A pair of talented young left-handers are looking to finish their season on high notes when the Rockies visit the D-backs on Monday. Drew Pomeranz gets the nod for the Rockies against Rookie of the Year candidate Wade Miley.

Max Scherzer threw again Sunday morning, this time a 10-minute session from about 100 feet with all his pitches.

Mark Teixeira is expected to return to the Yankees’ lineup on Monday against the Red Sox, and manager Joe Girardi said that he plans to play the switch-hitting slugger at first base.

Josh Johnson has limited opponents to three or fewer runs in all but one of his last dozen starts. However, mostly due to a lack of run support, the talented 6-foot-7 right-hander has only three wins to show for it.

Kris Medlen began preparing for the postseason with a strong six-inning effort that put him in the Major League record books and helped the Braves celebrate Chipper Jones’ final regular-season home game with a 6-2 win over the Mets on Sunday. The Braves have now won each of the past 23 games started by Medlen dating back to May 29, 2010.

Shaun Marcum looks to close out his season with a strong start against Clayton Richard and the Padres on Monday. Richard is looking to notch his 15th win of the season.

Lucas Harrell will try to put a cap on an impressive rookie campaign in Monday’s series-opener against Jason Berken and the Chicago Cubs.

Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals gives the Nats a chance to wrap up the division at home, and it also gives John Lannan another chance to come through in a pivotal moment.

David Price earned his 20th win, and the Rays kept their postseason hopes alive with a 6-2 win over the White Sox on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.

There were no concession speeches delivered by the White Sox following their 6-2 loss to the Rays before 26,831 on Sunday in the 2012 home finale at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Brewers’ spirited run came to a quiet end on Sunday. The Astros smashed four home runs off sagging starter Mike Fiers and beat the Brewers, 7-0, in front of 38,443 fans at Miller Park who saw the Brewers formally eliminated from postseason contention.

No one was more pleased that Sunday marked bench coach Chris Speier’s final day as acting manager than Speier himself. That’s because it only meant one thing: that regular manager Dusty Baker was healthy enough to return.

The Twins and the Blue Jays will conclude the 2012 regular season with a three-game set beginning Monday at Rogers Centre.

Dusty Baker will return to his managerial duties with the Reds as they take on the Cardinals, who are in position to clinch the second Wild Card spot. Jaime Garcia will start for St. Louis, while Bronson Arroyo goes for Cincinnati, which is tied with Washington for the National League’s best record.

Winners of seven of their last eight games, the Braves’ final regular-season stop is Pittsburgh to face the Pirates. Left-hander Paul Maholm gets the call for the opener against Bucs lefty Jeff Locke.

The Reds were all pulling for ace Johnny Cueto to finish his regular season with 20 victories on Sunday. On the other hand, postseason preparation carried more weight. That meant there would be no moving heaven and earth, and no giving Cueto one more inning. He was finished after the seventh and trailing, so he didn’t benefit personally when the Reds scored two in the top of the ninth for a nice 4-3 win over the Pirates that took two of three in the series.

The Tigers will send Rick Porcello to the mound on Monday for the opener of a three-game set with the Royals at Kauffman Stadium — the final series of the regular season. The Royals will counter with southpaw Bruce Chen. The Tigers need one win or a White Sox loss to reach the playoffs.