Tuesday's first pitch

Leading Off
The Astros fired manager Cecil Cooper Monday. The team underachieved at 70-79. Any team with Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman should be close to a winning record.
The problem, of course, is that he did not command his players respect.
And for that, he should be fired.
However, Houston's problem isn't just at the helm, it's the way the ship was built.
Sure, there are great players, but the team hasn't added the complimentary parts that are needed to change from a .500 club to a contender.

Regional Roundup

• Here's a good feature on the conundrum that is Elijah Dukes.


• The Orioles now have 90 losses in seven of nine seasons.


• The Pirates showed some spunk, but then got shut down in extras.


• It's hard to believe, but this year's Phillies, could have a better overall regular season than last year's club did.

Best of Rest

• The Giants continue to make it a race.


• Chipper Jones is making sure the Braves don't go down without a fight.


• Kevin Millwood helped keep the Rangers hopes alive.


• Look at the numbers behind Chad Billingsly's slump.


• This headline has us confused. Should we have expected Jose Reyes to return this season? Or in 2011? Why is 2010 a big deal?

Batter's Eye

• The NFL will not move it's game to help MLB with a potential tiebreaker if the Twins and Tigers finish the season with knotted records
  The NFL will have a premiere game - the grossly overrated Brett Favre against his former team, the Green Bay Packers - that night.
  Sure, it's just a regular season game, but it probably will have more viewers than the one-game playoff between Detroit and Boston. So we understand why the NFL won't budge.
  However, if the tiebreaker was between the Red Sox and Yankees, would MLB have pushed harder?

Today in history
1911 -- Cy Young, 44, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 for his 511th and final major league victory.

1986 -- Fernando Valenzuela of Los Angeles became the first Mexican to win 20 games, beating the Houston Astros 9-2 while allowing two hits.

1993 -- The Colorado Rockies played the final home game of their inaugural season and finished with a major league home attendance record. The Rockies played before 4,483,350.

The Closer
The Yankees have been the bully of the American League for three months.
It looked like they had a clear path to the World Series.
Now we have to take another look.
Boston is 8-2 in their last 10 games.
Meanwhile, the Angels just took Game 1 of a three-game set against the Bombers behind Joey Saunders.
The Halos have given the Yankees trouble in recent years, as have the Tigers, who knocked the Yankees out in 2006.
So, maybe, just maybe, the American League is closer than we thought.