MONDAY'S TIDBITS Line of the Day Alex Rodriguez Hit a pair of three-run homers to break his own record for dingers (53) by a shortstop in a season. AB H HR RBI 5 2 2 6 Hero of the day Astros SS Mark Loretta singled in the bottom of the 10th inning, driving home Craig Biggio with the winning run as Houston beat Colorado 6-5, its fifth straight victory. Goat of the day Expos reliever Jim Brower gave up a walk-off homer to Cubs SS Alex Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth, which gave Chicago a 3-2 win. It was Gonzalez's third game-winning homer at Wrigley Field this season. Injury report Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez (left hip-groin) will start Wednesday's game at Tampa Bay after missing his past two starts. He threw 28 pitches in the bullpen. Luis Pujols said Tigers INF Dmitri Young could be back in the lineup when the team returns home this weekend to play Kansas City. Young went on the 15-day DL with a hernia on July 6. Reds OF Ken Griffey Jr., who hasn't started since Aug. 29 because of a sore left hip, has been taking batting practice the last few days, but he's still limited to pinch-hitting. Expos OF Wil Cordero was unavailable for a second straight game because of a lower back strain. Cardinals LF Albert Pujols returned to the lineup after missing two games because of spasms in his left shoulder. Dodgers starter Kazuhisa Ishii, hit in the forehead by a line drive, had a two-hour operation to remove bone chips from his nasal passage. He will remain hospitalized for at least a few days, Dodgers head trainer Stan Johnston said. Streak of the day On his 39th birthday, Diamondbacks starter Randy Johnson fanned seven to reach 300 strikeouts for the fifth straight season. The last word ''It's probably going to be nip-and-tuck with them because both teams are solid in every department. I just hope we score more than them.'' -- A's manager Art Howe, on his team's big series with the Angels.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Red Sox at Devil Rays
Boston: RHP Pedro Martinez (left hip-groin) will start Wednesday's game at Tampa Bay after missing his past two starts. He threw 28 pitches in the bullpen. Manager Grady Little said there have been no discussions about shutting Martinez down for the rest of the season. "If he's able to pitch, why would you shut him down?'' Little said. "His arm is fine. He's been progressing all season and is still progressing.'' ... Little said RHP Derek Lowe might drop his appeal of a five-game suspension -- stemming from a game against Baltimore last month -- after his next scheduled start Saturday. A key factor is the Red Sox play a doubleheader Monday. ... RHP Rolando Arrojo (lower back) threw seven minutes off a bullpen mound. There is a possibility he could be activated before the season ends. ... Little said LHP Alan Embree (lower back stiffness) will be able to pitch, but that the back will be a concern the rest of the season.

Tampa Bay: Manager Hal McRae jokingly said he would walk down to the Boston bullpen when RHP Pedro Martinez threw before the game and tell the Red Sox ace "he's not ready'' to return from a left hip-groin injury. Martinez is now scheduled to start Wednesday against Tampa Bay after missing two starts. ... McRae said he might consider letting DH Aubrey Huff hit leadoff on the Devil Rays' season-ending road trip. Huff started the day hitting .328 -- which would be fourth-best in the AL if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. "That's quite an accomplishment,'' McRae said. "Something to be proud of as an organization and as an individual.'' Huff needs 90 plate appearances by the end of the season to qualify.

Blue Jays at Indians
Toronto: Rookie RHP Mike Smith will start Wednesday night in Cleveland, pushing RHP Roy Halladay back in the rotation by one day. Manager Carlos Tosca said the decision was made to give Halladay (15-7), who has worked 210 1-3 innings, one more day of rest while getting a look at Smith. ... The Blue Jays have used 23 pitchers and 17 rookies this season, both club record. One of rookies is LHP Mark Hendrickson, who played in Cleveland three years ago -- for the NBA Cavaliers. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.1 rebounds in 10 games as a 6-foot-9 power forward. ... In their first 57 games after the All-Star break, the Blue Jays batted .291 with runners in scoring position. They hit just .247 before the break in that situation.

Cleveland: General manager Mark Shapiro said the Indians will use the final 20 games to evaluate players for next year. "Because of the (disappointing) season we've had, this is a high point,'' Shapiro said of getting a first look at several promising prospects on the major league level. "We're going to have some jobs open and there's going to be competition. It's going to be exciting and fun.'' ... C Victor Martinez was called up from Double-A Akron, where he was the MVP of the Eastern League after batting .336 with 22 homers and 85 RBIs. RHP Jason Davis was purchased from Akron. He also worked in the outfield with coach Al Bumbry. "Considering all Alex has been through, he did real well out there,'' Bumbry said. "We wanted to get him out of the weight room and on the field. Rehab is a little more fun out there.'' ... OF Alex Escobar took batting practice Monday with the Indians for the first time since having reconstructive surgery on his left knee in March. ... Manager Joel Skinner said that OF Matt Lawton, bothered since April by a right shoulder separation, is scheduled to go to Cincinnati on Wednesday for an examination.

Tigers at Twins
Detroit: Manager Luis Pujols said INF Dmitri Young could be back in the lineup when the Tigers return home this weekend to play Kansas City. Young went on the 15-day DL with a hernia on July 6. "We'll see how he feels after he plays nine innings. He hasn't played nine innings in a long time,'' Pujols said. ... Coming into Monday, opponents were batting .296 against Detroit pitchers from the seventh inning on, third most in the league. The Tigers offense from the seventh on is hitting .225, the league's lowest. ... Pujols said he was looking forward to watching RHP Shane Loux make his major league debut against the Twins on Tuesday. "In my opinion, two years ago with Jacksonville, he should have been in the big leagues halfway threw the season because his stuff was that good,'' he said. Pujols said injuries kept Loux, who went 11-10 with Triple-A Toledo this season before being recalled on Saturday, from coming up last season. "Right now I think he's back to the point where he's made the consistent changes that he's wanted -- locating his fastball with more consistency and his changeup.'' ... The Tigers failed to draw a walk in any of the four games against the New York Yankees this weekend. "A lot of first-pitch strikes and a lot of swing-and-miss,'' Pujols said. The last Detroit player to draw a walk was Bobby Higginson on Sept. 4 against Cleveland.

Minnesota: 1B Doug Mientkiewicz returned to the lineup Monday after missing two games with a sore wrist. His absence was felt in Sunday's loss to Oakland when David Ortiz couldn't handle Luis Rivas' throw from second to turn a double play. Oakland scored the first of six runs on the play. ... After losing two of three to Oakland, the magic number to clinch the AL Central remained at seven for the Twins, which makes it impossible for Minnesota to clinch the division during the current homestand. "I just want to win the division,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Boy it would have been great to win it here.' Let's just win it. ... When you do it, how you do it, back into it, go forward into it, I don't care.'' ... RHP Kyle Lohse will make his scheduled start Tuesday against the Tigers after being held out of his last start to stagger the rotation. Gardenhire said he hopes to get in as much work as possible for Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays before the postseason. All three missed time on the DL this season.

Mariners at Rangers
Seattle: Seattle pinch-hitters entered Monday night 3-for-7 with four RBIs in September. At the start of September, Seattle pinch-hitters were 10-for-54 with six RBIs. Seattle started Monday as the only team in the AL without an extra-base hit by a pinch-hitter this season. ... Manager Lou Piniella started the Rangers series with 1,310 career wins, 26th all-time. He needs four victories to surpass Ned Hanlon and take over 25th place.

Texas: Texas plays its final 20 games against the AL West. The Rangers opened a four-game series against Seattle with a 13-25 record against the AL West. Texas completed play against the AL East with a 25-16 mark. ... Rookie 3B Hank Blalock was in Monday night's starting lineup. He rejoined the Rangers on Monday from their Triple-A farm team in Oklahoma after starting 28 games at third base for Texas earlier in the season.

Athletics at Angels
Oakland: LHP Barry Zito earned his 20th victory Sunday night, making Oakland the first staff to produce three 20-game winners in three consecutive seasons since Atlanta had John Smoltz in 1996, Denny Neagle in '97 and Tom Glavine in '98. ... Oakland has won 11 consecutive series, tying the club record set Aug. 26-Oct. 2, 1988. ... Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said if he had a vote for manager of the year, he'd give it to Oakland counterpart Art Howe. "There's so many things that they've had to work on and explore over there, that to keep that group together, I know that Art has had a huge part in that,'' Scioscia said. Told of Scioscia's comments, Howe replied, "I appreciate that. He's done a great job over there.''

Anaheim: Manager Mike Scioscia said he would decide Tuesday on a starter for Thursday. He could go with rookie RHP Mickey Callaway or RHP Jarrod Washburn, who got pulled Sunday after six innings and 103 pitches. "We're weighing some things to see what makes more sense, and the right time to do it if we want to do it,'' Scioscia said. ... RF Tim Salmon, in his sixth game coming off the DL with a bruised left hand, batted seventh in the order Monday night, four spots removed from his usual No. 3 position. "He's starting to swing a little bit better, but right now we have some good options that we want to go with,'' Scioscia said. "When he starts finding his groove, that gives us another option.'' 1B Scott Spiezio batted third, ahead of LF Garret Anderson.

White Sox at Royals
Chicago: Jerry Manuel moved past Chuck Tanner into sixth place all-time in White Sox history with his 402nd victory Sunday. He is 402-388 (.509) in his five-year career. Next on the list is Paul Richards with 406 wins. ... The White Sox entered Monday's game against Kansas City with a 6-6 record in the season series. The White Sox have outscored the Royals 65-40 in the 12 games. Four of their six losses were by one or two runs.

Kansas City: The Royals released pitcher Blake Stein. Stein had an 0-4 record with a 7.91 ERA. Stein allowed six earned runs on two hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning in Sunday's 16-9 loss to Seattle. ... The Royals have reached six straight losses for the fifth time this season. Three times they won their next game, with their season high being an eight-game losing streak. ... The Royals have scored 29 runs in their last four games, but they have given up 51 in those four contests.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pirates at Reds
Pittsburgh: Rookie outfielder J.J. Davis hoped to make his first career start as routine as possible. "I'm going to treat it like a Double-A game, only with older people,'' said Davis, who started in right field. ... RHP Salomon Torres became the third pitcher this season to go more than 2,000 days between major league wins when he got a victory Sept. 3. Torres went 2,169 days since winning on Sept. 25, 1996. The other two are Cincinnati's Jose Rijo (2,474 days from July 13, 1995, to April 21, 2002) and Toronto's Pete Walker (2,437 days from Oct. 1, 1995, to June 3, 2002). ... Cincinnati native Adam Hyzdu is 7-for-14 against the Reds this season, but his 3-for-35 slump helped keep him out of the starting lineup.

Cincinnati: The 363 career relief appearances by RHP Danny Graves, Tuesday's scheduled starter, are the most by a major league pitcher before making his first career start since Los Angeles' Terry Adams also had 363 relief appearances prior to his first start June 5, 2001, at Arizona. LHP Chuck McElroy, a former Red, set the record with 603 relief appearances before his first start on Sept. 2, 2000, for Baltimore against Oakland ... OF Austin Kearns' strained left hamstring still bothered him while trying to jog before the game. ... Ken Griffey Jr., who hasn't started since Aug. 29 because of a sore left hip, has been taking batting practice the last few days, but he's still limited to pinch-hitting.

Mets at Phillies
New York: C Mike Piazza returned to the lineup after missing Sunday's game because he was hit by a foul tip in the groin area Saturday. ... Ty Wigginton started his third straight game at first base in place of Mo Vaughn, who has a sore left hand. ... LF Roger Cedeno stole a base for the fourth consecutive game. He hadn't done it in more than two straight all season. ... SS Rey Ordonez was a late scratch from the lineup. Marco Scutaro took his spot.

Philadelphia: LHP Hector Mercado started his first game in the majors. Mercado had made 93 relief appearances before getting the start, but he started 90 games in the minors before he was converted to the bullpen in 2000. ... The Phillies will send their top two starters, Vicente Padilla and Randy Wolf, against Florida in Tuesday night's doubleheader. Wolf (11-7) has allowed just one run and tossed three complete games in his last four starts. Padilla (14-9) is 4-4 since being named to the NL All-Star team.

Expos at Cubs
Montreal: Wil Cordero was unavailable for a second straight game because of a lower back strain. The injury forced him out of Saturday's game at Atlanta in the third inning. ... Montreal's bullpen hadn't given up a homer in 43 innings coming in. The stretch dated to Aug. 22, when Matt Herges gave up two homers at Coors Field. ... Montreal has won 70 games for the first time since 1997 and is seeking its first winning season since 1996, when it finished 88-74. ... The Expos are making their first and only trip -- and maybe last ever -- to Wrigley Field this season. ... Brad Wilkerson's bid for Rookie of the Year is filled with offensive statistics, but he also leads all NL first-year players with 13 outfield assists.

Chicago: Slumping Corey Patterson was given the night off and Roosevelt Brown got the start in center field. Patterson was in a 7-for-58 skid. ... Manager Bruce Kimm said he intends to keep starting Fred McGriff at first so he can get two more homers and become the first player in major league history to hit 30 in a season for five different teams. He's already done it at least once with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves and Devil Rays. The Cubs also want to get a look at top first base prospect Hee Seop Choi.

Rockies at Astros
Colorado: LHP Mike Hampton made his 30th start of the season, making him one of only three pitchers who have made 30 or more starts in each of the last six seasons. The other two are Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. ... Hampton celebrated his 30th birthday.

Houston: RHPs Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller each have nine-game winning streaks. It is the first time since 1997 that two Houston pitchers have concurrent winning streaks of at least seven games. In 1997, Darryl Kile won 10 straight and Mike Hampton won seven in a row. ... Houston activated OF Richard Hidalgo from the 15-day disabled list.

Cardinals at Brewers
St. Louis: RHP Jamey Wright, 1-0 in two starts since being acquired from Milwaukee, won't get to face his former teammates in their three-game series at Miller Park and isn't certain when he'll get his next start. Still, there's reason for Wright to be happy with the NL Central-leading Cardinals. "Coming from a team that's 40 games below .500 to a team that's in the playoff hunt ... it's all about winning and that's all anybody cares about. I'm just fortunate to be here,'' said Wright, who was 5-13 for the Brewers before being traded. ... LF Albert Pujols returned to the lineup after missing two games because of spasms in his left shoulder. He led the team in batting at .311, home runs with 32, doubles with 33 and RBIs with 114. ... In their last trip to Milwaukee (April 18-21), the Cardinals were swept in a four-game series. ... The Cards started their final road trip of the season. It spans 10 games. They play their final 10 games at home. ... In a six-game homestand in which the Cardinals went 5-1 against Cincinnati (2-1) and Chicago (3-0), St. Louis relievers allowed no runs in 26 innings.

Milwaukee: In his first two games Saturday and Sunday with the Brewers after being acquired last week from Houston in the trade for Mark Loretta, 3B Keith Ginter went 5-for-8. In the same two days playing third base for the Astros, Loretta was 6-for-9. "You couldn't ask for anything better,'' said Ginter, who spent most of the year at Triple-A New Orleans. "I'm getting a chance to play.'' ... 2B Eric Young moved back to his customary leadoff position after CF Alex Sanchez sustained a season-ending broken ankle. Sanchez finished the season batting .289 with 37 stolen bases in 112 games. Young started the week batting .280 with 29 steals. They figure to bat one-two again next year. ... The Brewers are offering half-price tickets for three games Sept. 17-19 against Houston and one against San Francisco on Sept. 20 if they are purchased on the Internet.

Padres at Diamondbacks
San Diego: 1B Ryan Klesko, batting .385 with five homers in his last 17 games, and 3B Sean Burroughs, who tied his career best with three hits at Colorado on Sunday, were out of the lineup. Both are left-handed batters and manager Bruce Bochy went with an all right-handed lineup against Randy Johnson. ... Padres players have missed 1,320 games on the DL, compared with 801 a year ago. ... San Diego has used a major league-record 37 pitchers this season. ... The Padres have also set a major league record for players used at 59, including 16 who made their major league debuts this year. Twelve of those 16 are pitchers.

Arizona: INF Craig Counsell still is hoping his pinched neck nerve will improve enough for him to play this season. Tests have shown two herniated disks in his upper spine that will require surgery, but that might be put off if the numbness in his right hand subsides. ... The Diamondbacks went 4-9 in 13 consecutive games against Los Angeles and San Francisco. ... Arizona has lost four consecutive series for the first time since its expansion season of 1998. ... Manager Bob Brenly used his 123rd different batting order Sunday, tying the number he used a year ago. ... The Diamondbacks have scored one or fewer runs in seven of their last 12 games.

Dodgers at Giants
Los Angeles: Rookie pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, hit in the forehead by a line drive, had a two-hour operation to remove bone chips from his nasal passage. He will remain hospitalized for at least a few days, Dodgers head trainer Stan Johnston said. A CT scan after the operation was deemed normal and the Japanese left-hander was eating and walking, according to the Dodgers. Ishii also sustained a small skull fracture and a concussion. "The fortunate thing is he's doing OK,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "He's out of harm's way. I never want to go through seeing that again. It's the scariest thing I've ever seen.'' Ishii, who turned 29 Monday, was struck by a line drive hit by Houston's Brian Hunter in the fourth inning of Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Astros. Hunter drove the 3-2 pitch so hard into the left side of Ishii's head that the ball ricocheted to the backstop. Hunter wound up with an RBI double. ... RHP Kevin Brown will start Tuesday against the Giants in place of RHP Andy Ashby. Ashby has an infection and blister under one of the fingernails on the middle finger of his pitching hand. This will be Brown's first start since having back surgery in June. He had a follow-up exam Monday. "I can't predict what he'll do,'' Tracy said. "It's unfair to put unrealistic expectations on Kevin. We'll take what he has.''

San Francisco: Manager Dusty Baker wants to find a time to rest both Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent during this stretch of 20 straight games. Baker hasn't decided whether to give them the same day off. ... Kent entered needing one RBI for his 1,000th ... The Giants ranked third in the NL with a 3.64 ERA, but had a 2.87 mark in their last 20 games. ... San Francisco came in 4-2 on its 10-game homestand. After three games against the Dodgers, the Giants hit the road for 11 games. ... San Jose Sharks captain Owen Nolan attended the game, his first of the season.