AMERICAN LEAGUE
Yankees at Red Sox
New York: Fenway Park has been friendly to Jose Canseco and now he's taking aim at one of the best hitters to play in the stadium. His two-run homer in the ninth Saturday was his 23rd in the park as an opponent, most among active major leaguers. His 445 homers are just seven behind former Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski's 452 for 22nd place all-time. ... CF Bernie Williams missed his fifth straight game with a strained right rib cage. His replacement, Clay Bellinger, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and is hitless in 13 at-bats. ... Trailing a star like Pedro Martinez doesn't faze the Yankees. They won 5-3 after trailing 1-0 and, manager Joe Torre said, "We never stop. What got our guys going was the way Andy (Pettitte) was pitching. They didn't want to waste that effort." ... Derek Jeter's streak of reaching base in 34 straight games is second in the AL this season to the 38 by David Justice before he was traded from Cleveland to the Yankees. Boston: Dante Bichette went 1-for-4 with a double and has nine hits over his last five games. ... Red Sox infielders made two throwing errors but neither led to a run. Lou Merloni made an excellent stop of Tino Martinez's grounder in the second but threw the ball past 1B Jose Offerman and into the dugout. In the fourth, Martinez hit a grounder in the hole to Offerman, whose throw was behind Pedro Martinez as he covered first. ... The last time the Red Sox were as much as eight games out of first place was on Aug. 30, 1999. ... Pedro Martinez struck out at least one batter in each of his previous 13 innings before failing to do that in the sixth.

White Sox at Indians
Chicago: With RHP Cal Eldred on the DL and James Baldwin suffering from tendinitis in his shoulder, the White Sox will have to rely on young pitchers Jon Garland and Kip Wells in the final weeks. Garland got belted around by the Indians on Saturday but manager Jerry Manuel wasn't overly concerned. "We survived so far this year. All we need to do is get a couple of guys in the starting rotation hot and I think we'll be OK." ... Frank Thomas needs one homer and one RBI to set career highs. Thomas has 41 homers, matching his personal best set in 1993, his first MVP season. He drove in two runs Saturday, giving him 134, which he also reached in '96. ... Jason Bere, a key figure in the White Sox's push to the playoffs in 1993 -- the last time they made the postseason -- will be on the mound for Cleveland on Sunday in the series finale. Cleveland: The Indians are billing Baltimore for damage Albert Belle did to the visitor's clubhouse last week. Following his at-bats, Belle would take a swig from a red-colored sports drink and then walk through the clubhouse pouring the rest on the carpet. Belle, who used to play in Cleveland and was booed throughout the three-game series, also threw bottles and cans against the clubhouse wall. Earlier this year, the Yankees billed the Orioles after Belle threw beer cans through a wall in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. ... OF Russell Branyan is expected to get most of the playing time in left field with Wil Cordero possibly out for the season after breaking his right pinky. Branyan has 14 homers in 131 at-bats. "I like Russell's power," said Indians manager Charlie Manuel. "He's got a Mickey Mantle swing and a Mickey Mantle strut." ... With Saturday's 9-3 win over Chicago, the Indians improved to a major league best 32-12 in day games. ... Cleveland has won 16 of its last 21 at home.

Tigers at Blue Jays
Detroit: Tony Clark delivered a single in his first pinch-hit at-bat of the season. ... OF Bobby Higginson is hitting .414 (13-for-33) over his last eight games. ... Brad Ausmus has nine hits in his last 21 at-bats. Toronto: The Blue Jays are 18-5 against Detroit over the last two seasons. ... David Wells has 12 walk-free games this season ... Brad Fullmer's 30th home run gave Toronto three players with 30 homers for the second time in franchise history. Carlos Delgado has 39, and Tony Batista has 38. In 1998, Jose Canseco had 44, Delgado hit 38 and Shawn Green hit 35. ... Billy Koch blew a save for the first time since June 3 at Florida.

Rangers at Royals
Texas: Since reaching .500 at 44-44 on July 15, the Rangers have been below the break-even mark for 56 straight days. ... With four more home runs, Rafael Palmiero will become the 32nd player in major league history with 400. Kansas City: Carlos Beltran, the regular center fielder, played right field for the first time in his career. He'd never been in right even in the minors. ... Royals' minor league prospect Chris George pitched three hitless innings of relief and got the victory in Team USA's 5-3 win over Australia on Saturday.

Twins at Mariners
Minnesota: The Twins have not won a season series from Seattle since 1992 and they trail the Mariners this season with a 3-7 record heading into Saturday. ... Minnesota has hit 25 home runs in its last 26 games for a total of 109 through 141 games. ... Rookie pitcher Mark Redman, the Twins' starter for Saturday's game, ranks first among American League rookies in wins (12-8), strikeouts (114) and winning percentage (.600). ... First baseman Ron Coomer ranks as the fourth-toughest batter to strikeout in the AL, fanning once in every 11.7 plate appearances. Seattle: All-Star SS Alex Rodriguez entered Saturday's game ranked 10th or better in 15 of the AL's 36 official offensive categories. Rodriguez ranks first in road batting average (.365) and second in runs scored (115) behind Kansas City's Johnny Damon. He is also tied for seventh with 34 home runs and seventh with 109 RBIs. ...

Orioles at Angels
Baltimore: Cal Ripken, who has DH'd regularly since coming off the DL Sept. 1 did so for the ninth time this season Saturday. He had never served as the DH until this season. ... RHP Scott Erickson, rehabilitating in Southern California since Aug. 8 elbow surgery, has reunited with the Orioles and is back in uniform for the weekend. ... C Brook Fordyce has thrown out only 2 of 33 runners since his acquisition on July 29 from the White Sox. Anaheim: Proceeds generated by the sale of nearly 7,000 dolls of the Rally Monkey -- the new team mascot sensation -- have gone to a couple of animal-rights groups, Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, and American Zoo & Aquarium Association. ... The Angels are 3-27 when scoring two or fewer runs. ... With their 71st win Friday night, the Angels surpassed their 1999 total.

Devil Rays at Athletics
Tampa Bay: 2B Bobby Smith sat out Friday's game to serve his one-game suspension for fighting with Yankees catcher Jorge Posada in the July 1 game at Tropicana Field. Smith, who was also fined $1,000, unsuccessfully appealed his punishment during a brief hearing Thursday. ... RHP Ryan Rupe was released from a Cleveland hospital after doctors cleared a blood clot and a small blockage from a vein in his right arm. ... Manager Larry Rothschild was back on the bench after finishing his three-game suspension Friday night. Oakland: RHP Jason Isringhausen is back in as closer. He was removed from that role a week ago, with RHP Jim Mecir taking over for the time being. "If he's available and he's healthy, he's the closer," A's manager Art Howe said. "It's time to give him another opportunity." Isringhausen, who hasn't appeared in a save situation since Aug. 15, wasn't available Friday night because of food poisoning. He threw before Saturday's to test his strength. OF Jeremy Giambi was back in the starting lineup for the first time since going on the 15-day DL Aug. 22. "We need to get him some at bats so he can help us," Howe said. "It's time to get him in the lineup."

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Reds at Pirates
Cincinnati: Sean Casey grew up in the Pittsburgh area and always dreamed of playing in Three Rivers Stadium. The Pirates' home field hasn't been the scene of much success for him, though. Before he had a home run and triple in Friday's doubleheader, Casey had been a .130 hitter at Three Rivers. He admits that he tries too hard because he has so many family members and friends in the stands. ... Ken Griffey, Jr. wasn't supposed to play the second game of Friday's doubleheader. But he told Manager Jack McKeon he wanted to, so McKeon scrapped his plans to use Brian Hunter in center. "If he says he's OK, that's good enough for me," McKeon said. Griffey went 0-for-4 in the second game. Pittsuburgh: The Pirates chose their minor league player and pitcher of the year. The player was catcher J.R. House of the Class A Hickory and the pitcher was right-hander Wilson Guzman of the Double-A Altoona. House, Pittsburgh's fifth-round draft choice in 1999, batted .348 with 23 home runs and 90 RBIs in 110 games. Guzman, a non-drafted free agent from the Dominican Republic, was 10-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 18 starts. ... Owner Kevin McClatchy said the Pirates will fall short of their projected attendance. He expects to wind up with a figure around 1.8 million and blames two factors -- the shortage of parking spaces because of new stadium construction and the team's poor play.

Diamondbacks at Marlins
Arizona: LHP Randy Johnson will celebrate his 37th birthday Sunday while seeking a pair of milestones. Johnson is one strikeout away from his fourth 300-strikeout season and eight Ks shy of 3,000. Only 12 other pitchers have recorded 3,000 career strikeouts. "It's really irrelevant if you go out there and strike out a bunch of guys and the team loses. It doesn't mean that much to me if I do that because I take pride in pitching a quality game," Johnson said. "I struck out 19 once against the Oakland A's and lost. I take pride in being a better pitcher, not a better strikeout pitcher. I might be known as a strikeout pitcher, but a better pitcher is what I want to be." Florida: OF Henry Rodriguez was scratched Saturday following batting practice. Rodriguez felt tightness in his left hamstring and was listed as day to day. Mark Kotsay replaced him in right field. ... Manager John Boles admits Johnson has a good chance of reaching 3,000 strikeouts Sunday against the Marlins, and Boles' only defense will be an all-right-handed lineup. "Nobody wants to be No. 3,000, but there's very little you can do about it. I'll guarantee this: If it happens, it'll be a right-handed batter."

Phillies at Mets
Philadelphia: Going into Saturday, the Phillies were 1-6 on their nine-game road trip to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. They scored just 13 runs in those games. ... Philadelphia began Saturday last in the major leagues with 597 runs and next-to-last in batting average (.251), ahead of only Milwaukee (.245). ... With six shutouts, the Phillies have matched their 1999 total. ... Scott Rolen has hit 14 of his 23 home runs on the road. New York: On The New York Times' op-ed page Saturday, columnist Frank Rich proclaimed of Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush: "As far as I can discern, the only really daring move in Mr. Bush's entire life was to fire Bobby Valentine as manager of the Texas Rangers -- though Mr. Valentine has said that his dismissal took the form of an hourlong love tap rather than a boot administered by a decisive leader." Valentine's response? "I think that he was reaching." ... Day after on Mike Hampton's dugout fit Friday: "All the discussion about Mike Hampton's bout with the water cooler seemed to be more smoke than fire," Valentine said. "He's fine today. No ill effects." ... Valentine blames himself for the Mets' September slump. "It's my fault that we're not scoring runs. It's the manager's fault. If a team's not doing well, I think it's because the manager's not leading them properly."

Expos at Braves
Montreal: 2B Jose Vidro, who had an MRI Friday on his left elbow which revealed a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, was unavailable Saturday night and will be re-evaulated Sunday. He has missed three straight games. ... Vladimir Guerrero, who went 3-for-3 in Friday night's 3-2 loss, raised his batting average to .555 (15-for-27) against the Braves in seven games this season. Atlanta: LHP Tom Glavine (19-6) makes his 31st start of the season on Sunday and will be seeking his fifth 20-win season. He's 12-1 in his last 13 starts. ... 1B Andres Galarraga served the third and final game of his three-game suspension Saturday for his part in a brawl at Colorado on Aug. 22 when he was hit by a pitch from John Wasdin.

Dodgers at Rockies
Los Angeles: RHP Luke Prokopec will get his first major league start on Tuesday at Arizona. ... Home runs by Adrian Beltre and Chris Donnels gave the Dodgers 192, one more than the team record in Los Angeles of 191 set in 1977. The franchise record is 208 set in Brooklyn in 1953. ... Donnels hit the ninth pinch homer of the season for the Dodgers this year, tying a franchise record previously done in 1983 and again in 1992. ... The three errors gave them an NL-leading 125 for the season. ... Eric Karros is 9-for-51 in his past 13 games. Colorado: RHP John Wasdin served the second game of a two-game suspension for his part in an Aug. 22 bench-clearing brawl with Atlanta. ... Talks continued in the team's attempts to sign first-round draft choice Matt Harrington and second-round pick Jason Young. ... The Rockies are the only team in baseball to have beaten Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton and Randy Johnson this year. ... Todd Helton, who averages a strikeout every 12 at-bats, has fanned six times in his last three games. ... When RHP Pedro Astacio was ruled healthy enough to pitch Sunday, RHP Brian Rose was moved a day from his scheduled start and Masato Yoshii was pushed back from Saturday and will start Tuesday at San Diego. The moves were made to give Astacio and Julian Tavarez each an additional start. ... The Rockies are five games over .500 (73-58) for the first time since the All-Star break when they were 45-40.

Padres at Giants
San Diego: 3B Phil Nevin missed his third straight game with a strained abdominal muscle. He will be re-evaluated when the Padres return to San Diego on Monday, but is expected to miss at least a week of action. In his absence, 37-year-old Dave Magadan got just his 14th start of the season and hit cleanup. ... The Padres' eight singles in the eighth inning on Friday were one shy of the franchise's single-inning record. ... Ryan Klesko's two-run homer on Saturday was just San Diego's 16th home run since Aug. 16. San Francisco: RHP Russ Ortiz's 20-inning scoreless streak was snapped with the Padres' four-run rally in the third inning Saturday. Ortiz, the NL's August Pitcher of the Month who had won a career-best seven straight starts, hadn't allowed a run since Aug. 25. ... OF Armando Rios has flown home to Puerto Rico to be with his family after his 81-year-old grandmother was struck and killed by a bus. Rios is expected to rejoin the Giants in Houston on Monday. ... Barry Bonds was given the day off. The Giants rested Ellis Burks on Friday and plan to rest Jeff Kent on Sunday.

Astros at Cubs
Chicago: RHP Rick Aguilera is done for the season because of a broken bone near his right thumb. Aguilera sustained the injury Aug. 26 when he was hit by a comebacker by the Dodgers' Alex Cora in the ninth. Aguilera, who has 29 saves in 37 opportunities, has pitched since the incident. "The pain I have now is as severe as it was when I first did it," Aguilera said. Added manager Don Baylor: "He just can't grip the ball so it's time to sit him down." ... RHP Kevin Tapani, who has been pitching despite soreness in his back and right knee, also may be done for the year. He was examined by team physicians Saturday and will miss the next road trip to see specialists. ... 2B Eric Young extended his season-high hitting streak to 13 games with a triple in the third. Houston: OF Moises Alou did not start, still bothered by a sore right hamstring that forced him out of Friday's game. His status was day to day. ... RHP Rusty Meacham made his Astros debut in the ninth inning. ... OF Frank Charles recorded his first career hit with a pinch-double in the ninth. ... The Astros hit seven homers in a game for the first time all season.

Cardinals at Brewers
Cardinals: Mark McGwire made his second consecutive start at second base Saturday after being activated from the disabled list. The slugger was second in the batting order and popped out before being replaced. ... McGwire, who had been out since July 7 with tendinitis in his right knee, hit eight homers in 20 batting practice swings. Two curled high over the left-field foul pole and into the upper deck at County Stadium, and a third was nearly deep enough to clear the single-tier bleachers in left. Milwaukee: C Henry Blanco was held out of the lineup for the third straight night with a sore right shoulder. Blanco is among the major league leaders in throwing out runners attempting to steal, having caught 37 of 65. ... Geoff Jenkins started in left and took his customary third spot in the hitting lineup one night after being hit on the left forearm with a pitch from Rick Ankiel.