Tom has plenty left for playoffs  —  You couldn't blame Tom Glavine if he felt a little strange last night when he took the mound against the Florida Marlins.  Not a single Mets regular was in the starting lineup.  There was still a giddy, woozy, slightly hung-over feeling at Shea Stadium …

Peavy, Duncan have early spat  —  LOS ANGELES - Considering what came later, the verbal flare-up between Padres pitcher Jake Peavy and Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach Mariano Duncan was just the first of many incendiary moments.  It was a bit of gamesmanship, perhaps, in a game that certainly needed none.

As Yankees March On, a Reminder of Rodriguez's Summertime Swoon  —  Jason Giambi faced a crowd of reporters at his locker before and after Tuesday's game.  The earlier subject was awkward.  The later subject was painful.  —  Before the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3 …

Guillen: Blame me for shortcomings  —  Manager takes heat for champs' second-half struggles  —  CHICAGO — When Ozzie Guillen unleashed his now famous verbal tirade in the direction of Magglio Ordonez late last April, there was no mistaking the intent of Guillen's venom or the point …

Strain halts Johnson's year  —  · Starter Josh Johnson's fabulous rookie season likely is over.  —  Johnson returned to South Florida on Tuesday to have his right forearm examined.  An MRI revealed a strained ulnar collateral ligament but no tear.  The ulnar collateral is the ligament …

Notes: Soriano's top feat is off the field  —  Slugger grateful to have won over the Washington fans  —  WASHINGTON — Left fielder Alfonso Soriano finds himself in a 2-for-25 slump that has dropped his batting average to .285, but he's not worried about it.  He believes he will get out of it because he is comfortable at the plate.

Don't expect Pedro at 100%  —  Pedro Martinez threw a bullpen session on Monday in preparation for his start tomorrow night and said he felt no ill effects from his start Friday in Pittsburgh.  However for the first time, he sounded like he isn't sure what to expect from himself in the postseason.

'One of the luckiest people on the earth'  —  The first clue that my cell towers were intact came right around the trading deadline, approximately a month after my aneurysm.  By that time, I had been transferred from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and the Islands.

Notes: Braun, Gallardo class of Minors  —  Anderson, Gwynn find way home; Nix, Gross recovering  —  MILWAUKEE — Some consider the jump from Class A to Double-A to be the toughest a player has to make in his Minor League development.  It didn't seem to faze two Brewers farmhands honored Tuesday.

Firing Buck would be folly  —  ARLINGTON - Dropped by The Ballpark on Tuesday night, probably for the last time this season.  Just to say goodbye to another year, to hopes dashed again...and to Buck Showalter.  —  You know, just in case.  —  I don't think Showalter will be fired, and I know he shouldn't be.

Kendall sets his sights on first postseason party  —  notebook  —  OAKLAND — A's catcher Jason Kendall has played in 1,536 games during his major-league career, but not one in the postseason.  That will almost surely change in a few weeks.  —  "It's what you play for," Kendall said.