Wednesday's first pitch

Leading Off
The Blue Jays smoked the Yankees, 10-4, Tuesday.
The news, however, is how Jorge Posada turned into Alex Rodriguez for a day.
To quote Cito Gaston, who owns a pair of World Series Rings:
"I don't know if that was too smart, because they certainly have a lot more to lose than we do," Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. "They're going to the playoffs and maybe the World Series, and you can get guys hurt out there."
John Harper is right. Posada's irresponsible actions could have led someone to getting hurt.

Regional Roundup

• Cliff Lee went the distance and the Phillies couldn't be any happier. Jimmy Watch:2-for-4, double, run scored, run driven in. .246, .290, 411. Magic number: 12


• Matt Weiters had his best day as a Major Leaguer. After playing adequately this season, one has to wonder what the expectations for The Cornerstone will be when next season begins.
  Brian Roberts broke his own team record for doubles in a season.


• The Dodgers beat the Pirates in 13 innings. More on how the Dodgers won, later.

Best of Rest

• The Marlins kept pace with the Phillies after shutting down the Cardinals.


• The Big Unit is going to pitch in relief. He pitched two teams into the playoffs - one won the World Series - doing that. Speaking of G-Men left-handers, Barry Zito put the Giants closer to the Rockies.


• One at-bat gave Magglio Ordonez $18 million. He reached on an error, by the way.


• Daisuke Matsuzaka returned with a bang. David Ortiz added his own bang.


• It was a memorable day for Ichiro and Griffey, but not for the rest of the Mariners.


• The Twins are finishing the season strongly. Just not strong enough.

Batter's Eye

• Tom Verducci takes a look at the leaders for the Aughts. No one told him the Aught's don't end until 2010. But that's beside the point.

Today in history 1914 -- Roger Peckinpaugh, at 23, was hired to finish the season as manager of the New York Yankees.

1960 -- Warren Spahn, 39, pitched a no-hitter and set a Braves record with 15 strikeouts. Milwaukee beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.

1987 -- Joe Carter of the Cleveland Indians became the ninth major leaguer to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season when he stole his career-high 30th base in the fourth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

The Closer I know. I know. Albert Pujols is great. He's amazing. He leads the lead in slugging, on-base percentage, runs batted in, homers, runs and walks. He should walk away with the MVP. But it shouldn't be unanimous. Andre Ethier needs to be seriously considered for an MVP vote. Look, If you take Albert Pujols out of the Cardinals lineup, they'd still have the best rotation in the National League, play in a week division, have a Hall of Fame manager and a great general manager. Most likely, they'd be contending for a playoff spot. The Dodgers, however, without Ethier would be a lost cause. Sure, they'd have a Hall of Fame manager, but their best pitcher has been Randy Wolf. RANDY, FREAKIN' WOLF. Plus, their other-worldly player got caught with the pop-pop juice in him and had to miss 50 games. We admit, Ethier does not lead the league in anything but games played. He's no slouch though. He's got 30 homers, 98 runs batted in, 40 doubles and 85 runs scored. That's enough to get some Top 5 votes for MVP. What really is outstanding about Ethier is how he's doing in the clutch. Check out these statistics. Four walk-off home runs. Six walk-off hits. He's batting .344 with a 1.037 OPS in full counts. He's batting .320 with 12 home runs in tie games. He's got a .926 OPS in late and close situations. So, Ethier definitely deserves some MVP voter love.