Mets' plight reaches new, creative lows  —  When all the hair balls have been coughed up, when all the gags and chokes at Shea have been silenced, the Mets will be remembered for one thing.  —  They went down creatively, ingeniously.  —  It's not easy to blow a season in such astonishing fashion.

Rivera blows save, Yanks lose in 10; Red Sox clinch East  —  BALTIMORE - For the first time since 1997, the Yankees will enter the postseason as the wild card team, as their streak of nine consecutive AL East titles was snapped last night with an ugly loss to the Orioles.

Paul Lo Duca hurts knee, vows to play  —  Paul Lo Duca insists he will try to play in the Mets' must-win game today despite leaving last night's 7-4 loss to Florida in the eighth inning with a bruised left knee.  —  Lo Duca was struck by a foul ball in the seventh and temporarily remained in the game …

Rookie Clement delivers walk-off win  —  First hit of the night a game-winning home run against Texas  —  SEATTLE — Mariners manager John McLaren talked before the game about the thunder in rookie Jeff Clement's bat.  —  For the second time in three days, Clement delivered a stunning clap …

Despite ERA, Myers could have role in '08  —  Left-hander Mike Myers' ERA has swelled by more than 1.5 runs in his 15 appearances since he joined the White Sox last month.  But that hasn't stopped pitching coach Don Cooper from strongly considering Myers as a part of the Sox's bullpen for 2008.

Cooper's Clubhouse  —  The Astros removed the iterim title from Cecil Cooper yesterday, extending his contract through 2009. … The whole stolen base issue is nonsense.  They attempted .60 steals per game under Garner, .62 under Cooper.  They stole at a poor 66% clip under Garner …

Pirates Notebook: New scouting director expected  —  Ed Creech, the Pirates' scouting director since late 2001, is expected to be removed from that post after this season.  —  Two team sources said that, although general manager Neal Huntington has just begun his new job …

Kazmir to management: Get us some help  —  TORONTO - Scott Kazmir, like others, hopes better days are ahead for the Devil Rays, who with a 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday guaranteed they'll again finish with the majors' worst record.  —  But the young ace said Friday they need …

Delcarmen now is set up well to succeed  —  His 35th homer of the year - a solo shot in the eighth - earned David Ortiz a pat on the head from Mike Lowell.  Ortiz went 3 for 4, rapping a double to go with his homer.  Lowell was 2 for 4.  (BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF)

Nationals deserve heartfelt apologies  —  Last weekend may have been Yom Kippur, but today is my personal day of atonement.  Today is when I try to atone for everything I wrote about the Washington Nationals' 2007 season that turned out to be wrong.  —  It may turn into a seven-part series.

Buchholz won't pitch this season  —  After consulting with pitching coach John Farrell and general manager Theo Epstein, Terry Francona announced this afternoon that Clay Buchholz, the rookie sensation who pitched a no-hitter Sept. 1, will not pitch for the remainder of the season and will not be on the postseason roster.