Baseball News

LOS ANGELES - Trailing 2-0 in the National League championship series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the Philadelphia Phillies right where they want them — at home.

DETROIT - What remains of Tiger Stadium will remain standing at least until March 1 while preservationists raise money to renovate the stadium and reopen it as a recreational and educational complex.

PHILADELPHIA - A grieving Charlie Manuel was in the dugout for the Philadelphia Phillies' 8-5 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NL championship series Friday, hours after his mother died.

SAN DIEGO - Jose Canseco was held for nearly 10 hours by immigration authorities after agents said they stopped the former baseball star as he attempted to bring a fertility drug from Mexico, his lawyer said Friday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Royals are raising prices on most of their tickets for 2009.

DETROIT - Going to a baseball game in Detroit used to mean heading to Michigan and Trumbull, the intersection that became shorthand for Tiger Stadium. Go there today, and all that remains is a small slice of the arena that once drew throngs of fans to see legends like Ty Cobb and Hank Greenberg play.

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Padres dismissed as "highly speculative" a report that owner John Moores will sell 49 percent of the team as part of a divorce settlement with wife Becky.

PHILADELPHIA - Chase Utley hit a tying two-run homer and Pat Burrell added a solo shot off Derek Lowe in a three-run sixth inning, giving the Philadelphia Phillies a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NL championship series.

NAGUA, Dominican Republic - New York Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos will be jailed for three months while awaiting trial for a hit-and-run accident that killed two women.

PHILADELPHIA - The weatherman is calling for beautiful early autumn weather when the National League Championship Series begins Thursday night in the City of Brotherly Love. The NL East champion Phillies will send Cole Hamels to the mound to face Derek Lowe of the West-winning Dodgers. The winner of the best-of-seven series goes to determine who goes to the World Series.

SAN FRANCISCO - Dusty Baker is going back to youth baseball.

BOSTON - Daisuke Matsuzaka will be on the mound for the Red Sox when the AL championship series begins Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays.

CHICAGO - Rich Harden's $7 million option for next year was exercised Wednesday by the Chicago Cubs, one day after a test showed the hard-throwing right-hander had no structural damage in his pitching shoulder.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Young, eager and brimming with confidence. The surprising Tampa Bay Rays spent the entire season dispelling the notion that they were too inexperienced to compete with the Boston Red Sox, and the AL East champions aren't about to stop believing in themselves now that they're four wins from the World Series.

PHOENIX - The staggering economy has sent a ripple through the Arizona Diamondbacks' swimming pool.

BOSTON - Curt Schilling could have been ready to pitch in the AL championship series, according to his surgeon.

PHILADELPHIA - For all their big hits and long homers during the regular season, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have to provide the Philadelphia Phillies with more offense in October.

A look at the best-of-seven American League championship series between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays:

Both the Phillies and Dodgers went 17-8 in September -- the best mark in the N.L -- and disposed of their NLDS opponents without much problem. Now the hottest teams in the majors meet with a trip to the World Series on the line.

ST PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Daisuke Matsuzaka will start for the Boston Red Sox when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays, who will counter with James Shields in Game One of the American League Championship Series on Friday, the teams said.

While TSN Editor Matt Lutovsky is polishing his first-place trophy, I'm cursing my third-place finish in our TSN Experts League and plotting my strategy for 2009. While the MLB playoff race and a shift to Fantasy Football distracted many of my fellow owners, I've been compiling my prospect draft list and planning my revenge. For all you owners who can't wait 'til next year, here's a peek at the September call-ups who'll be in my prospect notebook for next year's fantasy drafts.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Hospital officials say longtime St. Louis Cardinals official George Kissell has died after he was injured in a traffic accident in Florida.

Exactly why the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays tangle so much is hard to tell. Blame it on a high-and-tight pitch here, a hard slide there. Whatever, this much is true: The teams playing in the AL championship series sure get into a lot of scraps. "There's no hatred," injured Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling insisted Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds made a rare public appearance Tuesday and said he is enjoying life away from baseball. "I'm happy now that I have more time," Bonds told the crowd at the kickoff event of the Macy's Christmas tree lighting. "I've actually enjoyed myself immensely."

DENVER - The Colorado Rockies let go three coaches after a disappointing 74-88 season.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - They were baseball's best over the long, hot summer. Then came October, and another big chill. The Los Angeles Angels seemed to have it all: a powerful lineup strengthened by newcomers Torii Hunter and Mark Teixeira, an impressive rotation headed by John Lackey, and a bullpen anchored by record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez.

NEW YORK - Television ratings for baseball's division series declined from last year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had surgery on his right shoulder on Tuesday and is expected to resume throwing in three months, the American League team said.

NEW YORK - New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had surgery Tuesday on his right shoulder and is expected to resume throwing in three months, a month ahead of spring training.