September swoon fails to give Randolph the Willies  —  WASHINGTON - Late yesterday morning, hours after another wrenching night at the ballpark, the manager of the Mets was lying on his bed on the 17th floor of the team hotel, a home-run ball away from the Pentagon.  His cell phone rang.

Running on empty  —  Lifeless Sox swept away by Blue Jays  —  TORONTO - Maybe if the Yankees weren't involved, it would be different.  Maybe, despite another mind-numbing Red Sox defeat, this one featuring a grand slam surrendered by Jonathan Papelbon in a 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays last night …

Pujols' season might be over  —  Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols concedes his season may be over barring improvement in a strained left calf that forced him from the lineup shortly before Tuesday night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies and left him to hobble to first base after a late-inning pinch-hit appearance.

Griffey leaves Reds game in 8th inning with injury  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Cincinnati Reds right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. had to leave Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning after straining his lower abdomen as he tried to make a throw to the infield.

Notes: Washington wants Sosa back  —  Hunter interested in the Rangers; Blalock reports improvement  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Add Sammy Sosa to manager Ron Washington's wish list for 2008.  —  Sosa, who is finishing the season as a part-time player, has said that he wants to keep playing for the Rangers in 2008 …

McGwire has hand in Holliday's hitting  —  As part of Matt Holliday's transformation from all-star to leading National League MVP candidate, he received a little assist from Big Mac.  —  In August 2006, former Oakland and St. Louis great Mark McGwire visited Coors Field as a guest of former teammates Mike Gallego and Jamie Quirk.

Gulf Coast League Top 20 Prospects List  —  Subscribers can read scouting reports on all 20 players (Click here to subscribe)  —  The Rookie-level Gulf Coast League is always packed with tons of potential, but this season was difficult to gauge, especially from a numbers standpoint.

...And Down the Stretch They Come!  —  The famous horse racing call is an appropriate description as Major League Baseball winds down its six-month regular season with four division titles and two wild cards still to be determined.  The postseason horses are on the board in the American League …

Pettitte gets 200, Yanks close in on Sox  —  NEW YORK — Andy Pettitte stayed strong into the eighth inning to log his 200th career win and help the Yankees get a series sweep of the Orioles on Wednesday, securing a 2-1 victory and gaining important ground on October.

A-ROD'S CLUTCH SHOWING WEAR  —  Signs of Fall are everywhere.  The temperature has dipped, leaves are beginning to change colors and Alex Rodriguez looks tighter than Britney Spears' pants.  —  The Yankee third baseman went 0-for-4 last night, making him 3-for-29 in his last eight games.

Joe Torre hopes Willie Randolph can manage down stretch  —  Eventually the day will come when Joe from Westchester will ring Willie in New Jersey and they'll share a good laugh.  Maybe they'll kvetch a bit about their mistress' many moods, how she's managed to turn both men's stomachs into mush for good chunks of the summer.

The value of a batted ball  —  Here at The Hardball Times, we like to talk about batted ball statistics.  We think they can be useful and illuminating and there's still a lot to that can be learned about player performance by looking at batted ball numbers.

Carpenter won't return to broadcast  —  Washington Nationals television announcer Bob Carpenter has been told by the club his contract will not be extended when it expires after the season, sources with knowledge of the situation said yesterday.  —  Carpenter, who has done play-by-play …