Buchholz gets start tomorrow  —  Rookie will take Matsuzaka's turn  —  TORONTO - Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he held off on making the announcement in case he needed to use Clay Buchholz out of the bullpen during last night's 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays, but after the game he announced …

Notes: Lo Duca goes off duty early  —  Mets catcher not happy about double-switch move in opener  —  WASHINGTON — Paul Lo Duca was miffed when he was removed from the game in the sixth inning on Monday night.  Teammates said as much following the Mets' unbecoming 12-4 loss to the Nationals.

Postseason Odds  —  Last update: Tue Sep 18 13:16:01 2007 PT  —  Playing the rest of the season a million times  —  See the PECOTA-adjusted version of this report.  —  As well as the ELO-adjusted version of this report.  —  Would you believe this is the second time in a week my fiber-optic internet cable has been cut?

Dr. James Andrews still works on the cutting edge … BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Dr. James Andrews placed the arthroscope in anesthetized Drew Brees, then looked up to view his shredded shoulder on the monitor.  —  "Oh, my goodness," Andrews said in his Louisiana twang to his assisting surgeons.

Cassel gets first win as Padres register 20th shutout  —  SAN DIEGO - Rookie Jack Cassel pitched six solid innings for his first big league win, Khalil Greene hit a two-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 Monday night to keep a 1½-game lead in the wild-card race.

Padilla suspended 7 games, Swisher 3  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Texas Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla was suspended Tuesday for seven games and Athletics outfielder Nick Swisher was given three games for an incident that occurred in the top of the first inning of Sunday's game in Oakland.

Dodgers drop first game of doubleheader  —  Jeff Kent turns to apply a late tag to Colorado Rockies' Cory Sullivan as Sullivan slides into second base with a leadoff double in the fourth inning.  The Rockies won the first game of a doubleheader, 3-1.  —  L.A. squanders several scoring opportunities while falling to Rockies, 3-1.

preGame: Mets at Nationals (Game 2)  —  The Game  —  The first-place Mets (83-66) make an attempt to act like it when they take on the Nationals (67-83) at RFK Stadium this evening, starting at 7:05 pm EDT.  —  The Lineup  — SS Jose Reyes  — 2B Luis Castillo  — 3B David Wright

Irritable Bradley, cranky Dodgers and other baseball stories to watch  —  The games are remembered individually now, often in great detail, sometimes forever.  As the "grind" of baseball's 162-game season gives way to riveting daily theater, September means David Ortiz risking a chronically sore knee …

No Manny, no Coco, no Youk...no problem?  —  Well, we'll see about that.  But Manny is a no-go again today—he last played 8/28—though he hit again and presumably is getting closer.  —  Coco Crisp is out, too, because his back stiffened up Monday night and it's still not good today.

Under The Knife  —  Context and Need  —  I've received a lot of emails over the last couple days asking about this player or that player and HGH.  Almost every player that's made a comeback is now being smeared by the doubt that PEDs bring into the game.  Absent any evidence or even the possibility …