SATURDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day Randy Wolf Extended his scoreless streak to 27 innings, pitching a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over the Mets. IP H R SO 9 4 0 10 Hero of the day Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning with a two-run single to help Oakland defeat the Twins 6-3. Goat of the day Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon made his first error in 250 games to allow the winning run to score in Boston's 8-7 loss to the Indians. Injury report Cubs starter Mark Prior left at the top of the sixth inning with a strained left hamstring. Cubs OF Sammy Sosa missed his seventh and eighth straight games with a sore back and neck after sitting out a doubleheader. He is not expected back to play before Monday. Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen didn't play with a strained right shoulder. He's day-to-day. Yankees outfielder Shane Spencer left the game with a stiff left hamstring. He's day-to-day. Stat of the day The Mets completed the worst home month in NL history after falling 1-0 to the Phillies. New York lost its 13th straight game at Shea Stadium. Streak of the day The Oakland Athletics won their 17th game in a row with a 6-3 victory over the Twins. It's the majors' longest winning streak in 49 years. The last word ''I don't know how many times I could use the word 'frustrated.' I'd like to come up with some other words that mean the same thing." -- Mets catcher Mike Piazza on New York's 13-game home losing streak.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Red Sox at Indians
Boston: Manager Grady Little said he will decide Tuesday on whether RHP Pedro Martinez can pitch that night against the New York Yankees. Martinez has a strained left hip and has been directed by a doctor to do nothing for a couple days. "We will remain cautious with Pedro as we have all season,'' Little said. RHP Frank Castillo would start if Martinez is unavailable. ... OF Manny Ramirez was hitting .381 in August entering Saturday night's game with seven home runs and 19 RBI. ... OF Johnny Damon has not committed an error in 249 straight games leading all major league outfielders. Darren Lewis hold the all-time record for an outfielder with 392 games from 1990-1994 with San Francisco.

Cleveland: LHP C.C. Sabathia is the only pitcher that has been in the Indians' starting rotation since opening day. RHP Bartolo Colon and LHP Chuck Finley were traded, RHP Danys Baez became the closer last week and RHP Ryan Drese was sent to Triple-A Buffalo. Their replacements this week are rookie RHP Ricardo Rodriguez, RHP Charles Nagy, RHP Jaret Wright and LHP Terry Mulholland, who will make his first start for the Indians on Tuesday. ... RHP Jason Phillips is being evaluated by a doctor in Pittsburgh and is expected to need surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow. Phillips is on the disabled list. He was 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA in eight appearances with the Indians. ... RHP Jake Westbrook has a bone bruise in his right elbow and will not pitch for the rest of the season. Westbrook had elbow surgery in February. He was 1-3 with a 5.83 ERA in 12 appearances for the Indians after a rehab assignment in the minors.

Yankees at Blue Jays
New York: OF Rondell White is in a 4-for-31 slump, which has lowered his average to .239. "He just seems to be pressing,'' manager Joe Torre said. "His swing just doesn't seem to be relaxed and fluid right now.'' ... Torre said he will DH Jason Giambi more when 1B Nick Johnson is activated from the 15-day DL on Monday. "He's played a lot of first since Nick has been gone,'' said Torre, who wants to rest Giambi more. ... Torre said OF Juan Rivera, who was recalled on Friday, will get some playing time. ... Starter Orlando Hernandez is 4-7 in 11 career starts against Toronto.

Toronto: The Blue Jays are 25-24 since the All-Star break. ... RHP Corey Thurman will make his first major league start on Monday against the Chicago White Sox. Thurman has replaced RHP Steve Parris in the rotation. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said on Friday that Parris is going through a dead arm period. ... Reliever Cliff Politte has not allowed a run in his last 11 appearances (10 innings). ... The Blue Jays recalled outfielder Jayson Werth from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday. Werth, also a catcher, hit .257 with 18 home runs and 82 RBI at Triple-A Syracuse.

White Sox at Tigers
Chicago: 2B D'Angelo Jimenez has been impressive since being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. He's hit .333 (six-for-18) with two runs scored in four games. He's batted leadoff in three of the games. "Jimenez looks like a real player,'' manager Jerry Manuel said. ... 3B Joe Crede has three home runs and 11 RBI in his last three games. "Joe Crede seems to be getting very comfortable at the plate,'' Manuel said.

Detroit: OF Wendell Magee is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right big toe on Wednesday. He last played Monday. ... The Tigers will likely activate rookie SS Ramon Santiago from the DL Sunday. He underwent surgery on a broken right hamate bone on July 24. According to manager Luis Pujols, the switch-hittter is swinging the bat 100 percent right-handed but is still sometimes sore left-handed. The plan, to start, is to play Santiago only against righties.

Devil Rays at Rangers
Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay called up RHP Lance Carter from Triple-A Durham and optioned RHP Brandon Backe to Durham. The Devil Rays also designed RHP Jose Veras for assignment. ... 1B Aubrey Huff remains among the AL's hottest hitters. Entering Saturday night's game against Texas, Huff had hit safely in 23 of 26 games and was batting .364 since July 19 (64-for-176). Huff's average was second in the AL over that span behind Bernie Williams (.413).

Texas: 1B Rafael Palmeiro says Texas pitchers' inability to throw strikes makes it tough for the fielders to concentrate. "We need to have shorter innings,'' Palmeiro said. "It's hard to stay focused. That's not an excuse, that's just reality. We need to get the defense off the field and get the offense to the plate.'' The Texas staff has allowed the second most walks in the AL, surpassed only by the Devil Rays. ... Texas entered Saturday night with a 15-11 record in August, the team's most victories in a month since going 17-10 in July 2001 and the most wins in August since an 18-12 month in 1999.

Orioles at Angels
Baltimore: RHP Scott Erickson, who made his first relief appearance since 1997 last Sunday, returned to the rotation Saturday night after allowing at least six earned runs in four of his previous six starts. ... The Orioles took a seven-game losing streak into Saturday, their longest since a 10-game slide last Sept. 1-19. They lost their last eight games before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then dropped their next two after baseball resumed on Sept. 18. ... RHP Sidney Ponson is expected to bespending more than two weeks on the DL because of tendinitis in his shoulder. ... Mike Bordick's home run Friday night was his first since July 15, the night he broke his right kneecap in a collision with Seattle SS Carlos Guillen and ended up on the DL for a month. In 11 games since his return, he is 7-for-35. ... Baltimore's defense leads the majors with 152 double plays. ... LHP Buddy Groom has allowed just three runs in 31 1-3 innings over his last 34 appearances, and took a 1.56 ERA into Saturday night's game. ... C Geronimo Gil, one of seven rookies the Orioles have on the roster, has committed a major league-worst 18 passed balls. ... The Orioles have had five rookie pitchers start a game for them this season. The 34 combined victories by Rodrigo Lopez, Travis Driskill, John Stephens -- and relievers Rick Bauer and Jorge Julio -- represent the highest total by a rookie contingent in franchise history.

Anaheim: Garret Anderson's next RBI will make him the first player in franchise history with three straight seasons of 100 or more RBI. ... LHP Dennis Cook is expected to be activated Sunday after missing 52 games because of a torn labrum and rotator cuff that has kept him sidelined since July 5. ... RF Tim Salmon, recovering from a bruised left hand, took 20 swings off a pitching machine and got a lot closer to returning to the lineup. "It felt good -- other than being overmatched,'' Salmon joked. ... About 4{ hours before Saturday night's game, Scioscia had David Eckstein, Adam Kennedy, Benji Gil, Orlando Palmeiro and newcomer Desmond Figgins on the field working on their bunting. The Angels are fourth in the AL with 39 sacrifice bunts, but have botched a number of bunt plays in recent games. ... The Angels make their only visit to Baltimore Sept. 6-8. After that, they play their final 20 games against AL West opponents. ... 3B Troy Glaus entered Saturday with 17 errors. In his three previous full seasons in the majors, he never committed fewer than 19. ... Adam Kennedy entered Saturday 34-for-86 this month, raising his average from .293 to .316. The only Angels 2B to hit .300 or better in a season and play in at least 100 games was Johnny Ray, who batted .308 in 1988.

Royals at Mariners
Kansas City: 1B Mike Sweeney was 3-for-18 with one RBI in his last five games and had gone 11 consecutive games without an extra-base hit. He returned to the Royals' lineup Aug. 13 after missing 30 games because of a lower back and hip strain. "I've been hitting balls into left field and that's not me,'' said Sweeney, a right-handed hitter. "My stroke is up through the middle. I've just gotten out of my game since I came back.'' Sweeney led the AL with a .344 batting average going into Saturday night's game with Seattle. ... The Royals' bullpen had a 2.52 ERA in August after reaching a mark of 5.44 July 31.

Seattle: The Mariners watched former Seattle player Raul Ibanez beat them with a pair of two-run doubles in a 5-1 loss to Kansas City on Friday. The Mariners didn't offer Ibanez a contract after the 2000 season and he was signed by the Royals. He's hitting .290 with 22 homers and 93 RBI this season. "When he was here, he had a little sweep in his swing,'' Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. "He's gotten rid of it. He's quicker to the ball. He's always worked hard. He's a good kid.'' ... Piniella said the Mariners will bring up "four or five'' players from the minor leagues when they make their September callups. He wouldn't name them, but most of the callups are expected to be pitchers. "We don't have any position players to bring up here to play,'' he said. ... Piniella gave DH Edgar Martinez, who is in an 0-for-17 slump, the night off although he said he might use Martinez as a PH. The Mariners have a day game with Kansas City Sunday. ... Piniella said RHP Joel Pineiro will start Monday against Minnesota and LHP Jamie Moyer will go Wednesday against the Twins, with RHP Freddy Garcia opening a 10-game road trip Friday in Kansas City.

Twins at Athletics
Minnesota: 2B Denny Hocking was scratched from the starting lineup because he has the flu. He's been having dizzy spells and lightheadedness, manager Ron Gardenhire said. Hocking was replaced by Luis Rivas, who was supposed to have the day off. ... The Twins plan no call-ups Sunday because Triple-A Edmonton is in the Pacific Coast League playoff race. Any call-ups from that team will happen after the team's season is done. "We're not going to break up that team. And we're trying to win the division and don't want all those guys just sitting on the bench,'' Gardenhire said. ... Injured RHP Jack Cressend has had a setback in his rehabilitation. Cressend, who went on the disabled list June 10 with a strained right rotator cuff, had discomfort during a rehab outing Thursday night in Florida and again Friday morning when he woke up. He will return to Minnesota to be re-evaluated.

Oakland: 1B Scott Hatteberg got a regular day off. ... Manager Art Howe said he would announce his September call-ups soon, perhaps after Saturday night's game, and one of them might join the team Sunday. ... RHP Cory Lidle entered his start having not allowed an earned run in all of August. ... The A's were trying to match the franchise record win streak of 17 games set by the Philadelphia A's in 1931. ... The Coliseum's outfield looked much improved from Friday night when the field was still beat up from two Raiders NFL exhibition games, including one Thursday. "They did a nice job camouflaging it, and they watered it,'' Howe said.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Braves at Expos
Atlanta: Closer John Smoltz got his 48th save Saturday and is now nine saves short of Bobby Thigpen's major league record saves set with the Chicago White Sox in 1990. Smoltz needs two more saves to become the seventh pitcher to reach 50 saves in a season. Randy Myers set the NL record with 53 saves for the Cubs in 1993 and San Diego's Trevor Hoffman tied the mark in 1998. Oakland's Dennis Eckersley (1992) and the Cubs' Rod Beck (1998) had 51-save seasons and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera saved 50 games last season. ... RHP Jason Marquis has lost his last three starts, allowing 15 earned runs over 11 1-3 innings for an 11.91 ERA. ... The Braves are 65-28 (.699) since May 15.

Montreal: Manager Frank Robinson celebrated his 67th birthday Saturday. ... OF Brad Wilkerson leads all NL rookies with 18 homers. Wilkerson is one homer short of tying the Expos' rookie record shared by Andre Dawson and Larry Walker. Dawson hit 19 homers in 1977 and was named the NL's Rookie of the Year. Walker tied the mark in 1990.

Cardinals at Cubs
St. Louis: Tony La Russa tied Gene Mauch (1,902) for ninth place on the all-time managerial victory list when the Cards won Saturday's opener. He leads all active managers in wins. Casey Stengel holds down eighth place with 1,905 and Leo Durocher seventh with 2,008. ... Closer Jason Isringhausen was unavailable because of a strained right shoulder. Isringhausen was warming up to pitch the ninth inning Friday when he felt something in his shoulder and was unable to pitch. He's day to day. Dave Veres has pitched the final innings of the last two games and would be the fill-in closer. ... The Cards have been in first or tied for the top spot for 74 straight days. ... Luther Hackman made his sixth start Saturday and has also pitched out of the bullpen 31 times. "With this team, just keeping them in the game will get you a lot of wins,'' he said. ... Albert Pujols is just one of five Cardinals to hit 30 homers in back-to-back seasons, joining Stan Musial (twice), Ray Lankford, Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds. ... Eduardo Perez now has six career pinch-hit homers.

Chicago: Sammy Sosa missed his seventh straight game and is not expected back before Monday because of a sore back and neck. By sitting out the second game, Sosa will have missed 11 games this season, the same number he missed in the previous five years combined. It's the most games Sosa has missed since 1996 when he played in just 124, sidelined for the final six weeks by a broken bone in his hand. Sosa is still seven homers shy of 500 for his career. ... Mark Prior had to leave in the top of the sixth inning after throwing one warmup pitch after straining his left hamstring running the bases in the fifth. He said he should know Sunday how severe the injury is. ... To make room for second-game starter Jason Bere, who came off the disabled list, the Cubs optioned Friday's losing pitcher, Carlos Zambrano, to Triple-A Iowa. ... The last split doubleheader at Wrigley Field came on Sept. 7, 1931 when the Cardinals swept the Cubs 1-0 and 8-3. ... The Cubs announced the signing of Purdue right-hander Chadd Blasko, the 36th overall pick in the June draft. He was 5-3 with a 2.98 ERA for the Boilermakers last season.

Pirates at Marlins
Pittsburgh: Starter Kris Benson (6-6) was seeking to improve his season record to above .500 for the first time since July 14, 2000, when he was 8-7. ... In the previous eight games before Saturday night, Pittsburgh starters were 3-2 with a 1.94 ERA.

Florida: Manager Jeff Torborg was expected to announce following Saturday night's game against Pittsburgh which players would be called up after the rosters expand Sunday. ... Florida began the night 40-29 at Pro Player Stadium. That was the fourth-best home victory total in the NL behind Arizona (44), Atlanta (43) and Houston (41). ... Marlins hitting coach Bill Robinson tossed more than a dozen baseballs into the stands above the Florida dugout following batting practice.

Phillies at Mets
Philadelphia: When Randy Wolf walked to the mound with a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning, he wanted to turn out the lights on the Mets -- literally. It was getting gloomy at Shea Stadium, and suddenly the lights were turned on to Wolf's dismay. "I was out there thinking how dark it was out there, but I wanted them to keep it off,'' he said. Wolf gave up a two-out single to Edgardo Alfonzo and walked John Valentin on a 3-1 pitch. "I was kicking myself. I tried to make Valentin hit the ball. But after I walked him, I went right after Cedeno.'' Wolf struck out Roger Cedeno for the fourth time to end the game. ... At 68-66, the Phillies hope to exceed last year's win total of 86. "Having two winning seasons in a row would be big for us going into spring training next year,'' Randy Wolf said. ... Manager Larry Bowa is enthused about the organization's direction. "We got a high ceiling on this team. We're ranked in the top five in farm systems. Since I've come back, it's the best I've seen this farm system,'' he said.

New York: The Mets have been outscored 75-34 during their 13-game home losing streak. ... The Mets recalled INF Marco Scutaro from Triple-A Norfolk. He was batting .319 with seven home runs and 28 RBI. He is 2-for-14 for the Mets this season. ... Edgardo Alfonzo singled twice, making him 43-for-105 (.410) in his last 27 games. ... Raul Gonzalez got his first hit for the Mets at Shea Stadium with a clean single to center in the first inning. He was acquired two weeks ago from Cincinnati in the trade for Shawn Estes. ... At 61-72, the Mets matched a season low by falling 11 games under .500.

Brewers at Reds
Milwaukee: The Brewers traded INF Mark Loretta and cash to Houston for two players to be named. Loretta had homered in Friday night's game, his second homer of the season and the 750th hit of his career. "This trade, like the Jamey Wright and Alex Ochoa trades recently, allows us to continue to amass good, young talent for the future,'' said Dean Taylor, the Brewers' senior vice president and general manager. ... Alex Sanchez got his first career home run in the second inning off Reds starter Chris Reitsma. Jorge Fabregas also homered in the first, his first of the season.

Cincinnati: The Reds activated IF/OF Brandon Larson from the DL. He took the roster spot of pitcher Gabe White, who was placed on the DL on Thursday with a strained left groin. Larson had been on the DL since Aug. 16 with a broken left big toe, after being hit the night before by a Randy Johnson pitch. Larson is hitting .292 with four home runs and 13 RBI. ... Ken Griffey Jr. was held out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive game following a twisting, game-ending catch at the warning track Thursday. Griffey only slightly aggravated his right hamstring and was being held out as a precaution, manager Bob Boone said.

Dodgers at Astros
Los Angeles: Manager Jim Tracy doesn't need to say anything to the Dodgers about the rest of the season. He just points to the schedule. "When you're playing the clubs that we're playing, when you're playing the type of games that we will be playing through these last 29 of the season, you don't need to be motivated,'' Tracy said. "Self-motivation, it's all right there. The waking up in the morning, the anxiousness to want to come to the park. There's something very special sitting there, a very special opportunity for all of us as a group of people, and I don't need somebody to interrupt my day to hold a special meeting to make an announcement as to where we're at.''

Houston: Lance Berkman doesn't think a strike would have killed baseball. "People are always going to play baseball in America,'' Berkman said. "I don't care what you do, it's not going to be the end of the game. I don't care how many people say 'We'll never come to another baseball game again. There will always be baseball played in some form in America. I'm not worried about the game just disappearing into an abyss or something. Obviously, it's very positive we were able to avoid those discussions at all.''

Giants at Diamondbacks
San Fracisco: RHP Manny Aybar was with the team Saturday after a rehabilitation stint at Triple-A Fresno. He is expected to be activated from the 15-day DL on Sunday when rosters expand. ... Entering Saturday's game, the Giants had the third-best road record in the NL at 63-47, including wins in their last seven. ... Barry Bonds is 11-for-17 in his last five games with nine RBI and five home runs. He walked four times, the last one intentionally, after his first-inning two-run single in Friday night's 7-6 victory.

Arizona: Manager Bob Brenly says he will add six players to the squad when the rosters expand Sunday. RHPs Mike Morgan, Todd Stottlemyre and Armando Reynoso and 3B Chris Donnels will be activated from the DL, while C Rod Barajas and OF Mark Little will be called up from Triple-A Tucson. RHPs John Patterson and Brett Brinz and 1B Lyle Overbay will be called up from Tucson on Tuesday. ... The Diamondbacks' three-game losing streak is their longest since June 22-25. They have not lost four in a row all season. ... The six earned runs Randy Johnson allowed on Friday night matched his combined total from his seven previous starts.

Rockies at Padres
Colorado: The complete game thrown by Denny Neagle in Friday night's 2-0 loss was the first for the Rockies this season, and their first since John Thompson threw one last season on Sept. 30. The Rockies were also the last club in the majors to throw a complete game this season. No team has ever gone through an entire season without a complete game. ... After dropping the first game of the three-game set on Friday night, the Rockies have won the first game of just five of their 22 road series.

San Diego: Tony Gwynn was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. Gwynn, an eight-time NL batting champion, becomes the seventh member of the Hall of Fame, joining Dave Winfield and Randy Jones, among others. The ceremony, postponed from last Saturday because Gwynn was working for ABC as the color commentator on the Little League World Series broadcasts, was held before an estimated crowd of only 30,000. ... RHP Clay Condrey became the 34th pitcher used by the Padres this season. Condrey, the starter against Colorado, adds to the Padres' major league record set earlier this season when they broke the previous mark of 32, set by Cleveland in 2000. ... Brett Tomko threw the Padres' eighth shutout on Friday night, two more than the club had last year.