SUNDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day A.J. Burnett The more confidence Burnett gains, the more dangerous he's becoming. He threw a three-hitter for his major league-leading fifth shutout as the Marlins beat the Giants, 3-0. He also retired 12 of his final 13 batters. IP H R BB SO 9 3 0 2 9 Hero of the day It was worth the wait for Sean Casey, who hit his first career game-ending home run that helped the Reds edge the Astros 2-1 in the 10th inning. Goat of the day Braves starter Greg Maddux, who came into Sunday's game vs. the Rockies leading the NL with a 2.51 ERA, gave up 13 hits in Atlanta's 6-3 loss. He hadn't given up that many hits since facing the Yankees, who hit 13 on June 3, 2000. Injury report The Cubs' Sammy Sosa and teammate Mark Bellhorn left Sunday's game against the D-Backs after they collided while chasing a popup. Scott Rolen was out of the Cardinals' lineup the Phillies because of a sore left shoulder. Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra, who Boston manager Grady Little said has been ill, didn't play in Sunday's game against the Twins. "It's kind of been on him a couple of days," Little said. "He told us this morning that he's feeling the worst he's felt." Pirates LF Brian Giles missed Sunday's game against the Brewers -- his second consecutive missed game - because of a strained right calf. Detroit's Randall Simon left in the top of the fourth inning against Baltimore with pain in his left knee. Stat of the day Imagine if Mike Williams didn't play for the Pirates? Making the most of rare closing opportunities, Williams earned his 35th save in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over Milwaukee. The 35 saves set a team record -- this with just three save chances in August. Streak of the day It's not one to be proud of, but it shows just where the Mets are in August. With a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers, the Mets dropped their 11th straight at Shea Stadium and eighth straight overall. The last word "It's killing me. How tough is it? What do you mean? Do you want my blood pressure? It's killing me, it's killing my folks, it's killing my family. It's killing my dog." -- Mets manager Bobby Valentine discusses his team's recent slide on WPIX-TV in New York.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Yankees at Mariners
New York: Bernie Williams, who had his streak of 11 consecutive hits end Saturday, went 2-for-3 and has an 11-game hitting streak. He had his ninth consecutive multihit game. The last major league player to have nine straight multihit games was Rusty Greer for Texas in June 2000. ... Williams was 17-for-29 on the Yankees' six-game road trip and is 62-for-154 (.403) since the All-Star break. ... Yankees C Jorge Posada started his third game of the season at DH. He was moved to catcher in the eighth after Chris Widger was taken out.

Seattle: Edgar Martinez hit his third career homer against Roger Clemens and the 29th against New York. He has 91 career RBI against the Yankees. Martinez leads the AL with 20 RBI in August. ... Ichiro Suzuki was walked intentionally twice by Clemens, giving him 22 intentional walks this season, tops in the AL. He was walked a career-high three times. ... John Olerud's 10th sacrifice fly of the season tied him for the major league lead.

White Sox at Athletics
Chicago: The White Sox received some good news for a change in regards to RHP Todd Ritchie. It was originally thought Ritchie would miss the rest of the season, but now will stop throwing for about two weeks, then try to work himself back into the rotation in September. Recent tests found some inflammation and normal wear and tear in his sore right shoulder. "This is definitely a positive, just for peace of mind that that there's nothing structurally wrong with it,'' Ritchie said. "It's just a little weak and inflamed. It should be OK from what I hear.'' Ritchie has lost his last five starts and went on the DL on Aug. 6. ... The White Sox haven't been very successful on the West Coast in general. Since the beginning of the 2001 season, Chicago is 3-24 at AL West parks, including an 1-11 effort this season. ... SS Royce Clayton has reached base safely in 20 consecutive starts.

Oakland: OF Terrence Long broke out of his slump in a big way. He snapped an 0-for-13 streak by hitting a two-run homer in each of his first two at-bats Sunday. Before the outburst, Long was 1-for-16 on the homestand and 4-for-47 (.085) over his previous 12 games. ... LHP Micah Bowie hasn't pitched since going three innings in Oakland's 16-inning victory nine days ago at Yankee Stadium. ... RHP Jeff Tam has retired 25 of the 29 batters he's faced since being recalled on July 23. "I've been throwing good,'' said Tam. "But the starters been pitching great.'' ... Manager Art Howe said he thought there was a chance RHP Jim Mecir could get suspended for hitting White Sox SS Royce Clayton with a pitch on Saturday, but he'd hoped it wouldn't come to that. "He shouldn't because they acknowledged that it's part of the game,'' said Howe. "It's common knowledge that there are certain things that are part of the game. They were ready for it and they handled it professionally.''

Royals at Devil Rays
Kansas City: Mike Sweeney started at first base for the first time since returning Aug. 13 from a lower back/hip injury. Sweeney, who went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI, had been the designated hitter in his previous five games. "It's nice to see Mike swing the bat, and it was nice to see him back on the field with no problems,'' manager Tony Pena said ... LF Chuck Knoblauch and 3B Joe Randa were rested. Randa pinch-hit, striking out in the eighth.

Tampa Bay: Manager Hal McRae said his long-term plans call for Aubrey Huff to continue in the designated hitter role. "I don't think he needs to play in the field,'' McRae said. "I think Huff is a better hitter when he DHs.'' ... With Huff entrenched at DH, Greg Vaughn (right shoulder) will likely see limited playing time when he returns from the disabled list. Vaughn, who is in the third season of a $34 million, four-year contract, is expected to be activated when rosters expand on Sept. 1. ... Oft-injured LHP Wilson Alvarez, in the final season of $35 million, five-year contract, will be a main member of the closer committee. "I won't be here next year, but I want to do the best I can for the team,'' said Alvarez, who hopes to be starter again for somebody next season. "I'll do whatever they want me to do.''

Red Sox at Twins
Boston: RHP Dustin Hermanson, who went on the disabled list last month with an injured left elbow, threw 4 2-3 innings Sunday in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. Hermanson allowed seven hits, three runs -- two earned -- one walk and struck out three batters. Red Sox manager Grady Little said Hermanson could be activated on Tuesday. "If he's healthy enough, we'll probably activate him,'' Little said. Hermanson went on the DL July 24 after having fluid drained from the elbow, a condition caused by a staph infection. ... SS Nomar Garciaparra, who Little said has been ill, didn't start Sunday. "It's kind of been on him a couple of days,'' Little said. "He told us this morning that he's feeling the worst he's felt.'' ... OF Cliff Floyd started Sunday after sitting out Saturday with nagging injuries to his groin, hip and right Achilles.

Minnesota: Matthew LeCroy was back with the Twins after being recalled from Triple-A Edmonton after Saturday night's loss. The team sent down OF Michael Cuddyer. "Matty's a swinger,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's not afraid to let it fly. He likes to come off the bench and hacks and swings.'' Largely as the designated hitter, LeCroy batted .282 with 18 RBI in 41 games with Minnesota this season. ... After Boston's 5-2 win Saturday night, Gardenhire joked that it wasn't fair for his hitters to have to face knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and reliever Alan Embree in the same night. Red Sox manager Grady Little responded Sunday by saying: "Gardy wants to talk about being fair? Maybe it's not fair that geographically, they're where they are and we're where we are when we've got about the same record.'' The Twins are almost certain to make the playoffs while Boston is fighting for a wild-card berth. ... Coming into Sunday night's game, the Twins had at least one extra-base hit in 51 straight games, a season-high streak.

Tigers at Orioles
Detroit: DH Randall Simon left Sunday's game for a pinch-hitter in the fourth with an unspecified knee injury. ... Robert Fick's first-inning double broke an 0-12 skid. He went 3-for-5 to raise his batting average to .273. ... LF Bobby Higginson threw out Mike Bordick at home to end the second inning for his 12th assist of the season. ... Six Tigers had multihit games Sunday, including Hiram Bocachica, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. ... Sunday's win enabled Detroit to win the season series (4-2) against the Orioles for the first time since 1994.

Baltimore: DH Chris Richard has hit safely in 14 of 17 games since coming off the DL on July 31. ... Fifteen of Jay Gibbons' 21 homers have been solo shots. ... The Orioles had three players thrown out at home in their last two games. ... After allowing only one run in his previous nine outings, B.J. Ryan gave up two runs in 1 1-3 innings Sunday. ... The crowd of 30,905 was the lowest for a Sunday game in Baltimore this season. ... Detroit's 18-hit attack matched the high against Baltimore in 2002. ... Reliever Chris Brock has allowed runs in each of his last three appearances.

Blue Jays at Rangers
Toronto: The Blue Jays have 10 rookies on the current 25-man roster, two short of the most in team history set in 1977. The Blue Jays have used 14 total rookies this season, two off the franchise record also in 1977. ... 1B Dewayne Wise was back in the lineup Sunday night after missing two starts due to a sore hand. Wise, getting a chance to play with Jose Cruz Jr. out because of a twisted left ankle, had started six straight games until incurring the hand injury.

Texas: RHP Chan Ho Park is expected to be activated from the 15-day DL this week and he'll take the place of RHP Ismael Valdes in the rotation. Valdes was traded to Seattle on Sunday. Park has been out since Aug. 6 due to a blister on his right middle finger. ... Alex Rodriguez had the 16th three-homer game by a major league shortstop on Saturday night. Rodriguez accomplished the feat for the second time. Ernie Banks, Nomar Garciaparra and Miguel Tejada are the only other major league shortstops with two three-homer games.

Indians at Angels
Cleveland: Jim Thome's home run in Saturday night's 9-4 victory at Anaheim increased his season total to 37, five behind AL leader Alex Rodriguez and four more than third-place Rafael Palmeiro. The only Cleveland player since 1954 to lead the league by himself was Albert Belle, who set the franchise record with 50 in the strike-delayed 1995 season. Rocky Colavito tied Harmon Killebrew for the home run crown in 1959. "Being right there with A-Rod or Raffy or whoever's there, it's just an honor to be in that group,'' said Thome, who hit 49 of his club-record 319 career homers in 2001. "But I don't come to the ballpark thinking, `Man, I'd like to take over the home run lead.' Whatever happens will happen. I don't get caught up in that. Home runs are difficult to hit, because you'll get into streaks where you'll hit them -- and then you might go through stretches where you don't.'' ... The Indians have not won more than three consecutive games since a four-game streak May 30-June 2, which put them within 3 1-2 games of first place in the AL Central. Since then, the Indians were 43-66 entering Sunday night's game.

Anaheim: The Angels, who begin a three-game series Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, are making their first trip to New York since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Closer Troy Percival is planning to visit the site. "One thing I really want to do is go down there and see that,'' Percival said. "It'll be different because you'd always looked out the window of the plane at it. I think you take a lot less for granted now, for sure. I know I do. I'm thankful every day for what we do and what we have, and you realize what a lot of people had that got taken away from them in a hurry -- not to mention the whole country's sense of freedom. It was great the way New Yorkers rallied around each other. The way they handled it encouraged the whole country to rally around them -- and each other.'' ... Angels executive Tim Mead gave one of the eulogies at Sunday morning's public memorial service for Irv Kaze, who was the team's first publicity director and later won championship rings as an executive with the Yankees and then-Los Angeles Raiders. "Irv's optimism, support and positive approach toward the teams he worked for and the people he associated with was second to none,'' Mead said.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cardinals at Phillies
St. Louis: CF Jim Edmonds went 2-for-14 (.143) with eight strikeouts in the series. ... 3B Scott Rolen didn't play Sunday because of a sore left shoulder. He has 14 RBI in his 18 games, including 12 in the last seven games, with the Cardinals. ... The Cardinals are 39-17 in games Matt Morris starts over the last two seasons, including a 7-1 mark since the All-Star break. ... SS Edgar Renteria was 0-for-10 before hitting his first career grand slam in the sixth inning. Renteria leads all NL shortstops in batting average (.309) and RBI (61).

Philadelphia: The Phillies honored Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas before the game. The tribute included several of Kalas' famous calls along with appearances by past Phillies greats Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. ... RF Bobby Abreu was 0-for-11 in the series before he hit an eighth-inning home run. ... The Phillies, second in the NL in defense, committed four errors in the three-game series, including one on Sunday. ... LHP Rheal Cormier pitched a scoreless inning in his first appearance since Aug. 10.

Diamondbacks at Cubs
Arizona: OF Luis Gonzalez was held out of the lineup for a fifth consecutive game with a strained right rib cage. Gonzalez will meet with team doctors on Tuesday, but he is expected to be cleared to play. Gonzalez will then take a few days of batting practice before being back in the starting lineup.'' ... The Diamondbacks were looking to tie a franchise record for the longest winning streak with nine and extending a nine-game road winning streak, but Joe Girardi's RBI single in the ninth off RHP Matt Mantei ended both streaks. "It was frustrating. We had so many opportunities and the double play ball took us out of a couple innings,'' said Arizona manager Bob Brenly. ... RHP Rick Helling was impressive with his start on Sunday. "You can't pitch much better than Rick Helling,'' said Brenly. "He'd have 13 or 14 wins if we hadn't given away some games. Helling went seven innings giving up only one run on five hits. ... Damian Miller's sixth-inning inside-the-park home run marked the third time that Arizona has done it this year and fourth in franchise history.

Chicago: RHP Kerry Wood was removed from Saturday's game with a blister after the sixth. It is still uncertain whether Wood will make his next start or not. ... RHP Matt Clement struck out 10 batters on Sunday and has fanned a team-high 172 batters in 161 innings of work this season. Sunday's game was Clement's fifth double-digit strike out performance this season and the sixth of his career. ... Alex Gonzalez extended his hitting to a team-high 13 games with a single in the fifth inning.

Rockies at Braves
Colorado: The Rockies have put up 16 runs the past two days after scoring only seven in the previous four. "We got some runs, finally,'' said RF Larry Walker, who had two homers and four RBI on Sunday. "In Florida (last week), we couldn't score a run. Here, our bats came alive.'' ... Jay Payton hit his 10th homer of the season, but he doesn't consider himself much of a power hitter. "I hit a couple or three, then shut it down for a while,'' he said.

Atlanta: RHP Kevin Gryboski pitched another scoreless inning of relief during a rehab stint at Class A Macon and will likely rejoin the Braves for their West Coast road trip. He has been on the DL since July 24 with a sore right elbow. Making his second appearance in three days for the South Atlantic League team, Gryboski hit one batter and struck out another. Until the injury, Gryboski was one of the most effective middle relievers in the Braves bullpen (2-1, 2.27 ERA). ... If Gryboski is activated, LHP John Foster (10.80 ERA) is the most likely to go down. ... Matt Franco had his second three-hit game of the season, equaling his career high. Unfortunately, the left-handed hitter didn't get a chance to break the mark. When the Rockies went to LHP Kent Mercker in the seventh, right-handed Julio Franco pinch-hit for Matt Franco. "Obviously, I would like to stay in and get a shot,'' Matt Franco said. "But all year, when a lefty comes in, Julio comes in. I'm sure he hits a lot better against left-handers than I do. It's hard to argue with that.'' ... C Steve Torrealba has become the personal receiver for RHP Greg Maddux while Henry Blanco is on the disabled list. Torrealba, who has spent most of his career in the minors, said there's no pressure calling pitches for the four-time Cy Young winner. "I've just got to get comfortable with it,'' Torrealba said. "Whet this level, you were called up for a reason. I know I can play.'' ... RF Chipper Jones had nine men on base during his four at-bats, but he didn't get any of them home.

Padres at Expos
San Diego: 1B Ryan Klesko cost the Padres a run and himself an RBI double in the third inning of Sunday's 9-2 loss when he failed to touch first base after hitting a drive to the left-field corner. Klesko was standing on second base when he was called out on an appeal play to end the inning. He admitted that he hoped it had gone unnoticed, but RHP Britt Reames alerted his teammates in the Expos' dugout. "I just missed the bag,'' Klesko said. "I usually come back, but playing on this turf, my knees are pretty sore.'' Klesko finished up 0-for-3, ending a 12-game hitting streak. ... RHP Jeremy Fikac struck out four of the six batters he faced. Fikac was perfect in the sixth and seventh innings.

Montreal: A crowd of 24,872 on Vladimir Guerrero bobblehead day raised the Expos' attendance through 63 home games to 653,203, surpassing their total of 642,748 for the entire 2001 season. "I said in spring training that this is a great baseball community,'' Expos manager Frank Robinson said. "It's very rich in tradition here and I just figured if we played good exciting baseball, I felt like we would attract more fans than people anticipated.'' ... Guerrero went 1-for-5 as he returned to the lineup in front of the fourth-largest Olympic Stadium crowd of the season. The all-star right fielder, who missed Saturday's win because of a strained left shoulder, made a shoestring catch in right-center to end the game. "He looked like his timing was a little off but he definitely was trying to do a little too much today,'' Robinson said. "It's good to have him back.'' ... The Expos placed RHP T.J. Tucker on the 15-day disabled list following the game because of a sprained lower back. Montreal plans to activate RHP Tony Armas Jr. from the DL on Monday.

Brewers at Pirates
Milwaukee: With Sunday's loss in Pittsburgh, the Brewers are 18-45 on the road this year and 3-15 since the All-Star break. They have had three consecutive 1-5 trips. ... LF Jeffrey Hammonds is in a 3-for-18 slump. ... LHP Glendon Rusch is scheduled to pitch against the Pirates again this weekend in Milwaukee. He is 0-6 against Pittsburgh. "They've seen me a few times,'' he said. "They usually have a good game plan.''

Pittsburgh: LF Brian Giles is the Pirates' most valuable player but the team's record is 7-1 in the games he's missed this season. Giles sat out six games at the start of the season because of a rib cage injury and has missed the last two with a strained right calf. ... RH Al Reyes made his Pirates debut with a scoreless inning of relief in Sunday's 3-2 win over Milwaukee. Reyes, who has been with Milwaukee, Baltimore and Los Angeles, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Nashville on Friday when LH Ron Villone went on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis. ... Before Sunday's win, the Pirates had lost the final game in nine consecutive series. ... C Jason Kendall, in a 3-for-21 slump, got Sunday off.

Astros at Reds
Houston: The Astros trailed first-place St. Louis in the NL Central by only one game on Aug. 7. They've gone 5-6 since then, falling five games back -- their biggest deficit since Aug. 2, when they also trailed by five. ... RHP Ricky Stone had 16 relatives and friends in the stands to see him set the Astros rookie record with his 62nd appearance. Charley Kerfeld appeared in 61 games in 1986. "It would have been a little better if we'd have come out on top,'' said Stone, who gave up Sean Casey's solo homer in the 10th inning of Cincinnati's 2-1 win. "It hasn't even been on my mind, to tell you the truth.'' Stone, who grew up in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, said he wasn't nervous pitching close to home with so many friends and relatives on hand. "I went out like I had 61 times before,'' he said. "I just tried to make decent pitches.'' ... Jeff Bagwell's solo homer in the seventh was his 23rd of the season and his 38th career against Cincinnati, the most against any opponent. Bagwell is a .304 career hitter against the Reds with 123 RBI. ... Manager Jimy Williams planned to move struggling starter Dave Mlicki into the bullpen and let Pete Munro start on Wednesday against Chicago. Munro ended up relieving after the rain delay Sunday. Williams wasn't sure who would start on Wednesday.

Cincinnati: Sean Casey's 75th career homer was one of his most memorable. His solo shot in the 10th was the first game-ending homer of his career, and his 10th of the season overall. ... Like Stone, Casey had relatives in the stands on Sunday -- his sister and brother-in-law, Beth and Chip Gold, from Burlington, Vt. "I went and told them during the rain delay: 'Why don't you go out and go shopping or something like that?' I was hoping they'd come back,'' Casey said. "In the first inning after the delay, I didn't see them. Then I saw them. That was neat.'' A storm delayed the game for 2 hours, 56 minutes in the third inning. ... Ken Griffey Jr. was on deck, ready to pinch-hit, when Casey homered. Griffey aggravated a sore left thigh while chasing a fly ball on Thursday night, and has been limited to pinch-hitting for the past three games. ... After going two months, 50 games and 175 at-bats without a homer, rookie Austin Kearns has hit two in the last three games.

Dodgers at Mets
Los Angeles: Marquis Grissom started in left field over Brian Jordan and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games. Grissom tripled, doubled and scored both runs in the Dodgers' 2-1 victory Sunday. He is batting .370 during the streak and Los Angeles is 35-16 when he starts. Jordan expressed his displeasure at sitting to manager Jim Tracy before Sunday's game. "He's not real happy. I don't expect anybody to be happy about not being in the lineup,'' Tracy said. "He handles things in a very professional manner.'' ... Before this weekend, the Dodgers hadn't swept a three-game series from the Mets anywhere since Aug. 23-25, 1996, in Los Angeles. They last did it in New York on May 23-25, 1995.

New York: Former OF Tommie Agee was posthumously inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. ... The Mets went 0-6 on their just-completed homestand, marking the seventh time in their 40-year history they were winless in a homestand of at least six games. New York's 11-game losing streak at Shea Stadium is just two behind the record of 13 set in 1979 under manager Joe Torre. The Mets aren't scheduled to play at home again until the strike date of Aug. 30. ... Marco Scutaro made his first major league start. He played shortstop and went 0-for-3. ... 2B Roberto Alomar's injured groin, which kept him out of the two previous games and slowed him considerably of late, showed marked improvement. He stole his first base since July 26 and beat out a bunt single in the sixth with a headfirst slide.

Giants at Marlins
San Francisco: Giants C Benito Santiago, who lives in Miami, was ejected Sunday with dozens of family and friends in the stands and one of his children working as a bat boy. Plate umpire Tim Timmons tossed Santiago in the bottom of the second while he was catching. In the top of the inning, Timmons said Santiago went around for strike three. "He just threw me out for no reason,'' Santiago said. "I got my family here and the last thing I want to do is come out of the game.'' ... CF Kenny Lofton made two running catches near the fence that might have saved runs. The first came against Mike Lowell, and the second against Preston Wilson. "I hit the ball as hard as I could to center field, and Kenny Lofton turned into Willie Mays,'' Lowell said. ... Through three games in the four-game series, OF Barry Bonds is 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and seven walks.

Florida: 3B Mike Lowell was ejected in the bottom of the fifth. He thought he had taken ball four, but plate umpire Tim Timmons called it a strike as Lowell was leaving the batter's box and heading to first. Lowell then popped out and began arguing from the dugout. He ran back to the plate and started yelling at Timmons before he was restrained by manager Jeff Torborg. "I told him, 'You took that at-bat away from me,''' Lowell said. "A walk there could have helped my team. By popping up, I can't help the team. But I should have never been in that situation. ... I said, 'You haven't called that pitch a strike one time the whole day.' Just give me consistency. That's all I ask.'' ... Marlins LF Kevin Millar extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the fifth. He is 12-for-27 (.444) over that span. ... Florida managed nine hits Sunday, one from each position. Lowell was the only player who didn't get a hit, but his replacement, Mike Mordecai, did.