GLAVINE:1 MORE YEAR  —  FUTURE HALL-OF-FAMER HAVING TOO MUCH'FUN' TO RETIRE NOW  —  THE Mets' pitching picture is a lot brighter with Pedro Martinez's return from shoulder surgery, but there is more positive news.  Tom Glavine wants to come back for a 22nd major-league season.

With one swing, Mets get best of Hudson  —  With 18 games left, Braves fall to sixth in wild-card chase  —  New York — The sound of Mets slugger David Wright hitting a two-run homer out of Shea Stadium on Monday night sounded much like another nail being driven into the Braves' division-title ambitions.

Who Can Afford a 60-HR Man Next Season?  —  Some mysteries are no mystery at all.  Take the ongoing speculation over whether or not Alex Rodriguez will be a Yankee next year.  This is not, in fact, a mysterious issue.  It was clear in January that he would opt out of his current contract …

All for naught  —  Schilling shines but Sox can't solve Kazmir  —  It wasn't long before the "70," left cockeyed by a forceful meeting with Jacoby Ellsbury's back, was tucked back up into its place on the left-field wall.  Representing the number of losses Toronto had accrued …

PLAYOFFPROBLEM  —  NEW MLB RULE COULD HURT YANKS' HOPES  —  Of all the years for the Yankees not to finish with the best record in the AL, this is not the one.  —  Because while the team has taken control of its own regular-season destiny by opening a 31/2-game wild-card lead over the Tigers …

Game delayed  —  It was just announced in the press box that the game has been delayed until 7:15 p.m. so that the groundscrew can deal with the field.  The tarp is still on.  —  (Sorry for the cryptic nature of that last post.  I called it in from the dugout as I was waiting to tape my segment with Tina Cervasio.)

Pudge, Zumaya are injured  —  Catcher leaves with dizziness, while pitcher tears his fingernail  —  DETROIT — For a few precious games last weekend, the Tigers had their main contributors healthy for the first time all season.  That didn't last long.  —  On the same day the Tigers learned …

Peña, Hill Lift Nationals Further Out of the Cellar  —  Isolated howls or cheers occasionally sprang from the crowd before fading into all of those empty, plastic seats.  Individual clapping could be heard.  The organist, for the most part, didn't even bother to try to entertain.

Dodgers' Saito living his unlikely American dream  —  Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt sees a lot of Dennis Eckersley in Takashi Saito.  —  The pinpoint control.  The vicious slider.  The successful conversion from starter to reliever.  The crestfallen reaction to the rare failure.

Andruw Jones and the Nationals  —  When we last considered the idea of the Nats signing Andruw Jones, it was April and he seemed in line for a six or seven year contract.  The idea of bringing in Andruw was to create some goodwill with the fans through some rebuilding years, a la the Gil Meche signing in Kansas City.

Stats Geek: Littlefield wasn't as bad as Bonifay  —  Let baseball fans in other cities amuse themselves with silly arguments about whether Mickey Mantle was better than Joe DiMaggio or Stan Musial topped Albert Pujols.  —  Here in Pittsburgh, Pirates fans do verbal battle over who was worse, Cam Bonifay or Dave Littlefield.

Can The Yankees Win The East?  —  The Yankees are 5 games out, 4 in the loss column.  Two weeks ago, that wouldn't be bad, but with the Yanks and Sox having only 36 remaining games combined, that's a massive deficit.  Even the Yankees' three games against Boston this weekend don't make things …

Rangers' Kinsler keeps his legs  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  It seems to happen every September.  Some rookie hotshot heads into the uncharted territory that extends beyond the minor league season and watches the air slowly but steadily leak out of a promising year.  —  It happened to Michael Young in 2001.