No Mets' magic  —  Fish pound out 16 runs, 20 hits  —  MIAMI - The clinching party figures to come this week, though it might have to wait until the Mets' arrival in Pittsburgh.  —  The Marlins bashed five homers, including three from Cody Ross, and routed the Mets, 16-5 …

Notes: Halladay healing nicely  —  Jays ace says he's not experiencing stiffness in right elbow  —  SEATTLE — Breathe easy Blue Jays fans — Roy Halladay is on the mend.  Toronto's ace sat at his locker inside the visitor's clubhouse at Safeco Field, wearing an ice pack on his right elbow prior to Monday's game against Seattle.

Mailbag: Is Castro ready yet?  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers Nationals fans' questions … With Jose Vidro expected to be traded in the offseason, do you view Bernie Castro as their second baseman of the future?  — Cliff S., Springfield, Va.  —  Not so fast about Vidro getting traded.

Have To Hand It To Yanks  —  As O's Get Sloppy, They Clean Up  —  BALTIMORE — The Yankees like to take what the opposition gives them - an approach that works out nicely against the Orioles.  —  Falling upon a seventh-inning feast of sloppy relief pitching and defense …

Lefties OK by Amezaga  —  Switch hitter has Girardi's vote of confidence  —  · Manager Joe Girardi is aware of the numbers, but he has his reasons for overlooking them.  —  Despite a .081 average (3 for 37) against left-handed pitching, Girardi has started Alfredo Amezaga …

Twins showing their teeth  —  MINNEAPOLIS - Some more free stuff came in the mail Saturday morning, and, per usual, it was gone in about 10 seconds.  Long before Ozzie Guillen called them a bunch of piranhas, the Minnesota Twins were scavengers of a different kind.

Tigers tail off in scoring, winning as playoffs suddenly in doubt  —  The Detroit Tigers' extended cold spell has them on the verge of trying to avoid a collapse of historic proportions.  —  On Aug. 7, the Tigers were 40 games over .500 and cruising with a 10-game lead in the American League Central.

RIZZUTO FIGHTS ON IN LATEST BATTLE  —  PHIL RIZZUTO always has been a battler, the little underdog who made it all the way to the Hall of Fame.  —  The Scooter will turn 89 later this month, and this has been a difficult year for him and Cora.  Rizzuto couldn't make it to Yankee Stadium for Old-Timer's Day.

A Stealth Swinger Rewrites the Script  —  The day after Freddy Sanchez had surgery to repair his deformed right foot, his mother pulled him through the hallway of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles in a tiny wagon reserved for patients who could not walk.  —  Sanchez was 13 months old …

Beyond Moneyball  —  Why A's Beane succeeds where others have failed  —  It's the man, not the methodology.  —  Moneyball was a superbly written tale, and while the book got it right in that the stunning achievements of the Oakland A's should indeed be attributed to their great general manager Billy Beane …

Sox in own Futures Game: Play out string with eye toward next year  —  It is one of the oldest rules in baseball, and it goes something like this: You don't judge players during spring training, and you certainly do not judge them now, in September, assuming you are out of the playoff race.

Offensive Production Masks Solid Defense  —  Alfonso Soriano's first — and perhaps only — season for the Washington Nationals will be long remembered for the sheer offensive numbers.  He entered Monday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks needing just one stolen base to become …

Now, it's about confidence  —  ST. PETERSBURG - The Devil Rays have just 12 road games remaining this season heading into tonight's series opener in New York, which leaves them little time to reverse their troubles away from Tropicana Field since the All-Star break.

Bautista to meet Bonds in debut with Rockies  —  These are firsts that rarely have a pitcher lining up for seconds.  Denny Bautista makes his Rockies debut tonight, working for the first time in San Francisco, where Colorado melts like Ghirardelli chocolate.  He will also get his first encounter with slugger Barry Bonds.