AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox vs. Tigers
Boston: RHP Derek Lowe has converted his last 17 save chances, including the first two games of a four-game series at Detroit. He has allowed just three earned runs in his last 22 appearances (27 innings) for a 1.00 ERA. His 36 saves after Saturday's doubleheader opener rank third on Boston's season list behind Tom Gordon (46 in 1998) and Jeff Reardon (40 in 1991). ... INF Izzy Alcantara was the only position player who didn't see action for the Red Sox in their 7-6 win Friday at Detroit. Boston used 24 players -- 18 position players and six pitchers -- as the two teams tied an AL record by using 42 total players. ... 1B Rico Brogna entered Saturday just 2-for-19 (.105) since his game-winning grand slam Aug. 14 against Oakland. Detroit: RHP Doug Brocail has been shut down for the season because of right elbow inflammation, which will probably necessitate offseason surgery. The decision came a day after both Brocail and manager Phil Garner said they thought the Tigers' top setup man could pitch in a limited role the rest of the season. ... 1B Tony Clark is day-to-day with back stiffness. He was on the DL because of back problems from July 15-Sept. 1. ... Bench coach Bob Melvin returned Saturday after missing the last three weeks with a viral infection that settled in his middle ear.

Mariners vs. Orioles
Seattle: SS Alex Rodriguez hit his 37th homer in the first inning of Saturday's game, a two-run shot. The Mariners have outscored the opposition 121-86 in the opening inning this season. ... OF Rickey Henderson opened the game with a double to improve to 8-for-30 lifetime against Mike Mussina. ... Rodriguez has RBI in seven of his last 10 games. Baltimore: Ryan Minor started at first base for the second time this season. He's a third baseman by trade. ... Melvin Mora, who batted second in the lineup in 38 of 39 starts, was dropped to fifth. ... Rodriguez's homer was the 28th allowed by Mussina this year compared to 16 all last year.

Indians vs. Yankees
Cleveland: The Indians are 3-5 against New York this year. They haven't won the season series since 1992. ... 1B Jim Thome was hitless in four at-bats against Orlando Hernandez. The Cleveland slugger came into the game 6-for-13 lifetime against El Duque with three home runs, a triple and a double. ... After a win Friday, a loss Saturday meant the Indians will not sweep the four-game series. In fact, Cleveland has never swept a four-game series from the Yankees since the teams began playing in 1903. New York: CF Bernie Williams, out since last Sunday because of a strained right rib cage and sore calf, will likely return to the lineup for Sunday's game, manager Joe Torre said. ... Yankees pitchers have allowed more than two runs in an inning only once since Aug. 30, a span of 153 innings. ... Yankees starters are 10-2 with a 2.47 ERA in the last 17 games.

Athletics vs. Devil Rays
Oakland: With the possibility of severe weather associated with Hurricane Gordon, Sunday's game at Tampa Bay was postponed. The announcement was made right after Saturday's contest. If the game is needed to decide a postseason spot, it will be played Oct. 2. The Athletics departed for Baltimore, where they open a four-game series Monday. ... The Oakland pitching staff has allowed just 16 runs in the last seven games. ... Jason Giambi has a season-high 12-game hitting streak. ... Rookie players found women's clothing in their lockers after the game. Matt Stairs said he purchased 15 outfits -- including a tutu, a Jeannie costume and a wedding gown -- for the baseball ritual. Tampa Bay: CF Gerald Williams had an RBI double in the seventh inning to become just the seventh major leaguer to have 20 homers and 80 RBI from the leadoff spot. ... 2B Miguel Cairo set a team-record with his 27th stole base. He stole second in the seventh. ... The Devil Rays are 2-13 in September and are a season-worst 26 games under .500 at 61-87. ... Tampa Bay has just eight homers in the past 19 games. ... 1B Fred McGriff has seven extra base hits in his last 48 games.

Royals vs. Rangers
Kansas City: Johnny Damon is only the fourth player in Royals history with 200 hits in a season. He reached the 200-hit plateau with three hits Friday night. He is the first Kansas City player to do so since Kevin Seitzer had 207 in 1987. Willie Wilson (230 in 1980) and George Brett (215 in 1976 and 212 in 1979) were the other 200-hit Royals. ... Dan Reichert, Jeff Suppan and Mac Suzuki are tied for the team lead in victories with eight each. The team has never been without a 10-game winner in its 32-year history. Reichert (8-7) pitches Sunday. Texas: The Rangers are just 2-65 this season in games they trailed after the eighth inning. The second such victory came Friday night in a 12-11, 10-inning victory over Kansas City. But before accomplishing that rare feat, Texas did something it had never done. The Rangers blew a 9-1 lead after six innings. The Rangers had never blown a lead that big in team history.

Angels vs. Twins
Anaheim: The Angels used a season-high 19 players in Friday night's 16-5 victory over the Twins. ... Tim Salmon hit his 34th home run Friday, becoming the ninth Anaheim player this season to tie or establish a career-best in homers. Minnesota: CF Torii Hunter missed his fourth straight game with a sore groin muscle. ... Governor Jesse Ventura attended Saturday's game and his wife, Terry, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Triple-A Salt Lake City coach Bill Springman joined the Twins Saturday and will remain with the team for the rest of the season.

Blue Jays vs. White Sox
Toronto: RHP Frank Castillo, who had been on the DL with a sprained right forearm and sprained ligament in his elbow, was activated. Castillo threw in the bullpen Saturday and reported no discomfort. ... RHP Chris Carpenter entered Saturday night's game 6-0 lifetime against the White Sox, including a 5-3 win May 1 in Chicago and his first ML win Aug. 19, 1997. ... 1B Carlos Delgado is homerless in his last 16 games heading into Saturday's contest, his longest drought of the season. Chicago: DH/1B Frank Thomas made his 30th start at first base this season but manager Jerry Manuel said Thomas has a sore right knee and has been experiencing discomfort for the last couple months. Thomas said he did not think he would need to have the knee drained. ... RHP James Baldwin, sidelined with tendinitis in his shoulder, will start throwing on the side Tuesday. Schueler said the plan is for Baldwin to make at least one more regular season start either Sept. 28 or 29. ... RHP Sean Lowe will start Tuesday in Detroit and is a candidate for the postseason rotation.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Mets vs. Expos
New York: Mike Piazza was rested and Todd Pratt made his 36th start of the season behind the plate. Piazza, who was available to pinch hit, will start Sunday's series finale. ... The Mets have come back to win 15 times this season when trailing after six innings. Montreal: The Expos announced that Tony LaCava has been hired as the team's director of player development. LaCava, 39, who was Atlanta's national cross-checker this season, was a scout for California/Anaheim from 1989-99. ... Vladimir Guerrero was 6-for-15, including a double and two homers, against Rick Reed entering Saturday night's game.

Marlins vs. Phillies
Florida: Preston Wilson's first-inning home run Saturday night gave him 27 for the season, tying him for the second-most in club history. He matched Gary Sheffield, who had 27 in 1994. Sheffield also had 40 in 1996. ... Sunday's starter RHP Chuck Smith has allowed three runs or less in 12 of his 16 starts this season. ... On Friday night, Mark Kotsay recorded an outfield assist to move into a tie for the league lead. If he were to lead the league in 2000, it would be the first time that a player led the league in outfield assists for three consecutive years since Johnny Callison did it from 1962-65. Philadelphia: The Phillies have added INF David Newhan, Jimmy Rollins and OF Reggie Taylor from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and RHP Doug Nickle from Double-A Reading. Both minor league affiliates had advanced to their league's championship series and ended their seasons on Friday. ... Sunday's starter Randy Wolf has had 15 of his 29 starts decided by two runs or less. The Phillies have won just 11 times in his starts this season and are 1-11 when he does not get a decision.

Brewers vs. Reds
Milwaukee: Paul Rigdon allowed four runs -- three earned -- and four hits in five innings. ... C Kevin Brown had two hits in his debut with Milwaukee. ... Before the game, the Brewers purchased the contract of RHP Mike Buddie from Triple-A Indianapolis and designated pitcher Paul Stewart for assignment. Cincinnati: Sean Casey has 11 RBI in his last 11 games ... The Reds moved five games over .500 for the first time since June 6. ... The Reds extended their club-record streak of consecutive games to start a season without being shut out to 150, the fourth-longest in history.

Pirates vs. Astros
Pittsburgh: The Pirates have used 112 different lineups this season. ... In the last seven games the Pirates have allowed 64 runs (including 60 earned) in 61 2/3 innings, an 8.76 ERA. Houston: Richard Hidalgo is the fourth player in franchise history to score 100 runs, drive in 100 runs and hit 30 homers in the same season. He joins Jimmy Wynn (1967), Moises Alou ('98) and Jeff Bagwell ('94, '96-2000). ... The Astros entered Saturday's game against Pittsburgh with franchise single season records for RBI (822) and extra base hits (525). The previous marks of 818 and 520 were set in 1998.

Cubs vs. Cardinals
Chicago: Mark Grace, who needs two RBI for 1,000, says he does not expect to be with the Cubs next year. Grace, who is making $5.3 million this year, said the Cubs have shown no interest in having him return. ... The Chicago bullpen has 27 blown saves this year and has been outscored 110-58 in the eighth inning. The Cubs are reported to be scouting Kansas City's Ricky Bottalico for next season. ... Sammy Sosa became only the second player in history to hit 50 or more home runs in three straight years with a two-run homer Saturday. Mark McGwire hit 50 homes runs four straight seasons from 1996-99. St. Louis: Darryl Kile, who is 2-0 against the Cubs this season will try to become the National League's second 19-game winner Sunday. ... The Cardinals became the first National League team to go over the 3-million mark with a crowd of 47,461 Saturday. The Cardinals have drawn more than three million the last three years and five times in their history ... Fernando Tatis' two home runs Saturday set a news single season record for home runs by the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have 115 home runs this season. The old mark of 113 was set in 1998.

Braves vs. Diamondbacks
Atlanta: Starter John Burkett, who has made nine relief appearances, is 8-4 as a starter and 9-6 overall. ... SS Rafael Furcal saved his 10-game hitting streak with his fifth-inning homer. ... OF Reggie Sanders, who hit two two-run homers, was batting .206, with career lows of eight homers and 23 RBI, before the game. ... Sanders had two multi-homer games last year, including one on April 24 against Arizona. ... After his solo homer Friday night, Chipper Jones has six in 18 at-bats against Randy Johnson and is 8-for-18 (.444) against Johnson in his career. ... Andruw Jones stole his 20th base off Johnson, becoming the third Atlanta player to have at least three 20-20 seasons. The others are Henry Aaron and Ron Gant. ... Keith Lockhart, the team's regular second baseman since Quilvio Veras had knee surgery in July, led Atlanta with 15 pinch-hits last year. This season, he is 0-for-23 as a pinch-hitter, including flying out for the final out of Arizona's 2-1 victory Friday night. Arizona: Hanley Frias needed three stitches on his right thumb after he was spiked by Atlanta's George Lombard in the ninth inning Friday night. Frias sat out Saturday's game, with regular SS Tony Womack back in the lineup. ... The wrist bruise CF Steve Finley received Tuesday when he was hit by Onan Masaoka of Los Angeles is worse than thought. Finley was expected to return Monday after missing four games, but manager Buck Showalter doubts it. "That's a stretch. I'd feel real good if Monday was possible," Showalter said. ... After the game, RHP Todd Stottlemyre took a leave of absence to be with his father, New York Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, who had a stem-cell transplant Thursday to treat his blood cancer.

Rockies vs. Dodgers
Colorado: Todd Helton's average slipped from .397 to .374 in his last 16 games (12-for-61) prior to Saturday night, giving him a deeper appreciation for how difficult it is to bat .400. Four other players since Ted Williams' .406 mark in 1941 thought they had a legitimate shot in the final month. But Tony Gwynn finished at .394 in 1994, George Brett .390 in 1980, Rod Carew .388 in 1977 and John Olerud .363 in 1993. "Obviously, the fact that it hasn't been done in so many years tells you it's difficult," Helton said Saturday. ... RHP Pedro Astacio, who was forced out of Friday night's game after three hitless innings because of a strained oblique muscle in his left side, will miss at least one start. He is within 3 2/3 innings of reaching the 200-inning plateau for the third straight season -- all with the Rockies. He also did it in 1996 with the Dodgers. Jose Jimenez, 21-for-27 in save opportunities in his first season as a reliever, is trying to follow in the footsteps of Dennis Eckersley and Dave Righetti -- pitchers who have had productive careers as closers after pitching a no-hitter in the majors. "Jose's still young, and he's still trying to fell his way through it, but he's done a great job," manager Buddy Bell said. "He's always been a starter and he's never pitched in relief before this season, so it takes some time to really feel confident every time you go in there." Los Angeles: LF Gary Sheffield sat out Saturday night's game because of back spasms. ... After an MRI showed a complete tear in Jim Leyritz's right shoulder, the 11-year veteran catcher decided to move up his surgery to next Thursday instead of waiting till the end of the season. He did it with the Dodgers' blessing. "The fact that there was a chance it could have been hurt worse was all I needed to hear from Dr. (Frank) Jobe. So it was time to shut it down and get it taken care of," Leyritz said. "I mean, if we were still in it, I'd have no problem taking a shot at finishing out the season. But with this being my throwing arm, being a free agent next year, and us pretty much being out of the race, it was a personal decision that I had to protect myself and get ready for next year." ... RHP Luke Prokopec, who would have pitched for his native Australia in the Olympics had he not been promoted from Double-A San Antonio on Sept. 1, will make his first Dodger Stadium start on Sunday. "I stressed to the Dodgers that the reason I worked so hard over here was that I wanted to go to the big leagues. And with the season I had in the minors, I knew I had a good chance of getting a callup in September," Prokopec said. "I've actually spoken to a couple of the guys from the Olympic team on the internet, and they were pumped up for me. They all told me basically the same thing -- if they were in the same position, they would have done exactly the same thing."