Cano benched for lack of hustle on fielding play  —  NEW YORK — Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was benched Sunday after manager Joe Girardi became upset with his lack of hustle on a fielding play against the Tampa Bay Rays.  —  Cliff Floyd led off the fourth inning with a hard grounder between …

Yankees Offense Leads Team to Victory  —  For a day, the Yankees enjoyed the kind of offense they thought their $200 million-plus lineup would produce all season, with Alex Rodriguez hitting a first-inning grand slam and Derek Jeter's fifth-inning homer tying the Yankees legend Lou Gehrig …

Vasquez leads White Sox over Tigers  —  CHICAGO — Javier Vazquez took a shutout into the eighth, Alexei Ramirez homered and the Chicago White Sox hung on to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 in the first game of a doubleheader on a soggy Sunday after two days of rainouts.

Don't Look at Us Now  —  About the best thing that the Royals have to say about themselves is that they aren't the Pirates.  The Pirates matched one of the most inglorious records in baseball history a week ago today when they clinched their 16th consecutive losing season, matching the 1933-48 Phillies streak of futility.

Ed Bouchette on the Steelers: Tom Brady is out.  Matt Cassel is in  —  A weekly look inside the team, the issues & the questions  —  Bill Belichick, this is your time to shine.  —  Or not.  —  An interesting scenario will play out in New England over the course of the next 15 games …

Girardi is as delusional as ever  —  Another day, another couple of games mercifully knocked off the schedule for the Yankees, who'd like nothing more than a fast, under-the-radar exit to 2009.  But it won't be that easy for the $200 million Bombers, who are doing the equivalent of a September perp walk.

Niese cruises, Mets shut out Braves to earn split  —  Rookie Jonathon Niese threw eight scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Braves, 5-0, to earn a doubleheader split.  (Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr. / September 13, 2008)  —  When you combine what happened to the Mets last September …

Fire Away  —  Tim Lincecum threw 138 pitches against San Diego last night.  —  Let me make this as clear as I possibly can.  —  That is utterly, completely, and colossally reckless, stupid, arrogant, and just plain lazy.  Send in all the nasty emails calling me a geek who's never played you like.

Figgins' hit in 9th gives Angels sweep  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—Chone Figgins singled home the winning run in the ninth inning and Mark Teixeira hit his 200th career homer as the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels beat Seattle 4-3 Sunday for a four-game sweep.