Chipper Jones understands why he batted second in six of the Braves' past eight games. But the veteran third baseman remains hopeful to return to a run-producing spot in the lineup before this season concludes.

The No. 1 takeaway from the schedule release, from my perspective, is that it ends on Oct. 3, with an intent again on wrapping up postseason play before the calendar flips to November. But it's going to take either a five-game World Series or further condensing of the postseason schedule to make that intent a reality.

Lost in the discussion of that new saves benchmark he may establish by the end of the week is the fact Mariano Rivera already has an astonishing 42 postseason saves under his belt and he doesn't look to be done just yet.

Mark DeRosa's two-out RBI single broke a 12th-inning tie Tuesday night and lifted the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers send NL Cy Young hopeful Clayton Kershaw to the mound Wednesday to face the D-backs' Daniel Hudson, who is trying to get his team one win closer to the playoffs.

Not only did the Bronx Bombers keep their American League East lead at four games with a 3-2 win over Seattle, but closer Mariano Rivera made history with his 600th career save.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera recorded his 600th save on Tuesday, preserving a 3-2 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field and becoming just the second pitcher in history to reach that plateau.

Wednesday's matchup on the mound — Mat Latos and Tim Lincecum — parallels the one on Sept. 12, 2010, at PETCO Park in the finale of a four-game series. San Francisco and Lincecum won that game, 6-1, to tie the Padres for first place in the division.

Chris Young drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning to lead the D-backs past the Dodgers, 5-4, on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium as Arizona reduced its magic number to six.

Boston pounded Brandon Morrow and the Blue Jays on Tuesday in an 18-6 romp, while padding a lead in the American League Wild Card race to four games thanks to the Rays' 4-2 loss at Baltimore. Boston's AL East gap behind the Yankees, meanwhile, remained at four games.

Looking for an elixir after a pair of demoralizing losses, the Angels turned to Howard Kendrick, and he delivered a pair of two-run homers on Tuesday night to power a 6-3 victory over the A's.

The Brewers' magic number to clinch the NL Central stands at eight games entering Wednesday's matchup with the Rockies. They'll send righty Shaun Marcum to the hill against Colorado veteran Kevin Millwood in the finale of the two-game series.

It took extra innings, but the Brewers came away with a 2-1 win Tuesday night over the Rockies, shrinking their magic number to clinch the National League Central to eight. Leading off the 11th, Ryan Braun crushed a full-count sinker from Matt Lindstrom for a walk-off homer to left-center.

The Yankees will hand the ball to their pitching staff's biggest surprises of 2011 in Ivan Nova as they face Mariners left-hander Jason Vargas in the series finale.

In a place they've had little success this season, the Angels will send ace Jered Weaver to the hill Wednesday at Oakland Coliseum just when they need him the most.

Texas, holding a three-game lead over the Angels in the AL West, will go for its first three-game winning streak in more than a month Wednesday against the Indians.

David Murphy hit two home runs, Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre added homers and the Rangers broke it open with four in the sixth to keep their AL West lead at three games over the Angels.