee. As for the possible scenarios involving the NL East and the wild card, the scenarios are so convoluted that I'll defer to MLB.com, which has a complete breakdown of all possibilities, HERE. One simple scenario: If the Padres win, they are the wild card, the Rockies are out no matter what they do, and San Diego would play the winner of the NL East in the first round of the playoffs. The Cubs would travel to Arizona for the start of their first round playoff series. If the Padres lose, all hell breaks loose in the scenarios. Florida 0 NY Mets 13 - The Mets ended their 5 game losing streak just in time to possibly salvage their season. A win guarantees them no worse than a playoff on Monday with the Phillies - if they win. On Saturday, John Maine (right) flirted with a no-hitter, finally giving up an infield single to Paul Hoover with 2 outs in the 7th. Maine (15-10) struck out a career high 14 batters as the Mets scored repeatedly against some sore-armed Marlin pitchers. Tom Glavine will take the mound against Florida's Dontrelle Willis in Sunday's season finale. Washington 4 Philadelphia 2 - Ryan Howard cracked his 46th home run, but his solo shot (and Aaron Rowand's in the sixth) wasn't enough to overcome the pitching of Washington's Matt Chico and a trio of relievers.

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Chico grounded the Phillies on four hits over 6 1/3 innings, allowing just Rowand's solo shot. On Sunday, Jamie Moyer will head to the hill to face Washington's Jason Bergmann. San Diego 3 Milwaukee 4, 11 innings - Irony, your name is Gwynne. Tony Gwynne Jr., son of the Padres' hall of famer, tripled home the tying run for the Brewers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game into extra innings, where the Brewers eventually won it in 11. The Padres' loss kept them from clinching a playoff spot and leaves open a myriad of possibilities heading into the season's final day. Brett Tomko gets the start against Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan Arizona 1 Colorado 11 - Once the Rockies knew they were still alive in the wild card race, they went out and pounded the Diamondbacks, scoring 4 runs in the first inning, keyed by Matt Holliday's 50th double, which drove in a pair. The Rockies continued the onslaught in the 5th inning with six more runs, including Troy Tulowitzki's grand slam. Still a game behind the Padres in the wild card, the Rockies will send rookie Ubaldo Jimenez to the mound against Arizona's Yusmeiro Petit, who got the start when Doug Davis was scratched, manager Bob Melvin preferring to save him for game two of the playoffs next week. Other NL Scores Chi Cubs 4 Cincinnati 0 St. Louis 7 Pittsburgh 3 Atlanta 2 Houston 3 San Francisco 5 LA Dodgers 6, 10 innings American League Minnesota 4 Boston 6 - The Red Sox clinched home field throughout the playoffs with the best record in the AL, at 96-65. Cleveland's loss to Kansas City, combined with the Red Sox winning the season series between the two clubs, gave the right to Boston by virtue of the potential tie-breaker. Cleveland is 95-66 Other AL Scores Tampa Bay 3 Toronto 5 LA Angels 3 Oakland 2 Detroit 2 Chi White Sox 3 NY Yankees 11 Baltimore 10 Cleveland 3 Kansas City 4 Texas 1 Seattle 5

Dice-K Blanks Tribe; Maine Leads Mets with Arm, Bat

American League The Red Sox remain the team to beat in the AL. with a combined 19-14 record against the Yankees, Mariners, Tigers, Angels and Indians, though the Mariners (4-2) and Tigers (4-3) hold a winning edge thus far over Boston. Including yesterday's game, the Sox are 4-1 against the Indians, 7-5 vs. the Yankees and 3-0 against the Angels. Boston's 61-39 record is the best in the majors and they lead the Yankees by the largest margin of any division, 7 1/2 games. Boston 1 Cleveland 0 - The Boston Red Sox continued their dominance over other contenders (and pretenders) in the American League, as Daisuke Matsuzaka (12-7, right) outdueled C.C. Sabathia (13-5), the only run of the game coming in the 4th inning, when Mike Lowell singled home Kevin Youkilis. Matsuzaka allowed just 4 hits over 7 innings, walking 3 and striking out 5. Sabathia allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. Johnathan Papelbon picked up his 23rd save with a perfect 9th. Minnesota 0 Toronto 7 - The Twins continued their slow slide in the Central division, now 8 1/2 games behind Detroit (they actually picked up 1/2 game as Detroit dropped a pair to the White Sox), as Dustin McGowan (7-5) blanked them over 7 1/3 innings, getting the Blue Jays to an even 50 wins and 50 losses for the season. Detroit 3 Chi White Sox 5 - Paul Konerko's 6th inning 2-run homer provided the winning margin for the White Sox in the first half of their double-dip with Detroit. It was Konerko's 22nd home run of the season. Detroit 7 Chi White Sox 8 - The Tigers' bullpen blew a 6-1 lead as Jim Thome's 17th home run - a 3-run, 7th inning blast - highlighted a rally as the Sox scored 2 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th. Despite the twin losses, Detroit remains the AL Central leader, 1 1/2 clear of Cleveland. Other AL Scores Seattle 1 Texas 2 Seattle 3 Texas 4 - Mariners lose 5th straight Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 3 NY Yankees 9 Kansas City 4 - Yankees have won 5 straight Oakland 4 LA Angels 3 National League Pittsburgh 4 NY Mets 8 - John Maine (right) allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings and cracked a 2-run homer in the 4th inning to aid his own cause as the Mets won for the 4th time in their last 5 games. Maine improved to 11-5, and the Mets retained their 3-game lead over Atlanta. New York will look to expand their edge this week as they have 2 more games with the Pirates before hosting a four-game set with the last place Nationals over the weekend. Chi Cubs 4 St. Louis 3 - Carlos Zambrano (13-7) became the NL's first 13-game winner and the Cubs remain 3 behind Milwaukee in NL Central. Aramis Ramirez continued his red-hot play, going 4-5, for his 5th multi-hit game in his last 9, boosting his batting average to .321. Over that span, he's driven in 13 runs. Other NL Scores Washington 3 Philadelphia 4 Milwaukee 5 Cincinnati 3 - F. Cordero, S (32), leads majors LA Dodgers 4 Houston 7 San Diego 5 Colorado 3 - Padres trail Dodgers by 1 in NL West Florida 3 Arizona 9 Atlanta 7 San Francisco 5, 13 innings - B. Bonds, 1-5, no home runs

Lowell's Big Night; Maine Halts Mets' Skid

American League Cleveland 3 Detroit 12 - The Tigers teed off on C.C. Sabathia to the tune of 7 earned runs on 0 hits over 4 innings, closing the gap on the 1st-place Indians to a single game. Carlos Guillen, Gary Sheffield and Placido Polanco all homered off Sabathia, with Guillen driving in 4 runs and Sheffield three. Justin Verlander (10-3) took the win for the Tigers. Tampa Bay 4 Boston 15 - Boston completed its sweep of the Devil Rays, sending them to their 11th straight loss, the longest losing streak in the majors this season. The Sox were relentless, scoring 13 runs in the first 3 innings and banging out 21 hits for the whole game. Mike Lowell (right) was especially effective, whacking a home run and four singles in 6 at-bats, driving in 5 while scoring 3 times. Coco Crisp hit a grand slam in the 1st. Josh Beckett picked up his 12th win against just 2 losses in his final start before the All-Star game. Baltimore 6 Chi White Sox 11 - Tadahito Iguchi nearly hit for the cycle, with a double, triple and home run in 4 at-bats. Iguchi drove in 3 and scored 3 times. Other AL Scores Minnesota 6 NY Yankees 7 - H. Matsui, GW HR (10) Tampa Bay 4 Boston 15 LA Angels 5 Texas 2 - K. Escobar, W (10-3) Seattle 2 Oakland 3 National League Atlanta 8 LA Dodgers 6 - Chipper Jones became Atlanta's all-time home run leader, belting a pair of solo shots against the Dodgers Thursday night. Chipper hit one in the 6th inning, tying Dale Murphy's mark, and another in the 8th, breaking it. Jones has 15 homers this season and 372 lifetime. The 6th-inning shot broke a 6-6 tie and the 8th-inning dinger was icing on the cake. Atlanta's win was the Dodgers' loss, keeping LA a game back of San Diego in the NL West. NY Mets 6 Houston 2 - John Maine (right) improved to 10-4, striking out 9 over 7 2/3, while allowing 2 runs on six hits and 2 walks. Carlos Delgado went 4-4, as the Mets ended their 4-game skid. Chi Cubs 4 Washington 2 - The Cubs are determined to make the NL Central race interesting, winning for the 8th time in their last 10 games to close to within 4 1/2 of division leader Milwaukee. Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 6 - While the Cubs were winning the Brewers were losing their third straight to the lowly Pirates, after winning the first game of the 4-game series. The Pirates beat up on All-Star Ben Sheets, getting to him for 5 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings. Pittsburgh starter, Tom Gorzelanny, close to having an All-Star season himself, got the win, allowing only 3 earned off 4 hits and 2 walks. Adam LaRoche slammed a pair of homers, drove in 3 runs and scored 3. Other NL Scores Florida 3 San Diego 2 San Francisco 3 Cincinnati 6 Arizona 2 St. Louis 3

Maine Slows Minny; Figgins' 6th Hit Grounds Astros

American League Sam Perlozzo was fired on Monday by the Orioles, becoming the first manager casualty of the season. Bullpen coach Dave Trembley, who has served as a minor league manager in the organization, will be the interim manager. Former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi is being rumored to be on the short list for a full-time replacement. Under Perlozzo, the O's were 29-40, in last place in the AL East, 15 1/2 behind the Boston Red Sox. LA Angels 10 Houston 9 - The series between the LA Angels and Houston Astros has already produced plenty of fireworks. Chone Figgins (right) went 6 for 6, his last hit - a triple - driving in the game's winning run. Figgins, who also stole a base, scored once and drove in 3. He is 36-for-79 (.456) over his last 17 games and the perfect night raised his batting average from .258 to .284. Not a bad night. Houston's Mark Loretta was 4-5 with 3 RBI and teammate Craig Biggio went 1-6 to get within 10 of 3000. The Angels simply won't slow down. So far in June they are 12-4 and Monday's win was their 3rd straight. They began the season 6-9, ending a 6-game losing streak on April 18. Since then, they've gone 39-17 (.696) and lead the AL West by 6 games over the A's, and have the best home record in baseball at 25-9. Cleveland 10 Philadelphia 1 - The Indians rocked Philly starter Cole Hamels (8-3) for 6 runs on 8 hits over 5 innings and retained their slim one game lead over Detroit in the AL Central. Kelly Shoppach, batting 9th, clubbed a 3-run homer off Hamels and added a run-scoring double in the 6th inning, finishing his night 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. The Phillies dropped to 3 back of the NL East-leading Mets. Other AL Scores Chi White Sox 10 Florida 6 - J. Thome, HR (9), 3 RBI (27) Oakland 6 Cincinnati 1 - J. Blanton (W, 7-4) 8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K National League NY Mets 8 Minnesota 1 - The Mets banged out 15 hits and John Maine (7-4) shut down the Twins on 5 hits over 7 1/3 innings, giving up just one earned run. The Mets stayed 1 1/2 clear of the Braves in the NL East. Detroit 9 Washington 8 - The Tigers nearly blew an 8-run lead as closer Todd Jones allowed 5 hits and 3 runs before finally getting the last out with runners on the corners. Carlos Guillen singled, doubled and hit a solo homer in 4 at-bats, scoring twice and driving in 3 runs for the Tigers. Detroit remained a game behind Cleveland in the AL Central race. Atlanta 9 Boston 4 - It was another Schilling shelling in Atlanta as the Braves roughed up starter Curt Schilling for 10 hits and 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings.

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It was the second straight tough outing for Schilling (6-4), who pitched a 1-hitter on June 7, but allowed 5 earned on 9 hits over 5 innings vs. Colorado in his next outing, June 13. Catcher Brian McCann doubled home a run in the 4th and smacked a 3-run homer in the 5th, ending the night for Schilling. Coco Crisp went 4-4 for the Red Sox, with a pair of solo homers. Other NL Scores Tampa Bay 10 Arizona 2 - D-Backs trail Padres by 1 1/2 in NL West Milwaukee 5 San Francisco 4 - P. Fielder, HR (26), F. Cordero, S (26) Kansas City 5 St. Louis 3 Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4 Sunday (6/10): AL 9, NL 5 Monday (6/11): AL 0, NL 2 Tuesday (6/12): AL: 8, NL: 6 Wednesday (6/13): AL: 6, NL: 8 Thursday (6/14): AL: 7, NL: 5 Friday (6/15): AL: 6, NL: 8 Saturday (6/16): AL: 5, NL: 9 Sunday (6/17): AL: 9, NL: 5 Monday (6/18): AL: 7 NL: 3 Total: AL: 75 NL: 61 Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues.

Maine is Mets' Mainstay; Baseball Mourns Cardinals' Hancock

Josh Hancock (1978-2007) - The prayers and sympathy of everyone involved in Major League Baseball are extended to the friends and family of St. Louis Cardinals' relief pitcher Josh Hancock, who died tragically in an auto accident just after midnight Sunday morning. Hancock was an integral part of the Cardinals' 2006 season and World Series win. He appeared in 62 games in the regular season, going 3-3 with 50 strikeouts in 77 innings. In his memory, the Cardinals will wear #32 patches on their sleeves the remainder of the season. Sunday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League The New York Yankees set a major league mark by using 5 or more pitchers in their 10th consecutive game, a 7-4 home loss to the Boston Red Sox. Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Alex Cora all homered for the Sox, who took 2 of 3 from the Yanks over the weekend. Derek Jeter homered in the 9th, extending his hitting streak to 17 games. Alex Rodriguez, without a home run or RBI in his last 5 games, ended the month of April (Yankees are off today) one RBI shy of the record of 35, still owned by Juan Gonzalez, and tied with Albert Pujols with 14 April round-trippers. A-Rod did manage to set the AL home run mark, surpassing Ken Griffey Jr.'s 13. As the Yankees sink slowly in the East, having lost 8 of their last 9, struggles continue for many of the hitters, most notably, Bobby Abreu (2-30), Rodriguez (3-18), Hideki Matsui (3-18) and Johnny Damon (3-19). In last place, 6 1/2 games behind the Red Sox, rumors are circulating that manager Joe Torre's days are numbered. It would be no surprise if the boss (George Steinbrenner) makes a change within the week. Fausto Carmona (2-1), took a shutout into the 9th, but gave up a one-out home run to Aubrey Huff and had to settle for 8 1/3 innings of 6 hit work as the Cleveland Indians took two of three from Baltimore. The AL Central leading Tribe have won 7 of their last 8. Other AL Scores Toronto 7 Texas 3 Detroit 4 Minnesota 3 - B. Inge, walk-off HR (4), T. Hunter, 15-gm. hit streak LA Angels 5 Chi White Sox 2 - V. Guerrero, HR (7) Seattle 5 Kansas City 1 Tampa Bay 5 Oakland 3 - A. Reyes, S (9) National League John Maine (right) outdueled Washington starter Jason Bergmann, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8 in 7 innings of shutout ball as the MY Mets took a 1-0 decision in D.C. Maine, 4-0, lowered his ERA to 1.35, good for 2nd in the NL behind Tim Hudson's 1.22. In his first full season as a starter, Maine's been excellent in each of his 5 outings, going 7 or more innings in his 4 wins. Despite issuing 17 walks, Maine's WHIP is still a very solid 1.05. The Mets took back 1st place in the NL East as Atlanta fell to Colorado, 9-7. The two teams have been exchanging 1/2-game leads for most of the month. There are plenty of reasons why the Milwaukee Brewers have a 3 1/2 game lead in the NL Central, but one of them has to be the outstanding relief work of closer Francisco Cordero who notched his major league-leading 10th save (tied with Arizona's Jose Valverde) in Sunday's 3-1 win at Houston. In 11 1/3 innings, Cordero has yet to allow an earned run, and has given up only 2 hits while walking 7 and fanning 19. Colorado's Matt Holliday socked an 11th-inning 2-run homer to finish off Atlanta, 11-9, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, though he lowered his batting average with a 2-6 performance, to .394. Holliday, who still leads the NL in hitting,

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scored once and drove in 3, giving him 16. Chicago's Derek Lee is second at .391 and teammate Todd Helton is close at .390. In the seventh inning, Rockies' shortstop Troy Tulowitzki accomplished the 13th unassisted triple play in major league history. On a 3-2 count with runners on first and second, Tulowitzki snagged Chipper Jones' line drive behind second base, stepped on the bag to force Kelly Johnson, then took a few steps to tag Edgar Renteria. The Braves were running on the pitch. Other NL Scores Philadelphia 6 Florida 1 - J. Moyer (W, 3-1) Cincinnati 9 Pittsburgh 5 - A. Harang (W, 4-0), A. Dunn HR (6) LA Dodgers 5 San Diego 4, 17 innings - Dodgers, 12-7 vs. NL West Arizona 5 San Francisco 4 - Diamondbacks, 5 gm. win streak

Rodriguez ties April HR mark; Rollins is Rollin'

Rodriguez ties April HR mark; Rollins is Rollin' Monday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League With two more home runs last night, Alex Rodriguez set a new AL mark for April long balls (passing Ken Griffey Jr.) and tied the major league mark of 14 set last year by St. Louis' Albert Pujols. Rodriguez also closed to within 1 of the major league record for April RBI with his 32nd, 33rd and 34th and he still has 6 games left to play. Going 4-5, A-Rod raised his MLB-leading batting average to an even .400 and scored 4 times. Despite A-Rod's hot hitting, the Yankees lost their 4th straight game, 10-8 at Tampa Bay as high-priced import Kei Igawa lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, including a pair of Devil Ray home runs. In 4 starts, Igawa has pitched a total of 20 2/3 innings, given up 5 homers, 9 walks, 18 earned runs and is carrying an ERA of 7.84. Nick Swisher homered twice, drove in 3 runs and scored 2 in 5 at-bats to lead Oakland back into 1st place in the AL West with a 6-5 win at Baltimore. Toronto 2nd baseman Aaron Hill singled,

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homered and doubled twice in 5 at-bats, driving in 2 runs and scoring 3 times in the Blue Jays' 7-4 win at Boston. Hill was joined in the Toronto hit parade by center fielder Vernon Wells who doubled, tripled, stole a base and scored 3 times in 4 at-bats. Despite the loss, the Red Sox maintained their 1 1/2 game advantage over Baltimore in the AL East. Paul Konerko went 3-4, pounding out a pair of 2-run homers, singling and driving in another run with a sac fly in Chicago's 7-4 win at Kansas City. Konerko's 5 RBI were enough to help Mark Buehrle gain his second win in his first start after last week's no-hitter. Other AL Scores Detroit 9 LA Angels 5 - C. Granderson, HR (3), SB (2) Seattle 5 Texas 4 - I. Suzuki, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI Cleveland 7 Minnesota 3, 12 innings - T. Hafner, 4-4 National League Jimmy Rollins (right) nearly hit for the cycle, going 4-5 with a solo home run, triple and a pair of singles. Rollins scored 4 times and drove in a couple of runs in Philadelphia's 11-4 thumping of the visiting Houston Astros. Rollins, batting in the leadoff spot, leads the NL with 7 home runs, has 14 RBI, a .313 bating average. His 19 runs scored is 3rd best in the National League. John Maine improved to 3-0, allowing just one earned run on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in the Mets' 6-1 win over visiting Colorado. Maine, who pitched 7 2/3 innings, lowered his ERA to 1.71. Jose Valentin hit a 3-run homer, Carlos Delgado hit his first of the year - a 2-run shot - and Jose Reyes increased his major-league leading stolen base total to 12 with a pair of thefts. Prince Fielder hit his 3rd and 4th home runs of the season, the latter a solo shot game-winner in the 12th inning, sending the visiting Brewers to their 3rd straight win and 1st place in the NL Central with a 5-4 win over the Cubs. Fielder has 2 RBI and scored twice in the win. Despite the best efforts of Atlanta's Jeff Francoeur, who went 4-5 with a pair of singles, a double, a solo home run and 4 RBI, Dontrelle Willis became the first National League pitcher to reach 4 wins as Florida survived at home, 8-7. Willis may not be the sharpest 4-game winner with an ERA of 5.28, but his teammates have given him plenty of support, scoring 36 runs (9 per game) in his 4 wins. Willis has given up at least 7 hits in each outing this season.