LA uses same NLDS rotation for NLCS  —  Against Phillies, Lowe will be followed by Billingsley, Kuroda  —  PHILADELPHIA — Not messing with success, Dodgers manager Joe Torre on Wednesday named the same starting pitchers for the first three games of the National League Championship Series …

Cubs pick up Harden's '09 option  —  Led Major League pitchers with .183 batting average against  —  CHICAGO — The Cubs took care of one offseason project Wednesday and picked up the $7 million option for pitcher Rich Harden for 2009.  —  If the Cubs had not picked up the option …

Facts About Manny Ramirez  —  Fox broadcaster Tim McCarver joined the chorus-well, actually he stepped in front of the chorus, grabbed a mike, waved down the band and called for a spotlight-Wednesday, slamming Manny Ramirez based largely on the same secondhand stories that have passed around for more than two months.

Transcript: Terry Francona's Wednesday press conference  —  On ALCS pitching rotation  —  We're going to go, Daisuke, Becket, Lester, Wakefield now.  We reserve the right if something crazy happens in the middle to make a change but that's the way we're set up to go.  The reasoning is actually pretty simple.

Union may play role in where Sabathia goes  —  CC Sabathia told reporters this past week that his experience with the Brewers opened up his world.  That no longer was he married to the idea of using his impending free agency to relocate his job near his West Coast home.

When Philadelphia Was a Winner  —  PHILADELPHIA — If you could relive the happiest moment of your childhood, what would it be?  I'm lucky, I suppose, because I never have to think twice.  —  It was Oct. 8, 1983, a quarter of a century ago Wednesday.  I was 8, and nothing mattered as much as the Philadelphia Phillies.

A Prayer for the Tampa Bay Rays  —  SURE, CUBS SUPPORTERS HAVE BEEN SUFFERING LONGER, BUT RAYS FANS HAVE IT MUCH, MUCH WORSE.  —  Throw a rock in Chicagoland these days, and you're liable to hit a mourning Cubs fan who's old enough to remember Gabby Hartnett's spry youth.

RENTAL CAR TROUBLE FOR BURRESS  —  The Giants shouldn't feel bad.  They weren't alone in having a hard time getting in touch with Plaxico Burress.  —  He also has dodged calls from Khoury Alternative Claims Management, a San Antonio-based third-party administrator trying to catch …

Cano, Kuo and Abreu  —  1. The more I talk to Yankee officials the more I become convinced that Robinson Cano will not be dealt.  That is because the Yanks plan on valuing him as the 2006-7 Cano and not last year's discouraging version.  As I canvas executives from other teams, however …

How the economy is affecting sports fans … If you're a typical sports fan — you know, the kind who worries about gas prices, tuition and the trade deadline — New York's new stadiums might look as if they belong behind a boutique window.  —  In the Bronx looms the skeleton of Yankee Stadium 2.0 …