THURSDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day Garret Anderson Smacked two three-run homers to help tie his career high in RBI with seven in the Angels' 10-1 victory over the Devil Rays. AB H HR RBI 4 4 2 7 Hero of the day Blue Jays rookie Josh Phelps hit two home runs and knocked in the eventual winning run in the seventh on a double in Toronto's 5-4 victory over the Red Sox. Goat of the day Giants second baseman Jeff Kent's eighth-inning error led to four unearned runs by the Diamondbacks in San Francisco's 8-5 loss to Arizona. Injury report Marlins outfielder Preston Wilson didn't play with flulike symptoms. Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar had an MRI on his left knee and found out he had bursitis. He is day to day. Mets third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo left after the sixth inning with a sore right biceps muscle. He is day to day. Indians outfielder Matt Lawton missed the game with a left shoulder strain. Diamondbacks outfielder Steve Finley left in the third inning with tightness in his left hamstring. Stat of the day The Expos had the smallest crowd in Olympic Stadium history with 2,134 fans in a 4-1 loss to the Phillies. Streak of the day Alex Rodriguez became the fifth player in major league history to have successive 50-homer seasons. A-Rod hit two homers in the Rangers' 11-2 victory over the Orioles. The last word "One time, I was on the mound and I heard (left fielder Pat) Burrell yelling, 'Come on, Wolf!' There's no way I should hear him right there. That's how quiet it was." -- Phillies starter Randy Wolf on the lack of fans at Olympic Stadium in the Expos' 4-1 loss to Philadelphia.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tigers at Yankees
Detroit: The Tigers have used an even 50 players this season, including 25 pitchers. ... Tigers have extended their working agreements with three minor league affiliates: West Michigan of the Midwest League for four years, Erie of the Eastern League for two years and Oneonta of the New York-Penn League for two years. ... Damion Easley started at second base night for only the 13th time in 24 games, having missed seven games due to injury and four more for what the team termed a "personal matter.'' ... Randall Simon leads the Tigers with only 18 homers (his career high) while the Yankees starting lineup contained six hitters with 18 or more.

New York: The Yankees have a chance to become only the second team in major league history to have five hitters drive in 100 or more runs, a feat only accomplished by the 1936 Yankees (Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Tony Lazzeri and George Selkirk). ... Despite the absence of Mariano Rivera, the Yankees' bullpen since Aug. 1 has 14 saves and a 1.82 ERA.

Angels at Devil Rays
Anaheim: RF Tim Salmon (bruised left hand) was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Aug. 10. "The bottom line is, his presence in the lineup is important,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ... 2B Adam Kennedy, who has normally sat out when the opposition starts a left-handed pitcher, was in the lineup against Tampa Bay LHP Joe Kennedy. Adam Kennedy hit .404 in August, the highest monthly average in the AL this season. He's been really swinging the bat well, and that's an understatement,'' Scioscia said. ... RHP Aaron Sele (right rotator cuff) continues to throw off flat ground.

Tampa Bay: LHP Nick Bierbrodt, who is rehabbing after being shot in the right arm and chest June 7, started running this week. He expects to resume throwing next month. ... Pitching coach Jackie Brown said RHP Paul Wilson, who is skipping a start because of a tired arm, had a very good bullpen session. Wilson is slated to rejoin the rotation next week. ... Former Devil Rays LHP Jim Morris, whose life story is the subject of the movie "The Rookie,'' threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Morris made his major league debut with Tampa Bay at age 35 in 1999.

Rangers at Orioles
Texas: OF Ruben Rivera, who made his fifth straight start in center field Thursday, is making the most of his opportunity to impress manager Jerry Narron. While admitting that Rivera has to continue to work on his hitting, Narron said that he would rank Rivera's defense on a par with Seattle's Mike Cameron. ... LHP Jovanny Cedeno, who has spent the entire season on the disabled list following shoulder surgery, will have diagnostic arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Friday in Fort Worth. ... LHP Kenny Rogers' start Thursday was the 300th of his career.

Baltimore: Tony Batista, who tied Brooks Robinson's club record for home runs by a third baseman in a season (28) Wednesday, was used at DH on Thursday. Jose Leon, who was called up Tuesday, started at third. "We've got Leon here, so it gives (Batista) a night off his feet,'' Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. ... Luis Matos started in right field Thursday, eager to make an impression on a team with an excess of outfielders. "Everybody needs to perform well. If not, you're not going to be here long,'' Matos said.

Indians at White Sox
Cleveland: Einar Diaz has struggled this season with a .206 batting average. Currently he is out with a sore right elbow. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 23. He hurt his elbow in a collision at home on Aug. 22 at Oakland. "Looking back, he never had one real big stretch. Usually as a regular day player you have a stretch where everything is clicking and you are just getting a lot of hits,'' said Indians manager Joel Skinner. "It seemed like Einar never really had that one stretch. You still have to look at their whole career, and some years are better than others.'' ... Matt Lawton was not in the starting lineup because of a strained left shoulder. The Indians have not made a decision if they will send Lawton home early to get his shoulder check by team doctors. "We are trying to figure out the best avenue to take is and that will be discussions with the medical staff,'' said Skinner. Lawton may be able to pinch-hit.

Chicago: Joe Borchard is expected to start in the outfield on Friday night. Borchard is rated as one of the top prospects in the White Sox farm system. He injured his right hand diving for a ball on Monday in Toronto. He homered in his second major league at-bat in the same game. "Hopefully it is time for him to get back out and play. He did have a hand bruise, but he should be OK, he's got it wrapped up. I look forward to see him swinging a bat tomorrow,'' manager Jerry Manuel said. Despite the potential that he shows, Manuel doesn't think that Borchard will be a star overnight. "You still need to be patient with him. I think if we can keep him down in the lower part of the lineup and play sound defense and give us a professional attitude then I think he will survive.''

Blue Jays at Red Sox
Toronto: Justin Miller was 1-3 with 10.80 ERA as a starter on the road this season. ... Josh Phelps had 30 RBI in August, a team rookie record and two short of the overall club record held jointly by Dave Winfield and Carlos Delgado. ... The Blue Jays have lost seven of their last nine series. ...Toronto set a club record this season using 23 pitchers. The previous mark was 22 in 1999 and 2000.

Boston: Boston's top three starters -- Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and John Burkett -- are a combined 42-10 vs. the American League and 17-4 against the AL East. ... Luis Tiant threw out the first pitch Thursday. Prior to the game, he opened a restaurant on Yawkey Way, part of the new open air plaza which features restaurant and beverage stands.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Diamondbacks at Giants
Arizona: The Diamondbacks opened their final series of the regular season against San Francisco with Curt Schilling on the mound, looking to match his career high with his 22nd victory. Schilling won 22 games in the 2001 regular season before his postseason heroics. ... The Diamondbacks have won 20 of their 33 games in San Francisco, but just 15 of 37 at Bank One Ballpark. ... When the Giants played three games in Phoenix last week, Arizona walked Barry Bonds eight times -- though only one was officially intentional. Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly doesn't believe in giving very many good pitches to the Giants' most dangerous hitter at any point in a game. "There's just too many ways he can beat you,'' Brenly said. "We prefer to pitch carefully to a guy that's probably the best hitter in their lineup.''

San Francisco: Barry Bonds' quest for his first batting title is looking good. Bonds entered the night hitting .367 -- 21 points ahead of Colorado's Larry Walker. At 38, Bonds would be the oldest first-time batting champion in baseball history; Al Oliver of Montreal, who was 35 when he won his first, is the current record-holder. ... Suddenly, the Giants can't get any attention in the San Francisco Bay area. Their game against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night was overshadowed by the Oakland Athletics' 20th straight victory across the water, where 55,528 fans filled the Coliseum. On Thursday night, much of the Bay area was focused on the San Francisco 49ers' season opener in New York; most of the television in the press box, the fan concourses and the Giants' locker room were tuned in to the game before the Giants opened a four-game series against Arizona. ... The Giants led the series with Arizona 8-6 entering the series. They were lucky to avoid Randy Johnson during the lengthy set; Johnson got his 20th victory on Wednesday night against the Dodgers.

Phillies at Expos
Philadephia: RF Bobby Abreu homered twice and tripled as the Phillies avoided a four-game sweep with a 4-1 victory before the smallest crowd in Olympic Stadium history. Players' voices could be heard over the sparse and quiet crowd, announced as 2,134 -- which represents tickets sold. The actual attendance appeared to be closer to 1,000 people. "To me, it felt like a 'B' game in spring training, a nine o'clock game,'' Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. ... LHP Randy Wolf allowed five hits and one run to win his fourth straight start. Wolf threw 86 of 108 pitches for strikes on the way to his eighth career complete game. All of Wolf's three complete games this season have come in his last four starts. He worked 35 of the 36 innings over that stretch. ... Wolf's scoreless-inning streak ended at 27 when he gave up Vladimir Guerrero's solo homer with two outs in the first. ... It was Abreu's seventh career multihomer game, his first since last Sept. 30 at Florida. ... The Phillies announced that they were purchasing the contract of RHP Jose Santiago from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following the game. Santiago will join the team in Philadelphia on Friday. RHP Robert Person was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Montreal: The previous smallest crowd since the team moved into Olympic Stadium in 1977 was 2,803 for a weekday game against St. Louis on Sept. 27, 1984. The franchise low is 2,107 on Sept. 7, 1976, in the team's eighth and final season at Jarry Park, the Expos' first home after joining the National League in 1969. "School's started back but we try to stay positive. Even though it's 2,000, it's 2,000 more than zero,'' Expos catcher Michael Barrett said. ... With baseball's owners voting to ratify the new labor agreement Thursday in Chicago, Expos president Tony Tavares expects the question of where the team will play next season to be answered in short order. "There are two general options, stay or move. Then if you move, where to and how fast can you do it?'' Tavares said. "I would say our fate will be determined over the next 10 days or so.'' ... RHP Javier Vazquez lost his seventh straight start, allowing 10 hits and four runs in eight innings. Vazquez wrote a letter to the sports editor of The (Montreal) Gazette that was published on the front page of Thursday's sports section, complaining about what he characterized as columnist Jack Todd's "repeated attacks on my character, as well as that of Tony Armas Jr. and some of my teammates.''

Marlins at Mets
Florida: When Preston Wilson was walking toward the Marlins' clubhouse before Thursday's game, a security guard stopped and told the slugger he made Shea Stadium staff members work late on Tuesday by tying Game 1 of a doubleheader with a home run. Wilson laughed and conceded he was just doing his job. ... Dean Treanor, Florida's manager at Triple-A Calgary, joined the Marlins staff and will remain with the team for the rest of the year. Treanor led the Cannons to a 67-71 record. ... After going 24 straight games without a home run, 3B Mike Lowell homered in his second-consecutive game Wednesday. Lowell has 18 home runs this season. ... 1B Derrek Lee extended his hitting streak to 12 games Wednesday, while OF Kevin Millar's double in the first inning of Thursday's game marked his 11th consecutive game with a base hit. ... 2B Luis Castillo hit safely in his first 16 games against the Mets this season.

New York: The Mets held an extended pregame ceremony Thursday in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and those who helped in the recovery effort. Among those honored were firefighters and police officers as well as community volunteers who helped in the cleanup effort of the World Trade Center site. New York Gov. George Pataki thanked the group of 14 for their efforts in helping the city and nation recover. "We learned who the true heroes are, and they are standing behind me,'' Pataki said, adding that the Mets' gesture of wearing NYPD and FDNY logos on their hats after the events set a good example for the nation. "You sent a message that you were one with those heroes. And tonight, we are one with those heroes.'' ... 2B Roberto Alomar did not play after leaving Wednesday's game in the sixth inning with a bruised knee. Manager Bobby Valentine said Alomar injured the knee earlier in the week and aggravated it in Tuesday's doubleheader. Alomar had his knee checked out by a doctor in Manhattan, and the results were not positive: "His knee is a lot more swollen today than yesterday,'' Valentine said. ... C Mike Piazza saw hand specialist Dr. Martin Posner on Thursday, and received the same diagnosis team doctors gave him: it's tendinitis. "He said 'Be careful, just listen to it. If it gets worse, we'll go from there,''' said Piazza, who had his hand heavily taped and batted third in the Mets' lineup.

Astros at Padres
Houston: Over the last two seasons, there have been few 1-2 pitching duos who have been more effective than the Astros' Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt. Since the beginning of the 2001 season, Miller and Oswalt have combined for a 60-20 record (.750). Including duos with a minimum of 50 decisions in the same time span, only Arizona's Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson (84-22, .792) have a better winning percentage. ... Jeff Bagwell's 26th home run of the season on Wednesday night was the 375th of his career, giving him sole possession of 50th place on the all-time list.

San Diego: Rookie Sean Burroughs played his first game at second base against Houston. The Padres are trying to determine whether Burroughs best fits in at second or third base. Burroughs, touted by many as a Rookie of the Year candidate, began the season as the starting third baseman with Phil Nevin shifting to first base and Ryan Klesko to right field. After a fast start, Burroughs' batting average tailed off to .221 before he was finally placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. Burroughs was demoted to Triple-A Portland when he came off the DL in July, where he played 29 games at second base. It was the first time Burroughs had ever played at second after spending his first three professional seasons at third. Since being recalled on Tuesday, Burroughs is 4-for-8 with one RBI in two games at third base.