SATURDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day Magglio Ordonez Increased his career highs in homers and RBI to 35 and 127. AB H RBI HR 4 3 4 3 Hero of the day Esix Snead picked the right time for himself and the Mets for the first homer of his career. Snead hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning to give New York a 6-3 victory over the Expos. Goat of the day The Reds are definitely not closing Cinergy Field in style. In the first game of their doubleheader sweep by the Phillies, Barry Larkin committed two errors in the top of the 10th to help the Phillies edge Cincinnati 5-3. Injuries Tigers catcher Brandon Inge dislocated his left shoulder trying to make a catch in the fifth inning. Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi sat out the game with a stiff lower back. Diamondbacks starter Brian Anderson left in the third inning with a broken foot after he was hit by a liner. Rockies outfielder Larry Walker sat out with a sore left shoulder. A's second baseman Ray Durham was a late scratch with a stiff neck and back. Indians catcher Josh Bard left the game in the sixth with a bruised toe from a foul tip. Streak of the day Cleveland's Jim Thome, who had two singles vs. the Royals, has reached base in 48 consecutive games -- the longest streak in the AL this season. Stat of the day Jose Valentin's homer against the Twins was his 25th, giving the White Sox five players with 25 or more homers in a season for the first time in frachise history. The last word "These guys keep going and going and going. The last seven or eight years this team has been penciled in to win it. But you know what? We've gone out and done it." -- Yankees starter David Wells after New York clinched its fifth straight AL East title.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Red Sox at Orioles
Boston: Pedro Martinez vies for his 20th win Sunday against Baltimore. He's 6-1 with a 2.04 ERA against the Orioles, including 3-0 this year. ... The Red Sox lead the majors with 16 shutouts, but they had gone 38 games since Aug. 10 without one entering Saturday's game. ... Tony Clark started at first base for Boston, in part because he was 3-for-5 lifetime against Orioles starter Jason Johnson. Clark entered with a .211 batting average and one extra-base hit in his last 52 at-bats. ... Johnny Damon entered hitting .283, his lowest batting average since April 15, he but he hit a leadoff single in the first inning and followed with his team-leading 30th stolen base. ... Nomar Garciaparra followed with his club-high 114th RBI.

Baltimore: During a skid in which they lost 23 of 27, the Orioles held the lead in 16 of those games. ... Mike Bordick extended his major-league record of errorless chances at shortstop to 506 in the first inning, flawlessly handling two opportunities ... Since the All-Star break, Baltimore starters were 19-37 with a 5.91 ERA through Friday. Without rookie Rodrigo Lopez, the numbers were 12-32 and 6.39. ... Boston clinched the season series Friday for a fifth straight year. ... Sidney Ponson, the Orioles' starter Sunday, has allowed a team-high 23 homers. But 17 have been solo shots.

Yankees at Tigers
New York: Closer Mariano Rivera, sidelined for more than a month with a sore shoulder, pitched for the first time since Aug. 15 on Saturday when the Yankees clinched their fifth straight AL East title. Rivera worked a perfect eighth, throwing 16 pitches. "I think he was a little jumpy at the start,'' said manager Joe Torre. "But once he started throwing strikes, he was good.'' Rivera's return had all the Yankees fired up. "I think the biggest thing today is that Mo's back,'' said Steve Karsay, who filled in as closer while Rivera was out. "He looked good. He's healthy and we only go as far as Mo goes.'' ... Karsay appeared in his career-high 76th game, one shy of Jeff Nelson's club record. LHP Mike Stanton has also been in 76 games this season. ... Torre said he takes special pride in New York's run of five straight division titles. "It's never easy to do,'' Torre said. "Look at Oakland. Look at Seattle. They won 116 games last year and now their 20-some games over .500. That should keep you in the mix until the last couple of days in the season, and they're about to be eliminated.'' ... Alfonso Soriano remains one homer shy of becoming the fourth player in history to have 40 homers and 40 steals in a season. Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996) and Alex Rodriguez (1998) are the only players to accomplish the feat.

Detroit: Rookie 1B Carlos Pena extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a first-inning RBI triple in Saturday's 3-2 loss to New York. Pena's streak is the longest by an AL rookie this season. Cincinnati's Austin Kearns, currently on the DL, had a 13-game streak earlier this season. ... C Brandon Inge dislocated his left shoulder while leaping to catch a throw to the plate in the fifth inning. He was replaced by Matt Walbeck. Inge is day-to-day. ... Chris Truby drew a walk in the fifth inning off Andy Pettitte on Saturday. It was just Truby's third walk in 281 plate appearances this season, and first since Aug. 9 -- a span of 104 at-bats. ... Mark Fidrych and Mickey Lolich were among the former Tigers who played in Saturday's Legends Game. Hall of Famer Al Kaline's team edged Willie Horton's, 1-0.

Blue Jays at Devil Rays
Toronto: INF Dave Berg, slowed by a left elbow bruise, started at second base. ... RF Jose Cruz Jr. batted sixth against LHP Joe Kennedy. It was the 12th time this season he has hit in that spot. ... The parents of manager Carlos Tosca are expected to attend Sunday's game at Tropicana Field. Tosca resides in nearby Valrico, Fla.

Tampa Bay: A season-ticket holder called for the resignation or firing of manager Hal McRae during a Q&A session with team officials, saying McRae does not have enough fire. "I understand the frustration,'' McRae said. "We're basically in a teaching process here, not a scolding process.'' ... Tampa Bay has lost 100 games in consecutive seasons, and GM Chuck LaMar said a turnaround may take a while. "It might be a year or two before you see a tremendous turn in wins and losses,'' LaMar said. "Over the next year or two, it will be a building process.'' ... LaMar said he should receive the 2003 budget from owner Vince Naimoli sometime in the next few weeks.

Indians at Royals
Cleveland: CF Milton Bradley was a late scratch from the lineup with a strained left oblique muscle. Coco Crisp moved from left to center and Bill Selby started in left in the revised lineup. ... Jim Thome singled in the second inning to reached base in 49 consecutive games, the longest streak in the AL this year. ... RHP Dave Burba was sent back to the hotel with flu-like symptoms. ... LHP C.C. Sabathia, who was to start Sunday at Kansas City, has a 5-1 record against the Royals in nine starts.

Kansas City: C A.J. Hinch will miss the game Sunday to return to Scottsdale, Ariz., to be with his wife Erin, expecting the couple's first child. The Royals were expected to bring up C Dusty Wathan from Triple-A Omaha. Wathan's father, John, is a former Royals player and manager. ... C Adam Donachie, the Royals second-round draft pick this June, worked out with the club before the game. ... The Royals have used 51 players, tying a club record. The Royals also used 51 players in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

Twins at White Sox
Minnesota: Heading into the final week of the regular season, manager Ron Gardenhire says the Twins are close to having some things order for their first playoff appearance since 1991. "We've still got a couple of guys who are dinged up a little.'' ... OF Jacque Jones remains day to day with a sprained ankle. 1B Doug Mientkiewicz and CF Torii Hunter have been bothered with low back strains. Hunter has continued to play and Mientkiewicz returned to the lineup Saturday after a four-game rest. "The main thing is we've got to get those guys some at-bats,'' Gardenhire said. ... After the Twins allowed 24 runs to the White Sox in losses on Friday and Saturday, Gardenhire is growing somewhat concerned about his team's pitching, however. "We're not pitching right now and that's disappointing,'' he said. "This won't do anything to our playoff run.''... RHP Rick Reed, lifted after four innings Friday, didn't seriously injure himself when slipping during a delivery after a rain delay. "We got a little scared with Rick's health,'' Gardenhire said. "He had a little slip and hyperextended his knee, but he's fine and won't miss a start.'' Reed leads the Twins with 15 wins.

Chicago: With four RBI Saturday -- on two homers and a single -- OF Magglio Ordonez has 127 RBI, setting a personal high. Ordonez has six multihit games in his last nine and is 16-for-37 in that span. Ordonez has 35 homers, surpassing his previous best of 32. ... INF Jose Valentin hit his 25th homer Saturday, giving the White Sox five players with 25 or more homers in a season for the first time in franchise history. ... White Sox rookie 3B Joe Crede was 2-for-3 Saturday and is 14 for his last 29. ... In moving one game over .500 Saturday (for the first time since June 5), the White Sox have won 10 of 13. ... LHP Mark Buehrle (18-11) was to start Sunday against Minnesota and next weekend at the Metrodome in his quest to become the team's first 20-game winner since Jack McDowell in 1993.

Angels at Mariners
Anaheim: 3B Troy Glaus committed his team-leading 19th error of the season. He also made 19 errors last season. ... The Angels are 15-5 in September. In September-October last season, they were 6-21 when they finished 41 games back of the Mariners in the AL West race.

Seattle: Hitting coach Gerald Perry was ejected for the first time this season by plate umpire Chris Guccione in the second for arguing from the dugout after Cameron struck out. Guccione said Cameron swung at the third strike and Perry argued he didn't. ... RHP Freddy Garcia became the second Mariners' pitcher to have three 16-plus victory seasons. Garcia won 18 in 2001 and 17 in 1999. LHP Randy Johnson, who pitched for the Mariners from 1989-98, is the franchise's other pitcher to have three 16-plus win seasons. He won 20 in 1997, 19 in 1993 and 18 in 1995.

Rangers at Athletics
Texas: C Ivan Rodriguez got the day off. ... The Rangers entered the game having scored in only eight of their last 50 innings covering five games, but they scored multiple runs in each of those eight. ... Starter Colby Lewis, recalled Sept. 7 from Triple-A Oklahoma, threw nine straight balls to start the sixth inning, walking David Justice and Randy Velarde. Lewis had a career-high six walks and matched his career-high with six strikeouts in his third major league start. The Rangers have given up 62 walks in their last nine games, and lead the league with 631. ... Before his fifth-inning two-run homer, Ruben Rivera was 2-27 in his last 14 games.

Oakland: 2B Ray Durham was a late scratch from the lineup because of stiffness in his neck and back. 3B Mark Ellis moved into the leadoff hole and Durham was replaced in the field by veteran utility infielder Randy Velarde. ... Manager Art Howe is hopeful he will get INF Olmedo Saenz back from a hand injury for the playoffs. He has been effective against left-handed pitchers. ... Howe was pleased with the outing of LHP Ted Lilly on Friday. Lilly will make another start during a three-game series at Texas the end of next week. He allowed four hits and two runs in five innings before leaving to protect a blister on his throwing hand. ... Howe said the A's will consider a three-man rotation for the postseason, saying "we haven't ruled anything out.'' He said he hasn't determined which of his aces -- Barry Zito, Mark Mulder or Tim Hudson -- will start the playoff opener. After Monday's off day, Zito will start Tuesday at Seattle, Hudson on Wednesday and Cory Lidle on Thursday. ... Howe said he will use the DH spot to give some players some rest for the remainder of the season. ... Pinch runner Jose Flores got his first major league stolen base.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cubs at Pirates
Chicago: RHP Pat Mahomes made his first start Saturday since rejoining the Cubs on Sept. 1 and his first in the majors since June 4 for Texas at Seattle. ... Sunday's game at Pittsburgh will be the Cubs' final road game of the season. They finish the season with six games at Wrigley Field, three each against the Reds and Pirates beginning Tuesday. ... Alan Benes is scheduled to make his first start against the Pirates since May 21, 1997 on Sunday. He hasn't beaten Pittsburgh since a 9-5 Cardinals victory at Three Rivers Stadium on July 6, 1996. ... CF Roosevelt Brown made an outstanding catch in the second inning Saturday night, going into the gap in left-center to make a backhanded, sliding grab of Rob Mackowiak's drive.

Pittsburgh: The honored 17 of their former All-Stars before Saturday night's game against the Cubs, including 96-year-old Gus Suhr, their oldest living player chosen for an All-Star game. He was an All-Star in 1936. Suhr still holds the club record for consecutive games played, 822 during the 1931-37 seasons. ... The Pirates have tied a club record by allowing eight grand slams this season. The 1951 Pirates also allowed eight. The NL record is 12 allowed by Montreal in 2000. ... The Pirates' 5-4 victory Friday night was only their fourth in 81 games they trailed after eight innings. They scored twice in the ninth to win, one night after failing to hold a 3-1 lead with two outs in the ninth in losing to Cincinnati 5-4.

Expos at Mets
Montreal: RHP Masato Yoshii, sidelined by a torn labrum in his left shoulder, will miss the rest of the season. He is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. Yoshii is 4-9 with a 4.11 ERA in 31 games, 20 starts. ... 2B Jose Vidro was not with the team because of personal reasons. The Expos hope to have him back Sunday. ... SS Orlando Cabrera was a late scratch from the starting lineup.

New York: C Mike Piazza got the night off before a day game Sunday. "If he was a bit tired last night, we might as well have him fresh for tomorrow. Vance Wilson started in Piazza's place. ... Cyndi Lauper sang the national anthem.

Marlins at Braves
Florida: 2B Luis Castillo and OF Kevin Millar are one of only four sets of teammates since 1930 to have hitting streaks of 25 games or more in the same season. Castillo's streak was 35 games and Millar's ended Friday night at 25. Since the others were Shawn Green (28) and Shannon Stewart (26) with Toronto in 1999; George McQuinn (34) and Mel Almada (29) with the St. Louis Browns in 1938; and Sam Rice (28) and Heinie Manush (27) with the 1930 Washington Senators.

Atlanta: The Braves have four more pitchers on hand for the final days of the season. Atlanta has eight games left during the regular season, including a doubleheader on Friday against the Mets in New York. In addition there is the possibility of a makeup game against the San Francisco Giants on Sept. 30, so the extra pitchers were brought in to help prepare the staff for the postseason. LHP Horacio Ramirez and LHP Jung Bong were recalled from Double-A Greenville along with LHP Andy Pratt from Triple-A Richmond. The Braves also purchased the contract of RHP Joey Dawley from Richmond. To make room for Dawley on the 40-man roster, RHP Kris Keller was designated for assignment.

Giants at Brewers
San Francisco: LF Barry Bonds joked with a reporter when asked for his reaction to the Brewers' Jose Hernandez approaching his father's major league strikeout record. "You tell Jose I'm mad at him. My dad and I want to keep all the records, home runs, strikeouts. We want them all in the family.''... C Benito Santiago sat out his second game of a suspension and could return to the lineup Sunday. ... RHP Robb Nen's next save will give him his fourth straight season of 40 or more saves. Trevor Hoffman (5) and Dennis Eckersley (4) are the only other pitchers to have at least four 40-save seasons.

Milwaukee: Manager Jerry Royster confirmed what has been suspected: Jose Hernandez will not play the rest of this weekend so he does not set a major league strikeout record before his home crowd. Hernandez, who is one strikeout short of tying Bobby Bonds' record of 189, has not started the last three games, after fans at Wednesday's game cheered when he struck out twice and booed when he hit the ball on a flyout. On Friday night, fans set up small signs with Ks on t"I'm not going to subject him to the humiliation,'' Royster said before Saturday's game. ... 1B Brad Nelson and RHP Ben Hendrickson received the Brewers minor league player and pitcher of the year awards before Saturday's game. ... LF Geoff Jenkins, on the injuried list, was to coach third base at the White House South Lawn T-Ball Series on Sunday.

Astros at Cardinals
Houston: Brad Ausmus tied an NL record set by Ernie Lombardi of the Reds in 1938 when he grounded into his 30th double play of the season. For consolation, Ausmus got his 1,000th career hit in the second. Jim Rice set the major league record with 36 in 1984, and Ausmus is aware of it. "You obviously don't want to hit into a double-play certainly with men in scoring position,'' Ausmus said. "I wasn't happy about it, but as long as the team wins it doesn't really matter.'' Ausmus doesn't think 1,000 hits is a big deal. "It's not Hall of Fame material, but it's something I can at least be a little proud of,'' he said. ... Mark Loretta is batting .407 (24-for-59) since joining the Astros on Aug. 31. ... Jeff Bagwell is batting .368 (28-for-76) in September.

St. Louis: The 1982 World Series championship team will be honored before Sunday's game with manager Whitey Herzog throwing out the first pitch to Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith. Manager Tony La Russa, who rested four of his starters on Saturday, said he'd probably play his regular lineup to show the '82 team what this team is about. The exception will be SS Edgar Renteria, who has a sore back and will get a second day off. ... Eli Marrero is 8-for-15 in his last four games and has homered in his last three games. ... Miguel Cairo, who started in place of Fernando Vina at 2B, had his fifth two-hit game of the season and drove in two runs. ... The bullpen has a 1.91 ERA since Aug. 31, throwing three scoreless innings on Saturday.

Diamondbacks at Rockies
Arizona: RHP Armando Reynoso made his first appearance since June 9, 2001. He had been sidelined by neck surgery. He pitched 1 1-3 innings, allowing one hit and no runs. "It was good to see him throw the way he did,'' manager Bob Brenly said. "It's been a long, tough road for Armando to get back to this point. He looked like vintage Armando, changing speeds, moving the ball around.'' Reynoso also struck out Juan Pierre after Pierre had five straight singles. "I think we found our guy to get Juan Pierre out,'' Brenly said. "Nobody else seems to have any success doing it.'' ... Arizona hit back-to-back homers for the eighth time this season when Mark Grace and Damian Miller connected in the fifth. ... Luis Gonzalez reached 100 RBI for the fourth straight year. Gonzalez, who had RBI totals of 111, 114, 142 the previous three seasons, drove in three runs Friday night to boost his season total to 102.

Colorado: Juan Pierre, who went 4-for-5 on Friday night, went 5-for-6 on Saturday. The nine hits in consecutive games set a franchise record. Rockies batters had eight hits in consecutive games on eight occasions, most recently when Jeff Cirillo did it June 17-18, 2000. Pierre's five hits tied a career high. He hit safely in his final three at-bats Friday and his first five at-bats Saturday, and the eight straight hits fell one shy of Andres Galarraga's club record of nine in 1993. ... The Rockies set a season high with 20 hits. ... With the win, the Rockies claimed their first series victory of the season over Arizona. ... Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect sixth and seventh, striking out the last five batters he faced. That tied a club record. It's been done seven times previously, most recently by Justin Speier over three outings June 18-21, 2001. ... Todd Helton has 100 RBI for the fourth straight season, joining Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla as the only players in club history to accomplish that feat. ... LHP Randy Flores became the 22nd pitcher in Rockies history to make his first major league start. Flores, who went 4 2-3 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs Friday night, is the second pitcher this season to make his first big league start with the Rockies. Aaron Cook did it Aug. 26. ... On Friday night, LHP Kent Mercker began serving his three-game suspension for throwing at the Mets' Timo Perez on Aug. 25. The suspension originally was for four games but was reduced to three after Mercker appealed. ... OF Larry Walker, bothered all month by a sore left shoulder, was not in the lineup.

Phillies at Reds
Philadelphia: LHP Hector Mercado struck out a career-high six in 4 2-3 innings. In three starts, Mercado is 0-1 and has given up five runs in 12 2-3 innings. He hopes to get a chance to start next season. "It's a tryout for me, to see what I can do,'' Mercado said. "Next year, I'll have to prove I can pitch in the rotation. It's not going to be a gift.'' ... The Phillies are 10-6 in extra innings this season. Cincinnati is 12-4. ... OF Bobby Abreu had a single and a solo homer in the first game, then singled home a run in his first at-bat of the second game. Abreu has hit in a career-high 15 consecutive games. ... Placido Palonco's foul ball hit a young fan in the face, breaking his nose. The boy was treated at a hospital.

Cincinnati: Flashbulbs went off when Danny Graves threw the first pitch of the second game -- the second-to-last at Cinergy Field. Broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, was one of six longtime Reds employees to throw a ceremonial first pitch. ... The 5-3 loss in the first game clinched a second losing record at home for the Reds. they lost a franchise-record 54 at home last year. ... Ken Griffey Jr. started the first game, went 0-for-5, then was out of the starting lineup for the second game. Griffey has been out of the lineup for 18 of the past 21 games since hurting a leg muscle.

Dodgers at Padres
Los Angeles: Manager Jim Tracy said RHP Andy Ashby has a blister on his right hand and won't pick up a ball for three days. Ashby allowed Ashby (9-13) allowed five runs on six straight hits without getting an out in the third inning in Friday night's 8-4 loss to San Diego. "This guy is such a competitor, such a class act, he feels he's letting the team down and not making good pitches because he's compromised by the blister,'' Tracy said. Ashby lost his fourth straight start. ... If Ashby can't make his next start, candidates to replace him include Kevin Beirne or Giovanni Carrara.

San Diego: Sean Burroughs is 18-for-39 (.462) with four RBI since being recalled from Portland on Sept. 3. ... The Padres will play their final home game of 2002 on Sunday, when Dodger LHP Omar Daal faces righty Adam Eaton (1-1).