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.

Sox are left hurting  —  Thomas's 3 homers sink depleted team  —  TORONTO - Daisuke Matsuzaka may not know this, because he only dresses as one, but the Teletubbies are known for saying "bye-bye" three times.  —  Last night, so did Frank Thomas of the Blue Jays.

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.

Padilla suspended 7 games, Swisher 3  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (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 first inning of Sunday's game in Oakland.

Agent: Cuban slugger Ramirez coming to MLB … Baseball agent Jaime Torres told ESPN that Alexei Ramirez, who led the Cuban league in home runs this season as an infielder/outfielder for Pinar del Rio, has left Cuba and intends to file for residency in the Dominican Republic.

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

Indians hit 4 HRs to beat Tigers 7-4  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Indians lowered the boom, boom, boom, boom on the Detroit Tigers.  —  Travis Hafner hit a three-run homer, and Cleveland unloaded for four homers off Justin Verlander on Tuesday night in a 7-4 victory over the Tigers …

Yankees top Orioles, gain ground on Red Sox  —  The Yankees' bullpen phone might have been broken but the scoreboard was working just fine.  —  As the Yankees muddled through a 3-hour and 54-minute, 8-5 victory over the Orioles at the Stadium last night, their fans, players and manager already …

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.

Read the tea leaves with me … Something's been bothering me for a while, so I'm going to throw this out — the broadcast crew operates as a promotional wing of the team.  They're there to sell the product.  But like any propaganda wing, there's a lot of subtext you can read if, like me …

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.

Sheets leaves with hamstring problem  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers ace Ben Sheets left Tuesday night's game against the Houston Astros before the second inning with tightness in his left hamstring.  —  Sheets threw 12 pitches in the first, giving up a double to Josh Anderson and an RBI single to Lance Berkman.

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.

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 …