Matsui and Sheffield: Future Is All in the Wrist  —  Hideki Matsui has told Japanese reporters that he wants to reclaim his starting position in left field because it is vitally important to him to help the Yankees on both offense and defense.  Gary Sheffield told everyone …

14 in a row: 'You knew the end was coming'  —  ATLANTA (AP) — It had to end sometime.  —  How about 1992?  The Atlanta Braves were coming off their worst-to-first season, surely a fluke if there ever was one.  They were perennially one of baseball's worst teams, the guys who passed …

Maine squeeze to pen possible  —  MIAMI - Willie Randolph said he may use John Maine in the bullpen the final week of the season, giving him some comfort level there in case the Mets need him in that role in October.  —  "Right now he's starting Sunday.  After that we'll see where we are," the manager said.

Liriano exits early  —  Twins lefthander Francisco Liriano is expected to miss the rest of the season after injuring his left elbow on Wednesday for the second time in six weeks.  —  Liriano left the game in the third inning after throwing a pitch to Oakland's Bobby Kielty.

Lots of reasons why it ended for Braves  —  When you finish first 14 times over 14 completed seasons, you assume every year is your year.  For the imperial Braves, this one finally wasn't.  The Mets made it official Tuesday night, winning in Florida to eliminate the Braves from the NL East race.

Wakefield takes on Orioles in return  —  Boston (77-67) at Baltimore (62-81), 7:05 p.m. ET  —  After nearly two months of being sidelined, veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will be back on the mound Wednesday night at Camden Yards, when the Red Sox play the second game of this three-game series against the Orioles.

Cubs' Rusch hospitalized  —  Glendon Rusch was hospitalized Tuesday with a blood clot in his right lung, the Cubs announced before Wednesday's game.  —  The Cubs team doctor evaluated Rusch Tuesday night and sent him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.

Izturis' walk-off single beats LA in 11  —  Cubs overcome six errors, seven-run deficit to beat Dodgers  —  CHICAGO — The Cubs' 9-8, extra-inning win over the Dodgers will never be replayed on ESPN Classic, but it might show up on the Cartoon Network.  —  Cesar Izturis hit a walk-off RBI single …

The myth of clutch  —  With the MVP races in both leagues going down the wire, you are going to hear and read a lot about "big hits" and "clutchness" in the next few weeks.  The eventual winners probably will have some type of signature moment — a walkoff home run, most likely — to hang his campaign on.

Mariners announce two Major League staff moves  —  Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Bill Bavasi announced today that Mariners bench coach Ron Hassey and Mariners administrative coach Dan Rohn are no longer members of the Major League coaching staff.

One Enchanted Evening  —  As I was taking notes during last night's games, I was thinking that today's column would be about "a night at the races."  You had key games up and down the scoreboard, with the AL Central, AL wild card, NL West and NL wild card being contested, albeit not in head-to-head action.