Padres on losing end of longest one-game tiebreaker in history  —  DENVER - Trevor Hoffman swallowed hard and answered question after question last night after the Rockies dealt him a blown save that could haunt Hoffman and the Padres for some time.  —  "The finality of it all just comes roaring down pretty quick," Hoffman said.

Young named NL Comeback Player  —  First baseman takes advantage of second chance by Nats  —  WASHINGTON — Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young is living proof of what a person can do if given a second chance.  On Tuesday, Young was rewarded for taking advantage of his second chance …

Mets to retain Randolph despite epic collapse  —  The Mets' historic collapse won't cost manager Willie Randolph his job.  —  Mets general manager Omar Minaya announced at a news conference Tuesday that Randolph would return for the 2008 season.  —  New York went 5-12 down the stretch …

Source: Mets lefty Schoeneweis received steroids … Scott Schoeneweis, the veteran New York Mets reliever and a survivor of testiticular cancer, received six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2003 and 2004, ESPN has learned.

Keeping Pudge is a must  —  DETROIT — When the fun games end, the dangerous games begin.  And make no mistake — this is one dangerous offseason for the Tigers.  —  The Tigers slipped this season because of injuries and suspect pitching, and it's probably not a permanent slip.

Pitching rotation top priority in Marlins' offseason  —  For an organization that at this time last year appeared squared away with its starters for years to come, the Marlins will devote much of this offseason to improving that area.  —  President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest identified …

Matsuzaka gets call for Game 2  —  Sox staff impressed by most recent outing  —  Because of a combination of Daisuke Matsuzaka's dominance in his last outing and a chance to get extra rest for Curt Schilling, the Red Sox have decided to use Matsuzaka as their No. 2 starter …

MLB shatters attendance record  —  Fourth consecutive record year for baseball; Total surpasses 79.5 million  —  Major League Baseball announced today that the 2007 regular season has closed with a record attendance total of 79,502,524, breaking the overall single-season record for the fourth consecutive year.

Glavine is not the answer  —  In a purely professional capacity, he's my all-time favorite athlete.  I was sorry when he left and happy when he won No. 300.  It's always a pleasure to see him wherever and whenever.  That said ...  I wouldn't bring back Tom Glavine.

THE REGGIE STANDARD  —  The question of how the Yankees always get their man, how virtually all the world's great supermodels, chefs, actors, designers eventually gravitate toward New York, can be answered in one phrase: star power.  New York compared to anywhere else is like Broadway compared to Shakespeare in the park.

Playoff Health Report, AL  —  I'll steal from myself for the format of this year's Playoff Health Report.  The color designation speaks to how much the player will be affected by his injury, with RED meaning that the player should be considered a non-factor, YELLOW meaning that the injury …

Sardinha asked to go with N.Y. to Cleveland for ALDS  —  Bronson Sardinha, a 2001 Kamehameha Schools graduate who was called up by the New York Yankees last month, has been asked to accompany the team for the AL Division Series that starts Thursday in Cleveland, according to his father, Dexter Sardinha.

Carlos Delgado vows to rebound from injury, slump  —  As Carlos Delgado Delgado rehabbed from elbow surgery last winter, he did so with the knowledge that he produced big numbers in his first career postseason despite the Mets' seven-game loss to the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS.

All bases covered in latest Mets debacle  —  Still the anger dissipated fairly quickly, except for primary target Glavine.  —  Stephen A. Smith did some obligatory yelling to open his ESPN 1050 show, but two hours later, the prize for most colorful rant went to Michael Kay, who called the Mets …