NEW YORK, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - New York Yankees ace pitcher Mariano Rivera underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday and is expected to need the full offseason to recover.

The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - The 2008 Major League Baseball playoffs League Championship Series schedule (best-of-seven):

FRI., OCT. 10 -- BOSTON AT TAMPA BAY

SAT., OCT. 11 -- BOSTON AT TAMPA BAY

MON., OCT. 13 -- TAMPA BAY AT BOSTON

TUE., OCT. 14 -- TAMPA BAY AT BOSTON

THU., OCT. 16 -- TAMPA BAY AT BOSTON (if necessary)

BOSTON, Massachusetts, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - The Boston Red Sox will send 18-game winner Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound on Friday for game one of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Japanese import will be followed by Josh Beckett in game two of the best-of-seven series, which will send one team to the World Series.

CHICAGO, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - The Chicago Cubs beat a Wednesday deadline to pick up the seven million-dollar option on righthanded hurler Rich Harden, despite his late-season battle with injury.

Harden received a cortisone shot in his right shoulder in early September, and the speed of his pitches dropped after his start against the Washington Nationals on August 24.

TAIPEI, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Ten people were questioned here Wednesday after their homes and offices were searched over their alleged role in a match-fixing scandal that rocked Taiwan's professional baseball league, officials said.

CHICAGO, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - B.J. Upton hammered two home runs as the Tampa Bay Rays advanced to Major League Baseball's playoff semi-finals with a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Andy Sonnanstine tossed 5 2/3 innings for the Rays, who now will play for a spot in the World Series against either the Anaheim Angels or the Boston Red Sox.

BOSTON, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Boston's Jed Lowrie singled in the game winning run as Jason Bay beat the throw to home and the Red Sox defeated Anaheim 3-2 to advance to the American League Championship series on Monday.

'I got a curve ball down in the zone and I was able get barrel on it and find a hole,' rookie Lowrie said.

BOSTON, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Boston's Jed Lowrie singled in Jason Bay for the game-winning run as the Red Sox defeated Anaheim 3-2 to advance to the American League Championship series on Monday.

'I got a curve ball down in the zone and I was able get the barrel on it and find a hole,' rookie Lowrie said.

'It doesn't feel any better than to be able to do it here in Boston.'

CHICAGO, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - John Danks struck out seven batters in 6 2/3 innings Sunday as the Chicago White Sox staved off elimination with a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay in game three of their American League opening round series.

WASHINGTON, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Results on Sunday in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs (series best-of-five):

Philadelphia 6 Milwaukee 2

(Philadelphia win series 3-1)

Chicago White Sox 5 Tampa Bay 3

(Tampa Bay lead series 2-1)

Anaheim 5 Boston 4 (12 innings)

(Boston lead series 2-1)

BOSTON, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Anaheim and Chicago fought off elimination Sunday as the Angels went the distance to beat Boston in a marathon contest and the White Sox batters broke out of a mini-slump to put Tampa's party on hold.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Chicago Cubs out of the Major League Baseball playoffs Saturday, extending the Cubs' century-old World Series drought.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - The Milwaukee Brewers fended off elimination in the Major League Baseball playoffs Saturday with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in their National League first-round series.

Dave Bush turned in a solid start and JJ Hardy contributed three hits for the Brewers, who narrowed the gap in the best-of-five series to 2-1.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - The Philadelphia Phillies belted four home runs Sunday en route to a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and a berth in the National League Championship Series.

The victory gave the Phillies a 3-1 win over Milwaukee in the best-of-five first-round playoff series. They will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one of the NLCS on Thursday.

NEW YORK, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Manager Jerry Manuel will get two seasons to atone for the New York Mets' latest late-season collapse.

The Mets officially removed the interim tag from Manuel's title on Friday, agreeing to terms on a two-year contract.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - The World Series champion Boston Red Sox and baseball playoff newcomers Tampa Bay both moved within one win of reaching the American League Championship Series with victories on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Akinori Iwamura put Tampa Bay ahead with a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Rays held on for a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox in their American League Championship first-round series.

The Rays now own a formidable 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, which heads to Chicago on Sunday.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Evan Longoria became the first rookie in history to homer in his first two playoff at-bats Thursday to help the Tampa Bay Rays triumph in their Major League postseason debut.

WASHINGTON, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Results on Thursday in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs (series best-of-five):

at St. Petersburg

Tampa Bay 6 Chicago White Sox 4

(Tampa Bay lead series 1-0)

Philadelphia 5 Milwaukee 2

(Philadelphia lead series 2-0)

Los Angeles Dodgers 10 Chicago Cubs 3

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers took control of their National League first-round playoff series Thursday, both moving within one game of advancing.

NEW YORK, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The New York Mets signed general manager Omar Minaya to a three-year contract extension on Thursday, despite a September collapse that saw the team miss the playoffs for the second straight season.

The three-year contract extension runs through 2012 and includes club options for 2013 and 2014.

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Shane Victorino hit a grand slam and Brett Myers pitched seven solid innings for the Phillies Thursday as they took a commanding lead over Milwaukee in their National League first round playoff series.

The Phillies beat the Brewers 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

ANAHEIM, California, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Jon Lester hurled seven superb innings and Jason Bay hit a two-run home run to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 win over Anaheim in the opening game of their first round playoff series.

The victory was the 10 consecutive in the playoffs for Boston over Anaheim, including series sweeps in 2007, 2004 en route to World Series titles.

PHILADELPHIA, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Cole Hamels struck out nine as the Philadelphia Phillies posted their first playoff win since 1993 by beating Milwaukee 3-1 in the opening game of the Major League Baseball playoff Wednesday.

Hamels retired the first 14 batters and the Phillies batted around in the third.

CHICAGO, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - James Loney hit a grand slam and Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin added solo shots to lead Los Angeles to a 7-2 win over the Chicago in the opening game of their first-round Major League Baseball series.

Loney made Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster pay for his inconsistency as the Dodgers won a a playoff game for just the second time in two decades.

WASHINGTON, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Results on Wednesday in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs (series best-of-five):

Philadelphia 3 Milwaukee 1

(Philadelphia leads series 1-0)

Los Angeles Dodgers 7 Chicago Cubs 2

(Los Angeles leads series 1-0)

(Boston leads series 1-0)

CHICAGO, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - James Loney hit a grand slam and Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin added solo shots to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 7-2 win over the Chicago in the opening game of their first-round Major League Baseball series.

Loney made Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster pay for his inconsistency as the Dodgers won a playoff game for just the second time in two decades.

CHICAGO, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Jim Thome shattered a scoreless deadlock with a towering homer in the seventh as the Chicago White Sox clinched the American League Central Division title with a 1-0 win over Minnesota on Tuesday.

It marks the first time in 102 years both the White Sox and Chicago Cubs are in the postseason. They met in the World Series that year.

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Results and standings in baseball's National League after Tuesday's games:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

X-PHILADELPHIA 92 70 .568 -

NY METS 89 73 .549 3

FLORIDA 84 77 .522 7 1/2

ATLANTA 72 90 .444 20

WASHINGTON 59 102 .366 32 1/2

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - The 2008 Major League Baseball playoffs first-round schedule:

Division Series (best of five)

THU, OCT 2 -- WHITE SOX AT TAMPA

FRI, OCT 3 -- WHITE SOX AT TAMPA

SUN, OCT 5 -- TAMPA BAY AT WHITE SOX

MON, OCT 6 -- TAMPA AT WHITE SOX (if necessary)

WED, OCT 8 -- WHITE SOX AT TAMPA (if necessary)

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Results and standings from Monday games in baseball's American League:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHI WHITE SOX 8, DETROIT 2

X-TAMPA BAY 97 65 .599 -

Y-BOSTON 95 67 .586 2

NY YANKEES 89 73 .549 8

TORONTO 86 76 .531 11

BALTIMORE 68 93 .422 28 1/2

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Results and standings in baseball's National League after Monday's games:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

X-PHILADELPHIA 92 70 .568 -

NY METS 89 73 .549 3

FLORIDA 84 77 .522 7 1/2

ATLANTA 72 90 .444 20

WASHINGTON 59 102 .366 32 1/2

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

CHICAGO, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Rookie Alexei Ramirez belted a grand slam in the sixth inning as the Chicago White Sox kept their post-season hopes alive with a 8-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday.

WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Results and standings on Monday in baseball's American League:

CHICAGO WHITE SOX 8 DETROIT 2

X-TAMPA BAY 97 65 .599 -

Y-BOSTON 95 67 .586 2

NY YANKEES 89 73 .549 8

TORONTO 86 76 .531 11

BALTIMORE 68 93 .422 28 1/2

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

MINNESOTA 88 74 .543 -

CHICAGO, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - Mark Buehrle pitched seven innings as the Chicago White Sox snapped a five-game losing skid and kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on Sunday.

Because of the victory, the White Sox now must play Detroit in the make-up of a rained out game on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without relief pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo for at least the first round of the baseball playoffs, and perhaps longer, the team said Sunday.

The lefthander won't be available for the first-round series against the Chicago Cubs after undergoing tests for a possible circulatory problem in his throwing arm.

WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Results and standings in baseball's American League after Sunday's games:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TORONTO 10, BALTIMORE 1

TAMPA BAY 8, DETROIT 7 (11 INNINGS)

MINNESOTA 6, KANSAS CITY 0

CHI WHITE SOX 5, CLEVELAND 1

NY YANKEES 6, BOSTON 2 (1ST GM)