Monday's first pitch

Leading Off
While the Braves might not make the playoffs, Atlanta made a smart move in bringing in Javier Vazquez.
The righty has been a revelation in Atlanta, going 13-9 with a 3.01 ERA.
Vazquez has never lived up to the potential he showed while in Montreal, but he's a solid guy to have as a No. 2 or No. 3.
He was unfairly derided in New York, where he went 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA. While he gave up a lot of runs, his whip was 1.288. He led that team in innings pitched, strike outs and starts.
The most surprising stat of Vazquez' career: He's just 140-138 overall.
Regional Roundup

• The Phillies swept a double-header with the Mets to cap a strong, but not perfect weekend. Brad Lidge thinks he sees progress. Jimmy Watch: A decent weekend ups his season stats to .244/289/409, 85 runs scored and 28 stolen bases.


• Are the Orioles about to shut down another heralded rookie hurler? Brian Roberts had a fantastic weekend, showing off for his future employers.


• Paul Maholm had a strong performance and looks like he could be the cornerstone for the Pirates 2010 rotation.


• The Nats dominated the Marlins, which was good for the Phillies.

Best of Rest

• Joe Girardi and Alex Rodriguez lost their cool.


• The Mets are officially out of the playoffs. Look on the bright side, Mets fans, there was no collapse this season.


• Brad Penny's been a relevation since moving to the National league.


• Is a certain Hall of Famer who wears No. 23 and is a Chicago legend going to return to his team at the helm?


• Ichiro has had 200 hits for a record nine-straight seasons.


• Torii Hunter and Scott Kazmir led the Angels closer to the playoffs.

Batter's Eye

• Here's a look at the unsung heroes who have put their teams on the brink of the playoffs.

Today in history 1968 -- Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland A's 5-4 to become the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean in 1934 to win 30 games. 1990 -- Ken Griffey and his son hit back-to-back homers in the first inning of the Seattle Mariners' 7-5 loss to the California Angels. The unprecedented father-and-son homers came off Kirk McCaskill.

1994 -- The baseball season, already shut down by a monthlong strike, was canceled along with the World Series in a vote by 26 of the 28 teams.

The Closer
The Boston Red Sox have been pretty much irrelevant since the All-Star break.
Sure, they held the lead in the Wild Card race, but they hadn't played very well at all.
That allowed the Yankees to pull away.
Then the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays got into the the wild card hunt.
This weekend, however, the Red Sox showed baseball they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Not only did they dispatch the Rays with ease, but Dustin Pedroia and Josh Beckett appear to have righted their own personal ships.
Beckett has given up four runs in his last 12 innings - over two starts - while walking three and whiffing eight.
Pedroia, meanwhile, has gone 9-for-20 (.450) with three home runs, five runs scored and six driven in.
If those two guys continue to play well, the Sox will be tough to deal with in the playoffs.