Dice-K pitches Red Sox by Rays in Game 1  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Unhittable most of the game, Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox taught Tampa Bay all about dominant postseason pitching.  —  Matsuzaka took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and the defending World Series champions played …

Manuel's mom dies; he manages Phils in Game 2  —  PHILADELPHIA — A grieving Charlie Manuel was in the dugout for the Philadelphia Phillies' 8-5 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series on Friday, hours after his mother died.  —  The Phillies said that June Manuel died Friday morning …

Canseco ‘Detained’ at Mexican Border For Steroids  —  David Vassegh of KLAC-AM in Los Angeles reports today that Jose Canseco was recently detained at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego by Federal authorities for alleged possession of steroids.  —  Canseco will appear in Federal Court to address the charge on Tuesday.

Mariners' search for new GM picks up steam  —  Woodfork, Bernazard interviewed with Ng, LaCava said to be on deck  —  It was a busy Thursday in the Mariners general manager derby, just one of many to come.  —  According to major league sources, Peter Woodfork, the assistant general manager …

Yanks interested in Peavy  —  Free agency isn't the Yankees' only route toward restocking their starting rotation.  —  If the Padres are rebuilding, then unanimous 2007 NL Cy Young award winnner Jake Peavy might ask to relocate.  And, in the right scenario, the 27-year-old right-hander could switch leagues.

Ray Knight, Mets remain apart  —  As unbelievable as the Mets' 1986 World Series title was, so is this: 22 years have passed and there's still an uneasy separation between the franchise and Ray Knight, the World Series MVP.  —  The relationship soured because of their failed negotiations …

Pregame notes  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — First pitch is in roughly two hours.  What did everyone think of that Manny Ramirez home run?  Pretty cheap, huh?  (For those not watching LA-Philly, Ramirez hit a three-run line drive into the first row in left to make it 8-5 Phils in the fourth.)

Yankees Have Seven Unsold $600,000 Luxury Suites at New Stadium  —  Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) — The New York Yankees have seven luxury suites priced at $600,000 a season left for sale at their new stadium and the club isn't concerned that the economic crisis will hamper its ability to sell them, chief operating officer Lonn Trost said.

WINSLOW HAS SWOLLEN, UM, PARTS?  —  A league source tells us that the talk among the Browns is that tight end Kellen Winslow landed in the Cleveland Clinic because his balls swelled to the size of grapefruits.  (We think that technical term is testiculus coconutus.)

Out of Left Field: The Errors In Counting Black Ballplayers  —  For 61 years, ever since Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier and won the National League's Rookie of the Year Award in the same season, African-American players have starred in the majors.

AA Interview With Curtis Granderson  —  I don't know what it is, but I'm kind of anti website interviews.  Don't get me wrong, I think other sites do it well, but there just aren't enough people that I like to do them on a regular basis.  I've of course interviewed Gus Johnson …