Reverse gear  —  Tigers halt skid by ending Sox' winning streak  —  No one should presume that the Detroit Tigers are a mere warmup act this week to the Yankees, not when the Tigers arrive in Fenway Park with the best record in baseball, even if burdened with a five-game losing streak.

Even Near-Miss Hits the Spot for the Yankees  —  The record will show that Alex Rodriguez came through when the Yankees needed him last night, driving in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.  Yet the moment left Rodriguez and the crowd craving more.

For Drew, It's a Living With Very Little Life  —  The other day, J.D. Drew singled in the first inning, and while that should've been enough to stop the game and award him the ball, he drove in a run.  —  And I swore, as Drew rounded first base and came to a stop, I saw him clap both hands together almost as if he were excited.

Ortiz and Nationals Battered by Braves  —  Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson would've liked to have sat back in the dugout last night at RFK Stadium, set aside the mounting concerns about his last-place team and admired another outstanding effort by Ramon Ortiz, his most reliable starting pitcher of late.

Martínez Is Hurt and Then Routed  —  After missing nearly a month with a hip injury, Pedro Martínez had again become a master of reinvention for the Mets, using his cunning and guile to replace the speed lost on his fastball.  —  But he will be 35 in October and, like an old house …

Castilla back with Rockies  —  Original Rockie signs minor league deal, will end career here  —  For all practical purposes, Vinny Castilla said, his big league career began with the Rockies.  —  It is going to end with the Rockies, too.  —  Castilla, whom the Rockies took from the Atlanta Braves …

BORN TO HIT  —  MANNY WIELDS ONE MEAN BAT  —  MAYBE Manny being Manny simply means this: He is the best hitter of the generation.  —  Manny Ramirez had his 27-game hitting streak end on Sunday, in part because he did not run hard on a grounder that bizarrely spun from routine to beyond pitcher Todd Williams' initial stab.

Rodriguez Says Injuries Led to Change in His Mechanics  —  The important thing, Alex Rodriguez says, is that he is healthy now and has been for a while.  —  "Let's put it this way: For the last three or four weeks, I feel 100 percent," Rodriguez said yesterday.  "I feel good to play that way.

Encarnacion named NL's best of week  —  Third baseman helped Reds pull close to Cards in race  —  While the Reds are at the top of the Wild Card heap in the National League as of Monday, they are setting their sights a little higher these days.  —  Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion …

S. Florida may need to bid farewell to Loria  —  Jeffrey Loria is at it again.  —  The Florida Marlins owner has proved adept at embarrassing himself and the game of baseball, but his latest misstep is an uncharacteristic one.  As you may have heard, Loria was reportedly a hairsbreadth …

Treanor's special bat  —  Marlins catcher Matt Treanor planned to get up early this morning and make the short drive from his home in Long Beach, Calif., to his brother Michael's place in suburban Orange County to help commemorate his birthday.  —  ''I haven't seen him in a while …