Monday baseball

What you missed in a nutshell:

- Flat final day of the regular season in Yankee Stadium, but Ian Kennedy looked precious as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Blue Jays def. Yankees 4-1

- Nice of Good Daniel Cabrera to show up. Orioles def. Royals 3-2

- You think pitching might be a problem? Nationals def. Mets 13-4

- As if losing Bradley to a torn ACL wasn't bad enough... Giants def. Padres 9-4

Other results of note: Twins def. Tigers (2-0), Brewers def. Cardinals (13-5), Rangers def. Angels (8-7)

There were three teams who needed to take advantage of their rivals not playing today. One did: the Brewers defeated the Cardinals and did so handidly. The others, the Mets and the Padres, fell flat. Pelfrey looked good early but fell apart, with two consecutive two-out walks leading to a three-run homer by Austin Kearns. And the bullpen...well, they pitched as well as you'd expect them to. And after making some progress the last few games, Chris Young couldn't afford to have the game he had tonight in San Francisco. Especially when Barry Zito wasn't particularly sharp. Zito earned the win with a five inning, four run performance. That can't happen - not when you're fighting for your lives with a half-game lead in the Wild Card. Erase that half-game lead. The Padres are now tied atop the Wild Card with the Phillies, and the Rockies are one game back. The Mets, meanwhile, are two games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East.

Tuesday's action:

Brian Burres (6-6, 5.27 ERA) and the Orioles host A.J. Burnett (9-7. 3.40 ERA) and the Blue Jays.

Roger Clemens (6-6, 4.18 ERA) and the Yankees take on Jason Hammel (2-5, 5.88 ERA) and the Devil Rays.

Jason Bergmann (5-5, 4.30 ERA) and the Nationals take on Tom Glavine (13-6, 3.97 ERA) and the Mets.

Brett Tomko (4-11, 5.36 ERA) and the Padres take on Matt Cain (7-16, 3.68 ERA) and the Giants.

Other games of note:
Athletics @ Red Sox (Gaudin vs. Schilling)
Twins @ Tigers (Garza vs. Bazardo)
Angels @ Rangers (Moseley vs. McCarthy)
Indians @ Mariners (Sabathia vs. Hernandez)
Cubs @ Marlins (Lily vs. Willis)
Diamondbacks @ Pirates (Davis vs. Snell)
Braves @ Phillies (James vs. Moyer)
Cardinals @ Brewers (Looper vs. Suppan)
Rockies @ Dodgers (Jimenez vs. Penny)

With the Tiger loss on Monday, the Yankees have the opportunity to either seize their own destiny or let Detroit do the work for them, with the magic number down to 1. Other than that (unless you're amped up about who gets home field advantage in the playoffs), all the drama of this week - and Tuesday - is in the National League. With rookie Humber scheduled to make his major league debut on Wednesday, the Mets are desperate for a win out of Glavine against the Nationals. The Phillies, meanwhile, have a tough task in a Braves team who seemed to put a stake through the heart of the Brewers' playoff chances over the weekend. The Rockies swept the Dodgers at home last time those teams met, and with San Diego in a tailspin, they have a shot at making up ground this week. The Padres, meanwhile, need to hope that the miracle revival of Brett Tomko continues and that he can pull out a win for them tomorrow. They can't afford to lose any games at this point, let alone games to the last place team in their division.

Some good names on the hill Tuesday. AL Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia is pitching for the Indians, as is long-shot NL Cy Young hopeful Brad Penny for the Dodgers. The most intriguing of the games tomorrow is Braves-Phillies, but I give pitching match-up of the night to C.C. Sabathia vs. Felix Hernandez, as the Indians take on the Mariners.