SUNDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day Russell Branyan Smacked three home runs to power the Reds to a 15-10 win over the Padres. AB R H RBI HR 4 4 3 5 3 Hero of the day The Braves' Gary Sheffield led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to give Atlanta a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Goat of the day Kazuhiro Sasaki couldn't help the Mariners out after they battled back with six runs in the sixth inning to tie the Indians. Cleveland won the game 10-8 with two runs in the ninth; Sasaki gave up two key hits. Injury report Yankees 1B Jason Giambi left Sunday's game because of soreness in his lower back. He said afterward he didn't anticipate missing any more playing time. Yankees manager Joe Torre said pitcher David Wells experienced some soreness in his back, contributing to his shortest outing of the season Sunday, a two-inning effort. But Wells, who gave up all five Angels runs, said he was fine. "I just didn't make good pitches," he explained. Braves CF Andruw Jones was scratched from the lineup for the second straight game because of a sore left shoulder. "It's been bothering me for a while now," said Jones, who has been walking around with a large ice pack to help deal with the pain. After being hit in his chest with a throw, Twins 3B Corey Koskie was diagnosed with a bruised chest and was taken to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where X-rays came back negative, the Twins said. Florida C Charles Johnson was held out of the lineup for the seventh straight game because of a sore left wrist and stiff back. Atlanta CF Andruw Jones missed his first game of the season. He sat out to rest an ailing left shoulder. Mets 3B Edgardo Alfonzo was sidelined by sore ribs and is expected to miss a few games. Stat of the day The Chicago Cubs let Mark Prior complete a game -- even though it took him 136 pitches, and nothing was on the line. Prior was able to deliver, though, and he finished with 13 strikeouts as the Cubs beat the Rockies 4-1. Streak of the day The St. Louis Cardinals had not been swept in a three-game series all season -- until Atlanta took care of that Sunday, capping the sweep with a 2-1 victory. The last word "Three games I didn't get a hit. Today's my day off, I get two hits. I don't understand this game." -- Alfonso Soriano, who was supposed to be off Sunday but played anyway, helping the Yankees top the Angels 7-5

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Orioles at Blue Jays
Baltimore: John Stephens, a native of Sydney, is the sixth Australian to play in the major leagues this season and 17th overall. ... The Orioles have lost 24 of their last 32 games at SkyDome. ... 1B Howie Clark ended an 0-for-11 slump with single in the second inning. ... RF Gary Matthews Jr. has hit in eight straight.

Toronto: The SkyDome roof was closed during the top of the third inning. It's the first time this season the roof has been closed during a game. ... 1B Carlos Delgado's franchise record streak of 432 consecutive games played ended when he sat out because of a sore back. Manager Carlos Tosca said he's day-to-day. ... INF Dave Berg made his first career appearance at first. Berg has played six different positions this year: 2B, SS, 3B, RF, LF and 1B. ... CF Vernon Wells has 27 RBI in his last 27 games.

White Sox at Devil Rays
Chicago: Manager Jerry Manuel said RHP Todd Ritchie, who lost his major league-leading 15th game Saturday, remains tentatively scheduled to make his next scheduled start. Manuel said a final decision will be made after he talks with Ritchie. ... RHP Mark Buehrle, Sunday's loser, is 6-6 in day games. He is 8-2 at night. ... Buehrle threw 71 of 92 pitches for strikes and went to three balls just once in 6 1/3 innings. ... The White Sox have scored just 17 runs over the past six games. They have left 37 on base the past three days at Tampa Bay. ... SS Jose Valentin (stiff neck) could return Monday after sitting out the past three games.

Tampa Bay: 3B Jared Sandberg has six homers, including one Sunday, in his past 42 at-bats. "When he hits it, it makes the best sound off anybody's bat that I've ever heard,'' Devil Rays DH Aubrey Huff said. ... RHP Victor Zambrano will make his first major league start Monday against the Chicago White Sox. He is 4-4 with a 7.21 ERA in 31 relief appearances. "Get him straightened out and see where he goes,'' manager Hal McRae said. "Make a decision if goes back to the pen or starts.'' ... Andy Sheets started at shortstop in place of Chris Gomez and went 3-for-3. "He probably bought himself some more games,'' McRae said. ... 2B Felix Escalona and RF Jason Conti, who have replaced the struggling Brent Abernathy and Ben Grieve respectively, have gone 9-for-16 with three runs and five RBI the past two games. McRae said the pair will be playing for at least a few days.

Red Sox at Rangers
Boston: OF Manny Ramirez got a break from the starting lineup Sunday night. Ramirez hit just .182 (4-for-22) in the first six games of the roadtrip. He also had just one homer in 12 games after consecutive multihomer games July 21-23. ... RHP Tim Wakefield goes for his 100th career win when he starts Boston's next game, Tuesday against Oakland. He is 99-92 with 21 saves in 347 career games (210 starts).

Texas: OF Todd Hollandsworth might be headed to the disabled list. He left Saturday night's game after straining a left quadriceps muscle. While he is listed as day to day, manager Jerry Narron indicated that Hollandsworth, acquired from Colorado in a trade Wednesday, could be out for at least a couple of weeks. ... Before the game, the Rangers held their annual family day, allowing the children of players and coaches to come on the field to hit and play around with their fathers. Among those on the field in uniform with their children were RF Juan Gonzalez and RHP Hideki Irabu, both players on the disabled list. ... For the seventh time in 10 games, the Rangers faced a starting pitcher with at least 10 victories. Boston's Pedro Martinez was also the third 14-game winner Texas faced in eight games. ... LHP John Rocker, who has been on the disabled list since July 4 with a left shoulder injury, threw on the side Sunday and felt fine. He will go with the team to Detroit and throw on the side again Tuesday. If all goes well then, he will likely go on a rehab assignment.

Royals at Twins
Kansas City: Twins fans continue to boo Kansas City left fielder Chuck Knoblauch, who demanded a trade and left Minnesota after the 1997 season. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said it's time to move on: "A lot of things have changed in his life. He handles himself really well. I'm proud of Knobby, and I had a lot of good memories with the kid.'' Knoblauch was the American League rookie of the year with Minnesota in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series. ... It was Royals pitcher Dan Reichert whose pitch broke Luis Rivas' forearm in April, but the past two nights, Rivas has extracted his revenge. The Twins second baseman prevented two runs with a diving stop in the seventh inning Friday night, then won the game Saturday with a 10th-inning home run.

Minnesota: Twins pitcher Johan Santana has pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings since joining the bullpen Friday. He's faced four batters and struck out three of them, and he picked up the win in relief Saturday. "He really strengthens our bullpen,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Now I have a luxury.'' ... Rookie Michael Cuddyer got his first career start at third base, replacing Corey Koskie. ... Twins scouting director Mike Radcliff said he hopes to have first-round pick Denard Span signed within a week.

Indians at Mariners
Cleveland: Entering Sunday's game with Seattle, the Indians had scored 129 runs in the 23 games since the All-Star Break but had only managed eight wins. During that stretch, the pitching staff has an ERA of 6.72. ... The eighth-inning home run by Ellis Burks Saturday at Safeco Field gave him the major league record of hitting a homer in 41 different ballparks.

Seattle: LHP Doug Creek was 2-1 with a 6.27 ERA in 29 games with Tampa Bay before being traded to Seattle for cash on July 24. Since his arrival to the Mariners, Creek has no decisions in four appearances, allowing two hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Opposing batters have hit only .105 off him since he joined the Mariners.

Yankees at Angels
New York: Manager Joe Torre said LHP David Wells experienced some soreness in his back, contributing to his shortest outing of the season Sunday, a two-inning effort. But Wells, who gave up all five Angels runs, said he was fine. "I just didn't make good pitches,'' he explained. ... Torre said before the game that RHP Jeff Weaver, acquired last month from Detroit, was being moved to the bullpen to make room for RHP Roger Clemens, who's expected to start Wednesday against Kansas City. Weaver threw two shutout innings against the Angels on Sunday in his third relief stint in 117 career appearances. "I'm going to go to the bullpen and when they call on me, I'll pitch,'' Weaver said. "I obviously would have hoped I would have stayed in the rotation. Right now, everybody's healthy, which is good. Until that changes, I'll be in the bullpen.'' ... Torre said he believes closer Mariano Riviera, eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list, would probably be activated sometime this week. "We anticipate the worst-case scenario is the weekend,'' Torre said.

Anaheim: All four games of the series against the Yankees were sellouts, and the attendance of 173,639 broke the Angels' club attendance record of 173,347 for a four-game series set against Kansas City in July 1983. ... The Angels have had 11 Edison Field sellouts this season -- most in franchise history. ... The Angels went 12-8 during the last three weeks while playing Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle, Boston and the Yankees -- the other five AL teams with winning records. The Angels play their next 13 games against Detroit, the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland and Toronto. All have losing records. ... OF Garret Anderson, the Angels' cleanup hitter, didn't start for the first time this season because of a tight right hamstring. He was used as a pinch hitter with two on and one out in the ninth with the score tied 5-5, and struck out. ... The Angels remain three games behind AL West-leading Seattle and atop the wild-card standings. "We're right there,'' OF Tim Salmon said. "We're still in striking distance, but we've got to keep playing well because we're going to have to keep pace. It looks like it's going to come down to the end.''

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Rockies at Cubs
Colorado: With a 50-60 record in August, Clint Hurdle is managing a little differently since the Rockies are out of contention. "We are definitely going to try to answer some questions that we have got,'' said Hurdle. "Like the situation we had two days ago when we let (Jack) Cust hit off the left-hander with the game on the line and he hit a two-run homer. If we were in a pennant race I would have probably had (Jay) Payton hit for him. Now we get to find some things out and answer some questions.'' ... Newcomers Payton, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Gabe Kapler all have made good first impressions with Hurdle. Hurdle thinks that some of the energy has rubbed off on the team "I think sometimes you can derive a little more energy from change,'' said Hurdle.

Chicago: LHP Steve Smyth will be making his first career major league start on Tuesday in San Francisco. Smyth will be taking RHP Carlos Zambrano's spot in the rotation as he serves a five-game suspension for a fight he took part in when he was on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Iowa. Smyth is in hurry to make any adjustments before he pitches his first game. "I'm going to keep doing what got me here, there is no need to change.'' The Cubs optioned RHP Francis Beltran to Double-A West Tennessee after Sunday's game. ... Mark Bellhorn's two-run homer in the second extended the Cubs' homer streak to a season-high 14 games. The Cubs record is for consecutive games with a homer is 17, set in 1998 (Aug. 19-Sept. 5).

Astros at Expos
Houston: RHP Kirk Saarloos won his fourth straight start as the Astros won two of three for the second straight series to complete a 4-2 road trip. Houston, which is 15-8 since the All-Star break, has won 23 of its last 33 games. ... Saarloos, the NL Rookie of the Month for July, entered the game with one hit in 10 at-bats and got his first career RBI with a two-run double with two outs in the second. He allowed seven hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings. ... LHP Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his second straight save, and 23rd in 28 opportunities. ... 1B Jeff Bagwell and 2B Craig Biggio were rested and didn't start after both homered the night before.

Montreal: PH Jose Macias hit a three-run homer off RHP Ricky Stone in the seventh to draw Montreal to within one. It was Montreal's sixth pinch-hit homer of the season. Macias, who remained in the game to play center field, took a called third strike from Billy Wagner with runners on first and third to end the game. ... RHP Javier Vazquez lost for just the second time in 12 home starts this season, allowing 10 hits and five runs in four-plus innings. Despite the loss, Vazquez is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA at home. He is 4-5 with a 4.56 ERA in 12 road starts this season. ... A crowd of 20,027 was on hand at Olympic Stadium for a Gary Carter bobblehead promotion. Carter, who played for Montreal from 1974-84 and 1992, was on hand as the Expos drew their fourth-largest crowd of the season. He signed autographs before the game, threw baseballs to the crowd before making the ceremonial first pitch and was given a standing ovation when he was shown on the video scoreboard during the game.

Brewers at Marlins
Milwaukee: The Brewers plan to give RHP Matt Childers more work after being encouraged by his Major League debut in relief on Saturday. Childers worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, including a home run to Kevin Millar. "I liked what I saw, but I'm not going to judge anybody on their first game,'' manager Jerry Royster said. "I thought he settled down nicely.'' ...The Brewers have at least one extra-base hit in each of their last 31 games. ...Milwaukee's bullpen has been steady of late, allowing seven runs (five earned) in 42 2/3 innings since the All-Star break.

Florida: C Charles Johnson was out of the lineup Sunday for the seventh straight game because of a swollen left thumb and stiff back. He remains day to day. ... The Marlins aren't sure what to do with roughly 15,000 Ryan Dempster bobblehead dolls in the wake of his trade to the Reds. "We'll find something creative to do with them,'' club spokesman P.J. Loyello said. "We're not going to burn them, though. That's for sure.''

Giants at Pirates
San Francisco: Barry Bonds made his third straight start Sunday in LF despite his recent bout with a sore hamstring, and was back in the No. 4 spot in the batting order. Manager Dusty Baker flip-flopped Bonds and Jeff Kent on Saturday night, hitting Bonds third against Pirates RHP Kip Wells, partly because Kent had not faced Wells before. It was the first time Bonds has batted third since June 25. ... Bonds didn't get his 600th homer in the three-game series in Pittsburgh -- he hit No. 597 on Saturday night and No. 598 on Sunday -- but he still could get it against his former team. The Giants return home Tuesday to play the Cubs. ... Ryan Jensen (10-7), who starts Tuesday night against the Cubs, has the most victories by a Giants rookie starter since John Burkett went 14-7 in 1990. ... Bonds has four homers in six career games at PNC Park, including two in as many games Saturday and Sunday. ... Bonds' walk in the second inning was the 1,846th of his career, tying him with Carl Yastrzemski for fifth place.

Pittsburgh: C Keith Osik's sacrifice fly in the second inning Sunday against San Francisco was his 83rd RBI in seven Pirates seasons. ... OF Rob Mackowiak, who strained a muscle in his side early in Saturday night's game, should be ready to pinch-hit by Tuesday and probably won't go on the disabled list. But he isn't expected to be healthy enough to start for about a week. ... The Pirates begin their third and final West Coast trip of the year Tuesday. Last year, they were 1-2 in Los Angeles and 0-3 in San Francisco. ... Mike Williams remains two saves away from tying Jim Gott's 1988 club record of 34 saves.

Dodgers at Phillies
Los Angeles: LHP Omar Daal become the third Dodger pitcher to homer this season when he connected on a solo shot in the third inning. Andy Ashby and Kevin Brown have also homered. It was Daal's second career home run, his first coming in 2000 while with Arizona. ... 3B Adrian Beltre went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and is 14-for-39 (.359) with two doubles, two triples, three homers and 13 RBI in his last nine games. ... LHP Jesse Orosco pitched 1/3 scoreless innings, extending his major league record for games pitched to 1,170.

Philadelphia: The Phillies, who entered Sunday's game against the Dodgers leading the majors with 830 runners left on base, stranded nine on Sunday. ... OF Doug Glanville's seventh-inning stolen base was his 12th consecutive steal after being thrown out in his first attempt of the season. ... C Mike Lieberthal was hit by a pitch for the 10th time this season, the most by a Phillie and tied for fourth in the NL.

Diamondbacks at Mets
Arizona: OF Steve Finley wasn't supposed to play because he came in 1-for-15 lifetime against Mets starter Al Leiter. But Finley was a late addition to the lineup when David Dellucci didn't feel well, and Finley hit a three-run homer off the left-hander in his first at-bat. "The only way you get your history better is to play,'' Finley said. ... RHP Mike Koplove, who pitched a scoreless inning in each game of Saturday's doubleheader, went two scoreless innings for the victory Sunday. "He's a guy that can pitch every day,'' manager Bob Brenly said. ... Brenly was ejected by second base umpire Marvin Hudson for arguing a pickoff play in the eighth inning. "I said, `Bear down,' and that's what got me ejected from the ballgame,'' Brenly said. "I don't know what the game is coming to when that's cause for an ejection.''

New York: Tony Tarasco started in right field in place of slumping Jeromy Burnitz and went 1-for-5. ... Because of Saturday's doubleheader, RHP Jeff D'Amico will start Wednesday night at Milwaukee rather than John Thomson or Steve Trachsel on three days' rest. The struggling D'Amico was sent to the bullpen when New York acquired Thomson from Colorado just before Wednesday's trade deadline. ... The Mets matched a season high with four home runs. ... 2B Ty Wigginton had four hits in his first major league start. The last Mets player with even three hits in his first big league start was Aaron Ledesma in 1995.

Cardinals at Braves
St. Louis: 3B Scott Rolen, mired in an 0-for-12 slump, batted cleanup for the first time since coming to the Cardinals in a trade. ... INF Miguel Cairo entered Sunday night's game with 13 pinch hits, the most by a Cardinals player since Willie McGee had 16 in 1987. Vic Davalillo (1970) and Gerald Perry (1993) share the team record with 24 pinch hits in a season. ... P Andy Benes started Sunday with a 6-14 record in his career against the Braves, who have handed him more losses than any other opponent. ... Manager Tony La Russa decided to give P Matt Morris an extra day of rest, bumping him back from his scheduled start Thursday in Montreal. Right-hander Luther Hackman (3-3) will make his second start of the season and fourth of his major-league career. Hackman has worked mostly out of the bullpen this year, making 30 relief appearances. Morris (12-7) is now scheduled to start Friday against the Mets.

Atlanta: CF Andruw Jones was scratched from the lineup for the second game in a row because of a sore left shoulder. Darren Bragg started in his place. "It's been bothering me for a while now,'' said Jones, who has been walking around with a large ice pack to help deal with the pain. He initially hurt the shoulder in a June 26 game against New York Mets, attempting to catch a home run by Jay Payton. Despite the injury, Jones had played in all 110 games before Sunday. He didn't start Saturday but came in late in the game as a defensive replacement for Darren Bragg. ... LF Chipper Jones said it was important to win the first two games of the series against the Central-leading Cardinals, a possible opponent in the playoffs. "It's good to keep the mental edge,'' he said. "We might need that in October.'' ... P Greg Maddux's children, 8-year-old Paige and 5-year-old Chase, read the starting lineups over the public address system before the game.

Reds at Padres
Cincinnati: CF Ken Griffey, who missed Saturday night's game with a left quad spasm, was back in the starting lineup. The injury-plagued Griffey, who has been on the disabled list twice this season, made his 29th start of the season. Griffey has missed 172 starts in his three seasons with the Reds, including 151 the last two seasons, including this year. ... Adam Dunn, normally an outfielder, has started the last 13 games at 1B in the absence of Sean Casey (left shoulder). In Saturday night's game, Dunn took a relay from LF Russell Branyan and threw out Deivi Cruz with an off-balanced throw to C Jason LaRue. Dunn's reaction? "I don't what I was doing there,'' said Dunn of his positioning toward the third-base side of the pitcher's mound on the relay. "That's not where I was supposed to be, was it?'' ... RHP Danny Graves, who saved his 29th game Saturday night, will join John Franco as the only pitchers in club history with three consecutive 30-save seasons with his next save. The pair are the Reds' only pitchers with at least 30 saves in a season and 20 saves in four straight seasons.

San Diego: LHP Kevin Walker has progressed remarkably well and may be ready to join the team by Friday, according to manager Bruce Bochy. Walker, on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Portland, is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Beavers, the first time he will have pitched on consecutive days since starting his rehab. If Walker doesn't experience problems with his surgically repaired elbow, Bochy said the pitcher will join the club Friday in Cincinnati. Walker, 25, was impressive in his first two seasons with the Padres as its left-handed setup man before undergoing "Tommy John'' surgery last August. ... Walker would be a welcomed addition to a struggling bullpen. Bochy has fewer options since the club traded its top two setup men, Alan Embree and Steve Reed, in the past six weeks, leaving a collection of journeymen, inexperienced youngsters and closer Trevor Hoffman. Bochy, normally conservative in how long he allows starters throw, may be willing to let some of his starters go deeper into games. Brian Lawrence threw 128 pitches in a 5-2 win over Cincinnati on Friday night and Brett Tomko to throw 120 pitches in Saturday night's 4-3 loss to the Reds.