Moores wants more

Padres owner John Moores says he's not going anywhere anytime soon. He'll retain the Padres for the foreseeable future.

“The goal has always been to play meaningful games in September,” Moores said. “We clearly have not met that target this year, but I want to do it again next year. That's the priority. Last year, we got within an out of postseason play. And I thought potentially we had at least as good a team coming back. Everybody thought the West was going to be whole lot stronger than it has been. I don't really understand why it hasn't. We're going to try and take it apart and figure it all out.”

I'm surprised the West wasn't better myself. It's been a big disappointment as a division.

Marcum out for next year

Shaun Marcum is out for the rest of the year and will require Tommy John surgery, meaning he'll likely miss all of 2009. Tough blow for Toronto, as Marcum was really looking to come into his own in 2008.

Fantasy Impact: While the website says franchise leagues should consider keeping him, we suggest to drop him in all leagues. Even if you can stash Marcum away there's no guarantee he returns to form in 2010. You can find something comparable as a mid-level starter.

Minnesota feeling the Pena

Carlos Pena became the first beneficiary of replay as his three-run sixth-inning shot was only award after a four-minute, ten second delay for umpires to review a hit that was originally ruled a double for fan interference.

Tampa toppled Minnesota, 11-1, leaving the twins two games behind the White Sox before the Sox result Friday night in Kansas City.

Cubs can clinch Saturday

Milwaukee's 11-1 loss at Cincinnati leaves the Cubs' magic number at one heading into Saturday play. Both Chicago and Milwaukee play at 3:55 p.m. EST, meaning the Cubs can clinch before they even finish their game with St. Louis. Here are the pitchign matchups.

Milwaukee - Sabathia (15-9, 2.88)
vs. Cincinnati - Cueto (8-13, 4.68)

St. Louis - Pineiro (6-6, 5.24)
vs. Chicago Cubs - (15-9, 4.13)

The Brewers have to be heavy favorites against Cincinnati, but the Cubs have a very favorable pitching matchup at Wrigley. While most of St. Louis' power comes from the right side, the left-handed Lilly is actually tougher on righties than lefties.

Big Zzzzzzzzz...

Carlos Zambrano rocked the Astros to sleep his last time out, no-hitting them in Milwaukee's Hurricane Ike makeup game. Zambrano's return to the mound did not go anywhere near as well. Zambrano gives up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings, including a first-inning grand slam to Adam Kennedy as the Cubs fall, 12-6.

Fanasy Impact: Zambrano raced home midweek to his native Venezuela to visit his dying grandmother. He looked like a tired pitcher on Friday. Expect him to bounce back.

Sacramento dynasty

Sacramento wins the Triple-A title, again. According to the article, it's tough to build a dynasty at the minor league level, but if anyone can do it, it's the Oakland A's organization. They're always in the process of building the farm teams.

I'm not sure if I'm surprised that the Yankees Triple-A team made it to the finals. On one hand, New York is not known for growing its own. On the other hand, Triple-A is often times where minor leaguers go to die, meaning a championship-caliber team at this level is not necessarily indicative of an organization's talent-level.

Hand it to Hill

Koyie Hill is one amazing story. If you haven't heard his yet, check this out. He's already succeeded in his career just making it back to the big leagues after the accident.

Makes me remember why I hated the jigsaw in shop class.

MLB postseason schedule

I've noticed a lot of people have been looking for the postseason schedule. Here it is again, so you don't have to search the whole blog.

Oct. 1 (on TBS): Game 1 of both NL series; game 1 of Al series between two division champions
Oct. 2 (on TBS): Game 2 of both NL series; game 1 of Al series between division champion and wild-card team
Oct. 3 (on TBS): Game 2 of both AL series
Oct. 4 (on TBS): Game 3 of both NL series
Oct. 5 (on TBS/TNT): Game 4 of both NL series; Game 3 of both AL series
Oct. 6 (on TBS): Game 4 of both AL series
Oct. 7 (on TBS): Game 5 of both NL series
Oct 8 (on TBS): Game 5 of both AL series

Oct. 9: NLCS game 1 (on Fox)
Oct. 10: NLCS game 2 (on Fox); ALCS Game 1 (on TBS)
Oct. 11: ALCS Game 2 (on TBS)
Oct. 12: NLCS game 3 (on Fox)
Oct. 13: NLCS game 4 (on Fox); ALCS Game 3 (on TBS)
Oct. 14: ALCS Game 4 (on TBS)
Oct. 15: NLCS game 5 (on Fox)
Oct. 16: ALCS Game 5 (on TBS)
Oct. 17: NLCS game 6 (on Fox)
Oct. 18: NLCS game 7 (on Fox); ALCS Game 6 (on TBS)
Oct. 19: ALCS Game 7 (on TBS)

Oct. 22: World Series Game 1 (on Fox)
Oct. 23: World Series Game 2 (on Fox)
Oct. 25: World Series Game 3 (on Fox)
Oct. 26: World Series Game 4 (on Fox)
Oct. 27: World Series Game 5 (on Fox)
Oct. 29: World Series Game 6 (on Fox)
Oct. 30: World Series Game 7 (on Fox)

Phils in first, Dodgers roll

With a one-run win in Atlanta and the Mets losing, 1-0 in DC, Philadelphia is all alone in first by a half-game in the NL East. The Phillies own five straight wins while New York appears to be choking down the stretch again, losers of three in a row.

Out West, the Dodgers appear poised to run away with the division. Behind a strong performance from Derek Lowe, Los Angeles beats the Pirates, 6-2 and clutches to a 4.5 game lead on the Diamondbacks with 11 to play.

Cubs sneak past Brew-Crew

Kerry Wood certainly has a flair for the dramatic. Wood gave up a run on Ray Durham's RBI double in the 9th that cut Chicago's lead over the visiting Brewers to 5-4. Wood then allowed Ryan Braun to reach on an infield single before striking out Prince Fielder to end it. Fielder had hit two home runs earlier in the game.

Chicago sure played well in the clutch. Reed Johnson's diving catch in the 6th kept a narrow 3-2 lead in tact for starter Ryan Dempster, and Alfonso Soriano's late solo homer coupled by an 8th-inning RBI single from Henry Blanco provided the difference.

The Cubs magic number over Milwaukee is four, and they can clinch the NL Central with a series sweep in three games. Chicago stands nine games ahead of the fading Brewers. Milwaukee falls behind the Mets for the NL Wild Card.

AL shaping up

A wild night in the American League as the Rays bounce back to beat the Red Sox, 2-1, and the Cleveland Indians enjoy a three-run homer from Victor Martinez in the 11th to best the Twins, 12-9. Tampa stands atop the AL East again, while the White Sox own a 2.5 game lead on the Twins in the AL Central with a dozen to play.

Departures

A slew of players were headed down the wrong path Monday night in terms of playing positive roles down the stretch.

Washington's Dmitri Young and Jesus Flores are likely out for the year after respective MRI exams on a bad hip and bad ankle.

Rangers injury-plagued pitcher Brandon McCarthy appears to be done thanks to a flexor tendon problem in his pitching hand.

Kenny Rogers is done with the Tigers. Don't ask why.

Jeremy Guthrie is on the DL, retroactive to September 6th. He could pitch again this season, but with nothing on the line, why wouldn't the O's just bench him for the remainder of the year?

That leaves us with Robinson Cano. Joe Girardi benched Cano for not hustling, but he did get in the game against the White Sox Monday night. That said, Cano never really got started this season, hitting .260 with modest run and RBI production for a starter with the Yankees. Don't expect a sudden resurgence from one of the bigger disappointments this season.

Arrivals

Lots of news to jam into one night of posting, so we'll pop a couple of positives in one.

First, a newcomer dazzled in his second straight start. Scott Lewis, Cleveland's 25-year-old left hander, making his first appearance since an eight-inning, three-hit gem, went six innings, giving up just three hits again, striking out five in another strong effort for his second win.

Then there's Paul Konerko. The White Sox veteran first baseman hit four home runs in four days, showing some late life in an injury-plagued season. Then he sprained his MCL in a rundown last week. Konerko is finally ready to get back into the lineup Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

No-hit, one-hit

Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the 7th inning this afternoon as the Chicago Cubs tried to make it back-to-back no-hitters, something that's only been done once in the history of the game. Instead, Lilly gave up a single to Mark Loretta, the second batter he faced in the 7th, and the no-hit bid came to an abrupt halt.

The Cubs' combined one-hitter marked the first time in MLB history that club tossed a one-hitter the day after a no-hitter. Back in 1917 two St. Louis Browns pitchers, Erine Koob and Bob Groom, fired no-hitters on May 5th and 6th. Oddly enough, the Browns were no-hit twice earlier that same season.

Daisuke reaches milestone

Can you name the record Daisuke Matsuzaka established Monday night? In what's fairly big news on the Asian side of the Pacific rim, Matsuzaka became the first Japanese-born pitcher to win 17 games in a MLB regular season.

I love Malay news.

Fantasy Impact: Matsuzaka pitched well enough to be an impact in fantasy last year. This season he's the Red Sox ace, and likely one of yours as well. He's got a ton of talent, and he's blossoming into something special for the next handful of years.

Yost fired

The AP reports Ned Yost has been fired. Dale Sveum takes over for the rest of the year in Milwaukee.

Big Z puts Astros to sleep

Carlos Zambrano completes the first Cubs no-hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972 as the Cubs go to Milwaukee and beat the Astros in front of 23-thousand screaming Chicagoans.

The Cubs win in Miller Park is actually help for the Brewers, who dropped a day-night double header to the Phillies, leaving those two teams tied for the Wild Card. Houston's loss leaves the Astros 1.5 games back in that race, while the Cubs move 7.5 games ahead of the Brewers. Chicago is a virtual lock for the NL Central crown.

Major players?

Three guys who spent extended periods in the minors this year helped the Royals rip the Indians, 13-3.

Kansas City shortstop Mike Aviles continues to hit for a high average, improving to .322 with a 3-5 effort. He scored three runs. Second baseman Alberto Callaspo went 2-3 with three runs scored and two RBI while first baseman Ryan Shealy powered out two home runs and knocked in five.

Fantasy Impact: Hard to say any of the three should make you salivate over their long term futures (Aviles and Shealy are not youngsters, and Callaspo owns little pop), but they got the job done today.

Maddux mad good, but Dodgers lose

Talk about efficiency; Greg Maddux threw just 68 pitches over seven innings of two-hit baseball. He allowed just two hits and no runs, leaving with his Dodgers in a 0-0 tie at Colorado.

Counterpart Aaron Cook threw 102 pitches over eight innings and also gave up no runs, as the Rockies required 10 innings to finally prevail, 1-0. Troy Tulowitzki knocked in the game's only run.

Fantasy Impact: Maddux mixes in the occasional gem and the occasional clunker. He's been remarkably efficient for his advanced age of 42 years old. Without much strikeout potential, however, he's no better than a fringe starter in fantasy, especially if the Dodgers aren't giving him run support.

Heavenly

Everything is setting up for the Angels to earn home-field advantage in the postseason and set their team up for a run to the World Series, where again the AL has home-field.

If Kevin Jepsen, a minor league flamethrower is called up, Anaheim's bullpen gets that much stronger.

One thing to watch closely is how Scioscia sets up his bullpen behind Rodriguez. There is growing speculation that call-up Kevin Jepsen, an Olympian who throws in the upper 90s, might make the playoff roster. Scioscia likes that Jepsen thrived in the pressure of the Olympics, and had to have been impressed when Jepsen made his major league debut against the Yankees last week and retired Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez. And then did it again two days later, striking out A-Rod with a 95 mph heater.

Jepsen's debut brings to mind the saga of K-Rod in 2002, when Rodriguez made his major league debut on Sept. 18 and struck out 13 in his first 5 2/3 innings. The Angels put the rookie on their postseason roster, and he was a huge factor in their run to a World Series title.

Another K-Rod? Home-field advantage? Who doesn't like the Angels?