This news hits close to home  —  The Red Sox announced yesterday that rookie lefthanded pitcher Jon Lester has cancer.  It's a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.  The brief press release, delivered by the team at the request of Lester's family shortly before 6 p.m., said treatment will begin within a week.

Snyder leads Sox past Blue Jays  —  Right-hander helps distract Boston from medical woes  —  BOSTON — The Red Sox won Friday night's game, but the nightmarish injury bug hit again with Jonathan Papelbon leaving in the ninth inning.  Boston's closer held his right shoulder after a pitch to Lyle Overbay.

Major League Yankees lover  —  1st game in 50 yrs. a ball for fan, 103  —  Helen Beller is truly a Yankees fan for the ages.  —  The great-great-grandma from Manhattan's upper West Side has been rootin' for the Bronx Bombers all her life, which began in 1903, the same year the Yanks were born as the Highlanders.

Pérez Exhibits His Inconsistency  —  DENVER, Aug. 31 The Mets' rotation will receive a jolt this weekend when Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernández start for the first time in two weeks, but the long-anticipated return to normalcy does not signal good news for everyone.

Rivera unavailable Friday night because of muscle strain; Matsui hits outside  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Mariano Rivera was unavailable for the New York Yankees' game against Minnesota on Friday night because his right elbow felt stiff.  —  Rivera pitched Wednesday and Thursday against Detroit …

It's time for Jeter to get his MVP due  —  He says he doesn't even think about it, but you know that can't be true.  After all these years, there is plenty of evidence that Derek Jeter is genuine about putting winning above all individual pursuits, but that doesn't mean he isn't human.

More duties for Borowski?  —  · One way for the Marlins to address their set-up problems: Give the job to the closer.  —  Joe Borowski won't be logging two-inning saves the rest of the way, but he and pitching coach Rick Kranitz said they were open to a greater workload.

997 At-Bats, and the Twins' Tyner Can't Buy a Round-Tripper  —  The running gag on the Minnesota Twins about Jason Tyner's lack of power reached a high point Aug. 13.  That is the day the willowy Tyner, the Twins' fill-in left fielder and a former No. 1 draft pick of the Mets, had a single …

The best young tandem in baseball?  Tough call  —  A scout last week asked me this question:  —  "Who would you take, the Mets' Jose Reyes and David Wright or the Phillies' Ryan Howard and Chase Utley?"  —  Without giving the topic much thought, I responded, "Howard and Utley."

Radke diagnosed with stress fracture in shoulder  —  NEW YORK — Twins pitcher Brad Radke has a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury Minnesota doesn't necessarily think will end his season.  —  Radke's injury, to the glenoid area of the shoulder joint, is a rare condition …

Carpenter clinches Pirates' 14th losing season  —  St. Louis ace brilliant in outdueling Duke, 3-1  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  ST. LOUIS — The Pirates' modest push to avoid the inevitable reached a quick, quiet end.  —  Chris Carpenter's complete-game three-hitter lifted …

Nationals-D-Backs game postponed  —  Rain sets stage for day-night doubleheader Saturday  —  WASHINGTON — Heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Ernesto forced the postponement of Friday night's scheduled game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium.

Santana hit hard in opener  —  Angels' offense unable to get on track vs. Tigers  —  DETROIT — Ervin Santana had his strikeout pitch working Friday night, but that was about it.  —  Santana (13-7) struck out seven in four innings, but he also gave up five runs on seven hits in the Angels' 9- loss …