One week into September, you wouldn't know it by the humidity at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Nevertheless, when Yankees starter Freddy Garcia struggled, Orioles manager Buck Showalter never saw Joe Girardi sweat.

The Braves know there is a chance that they could enter the postseason without Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens in their rotation. But while Jurrjens will need to rest his sore right knee for a couple more weeks, Hanson took another step in the right direction while playing long toss on Monday at Citizens Bank Park.

Jimmy Rollins is eligible to come off the disabled list on Tuesday, but don't expect him to be in the lineup then against the Braves.

Derek Jeter has built a reputation on tuning out distractions and pressures on baseball's biggest stage. But when Joe Girardi was asked to what he attributed Jeter's recent surge, the Yankees' manager said passing the 3,000-hit milestone was more important to Jeter than Girardi originally thought.

After Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg missed a year due to Tommy John surgery, there may be nearly as many eyes on his season debut Tuesday against Ted Lilly and the Dodgers at Nationals Park as his first big league appearance a year ago.

Manager Jim Tracy said relief pitcher Jim Miller, catcher/infielder Jordan Pacheco, catcher Wilin Rosario and infielder Chris Nelson will join the team on Tuesday. Left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz will also join the team on Tuesday, but Tracy said that Pomeranz will not be activated until he is set to make his Major League debut later this month.

The Phillies activated right-hander Joe Blanton from the 60-day disabled list on Monday.

With the Yankees set to be on the road the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the team announced Monday that it would hold a pregame ceremony on Wednesday.

Ron Washington said he will let Adrian Beltre determine the extent of his playing time, although the Rangers manager would rather his All-Star third baseman not push the limits.

The ongoing quest by Bobby Jenks to salvage something from his lost first season with the Red Sox appears to have hit a permanent roadblock.

Only the injury bug could cool off Jack Hannahan. The Indians third baseman will miss "a minimum of five to seven days" with a strained left calf, manager Manny Acta revealed Monday.

The three-way trade made in 2009 between the D-backs, Tigers and Yankees has benefited all thee teams.

The Tigers left little doubt as to the outcome and left the third-place White Sox with little hope of catching them in the standings with an 18-2 victory on Sunday night at Comerica Park. All nine starters recorded hits to back a solid Max Scherzer.

The White Sox still have a postseason pulse, but the Twins can make the series between the two clubs that starts with a split doubleheader on Labor Day a devastating one for Chicago.

Ubaldo Jimenez had faced Detroit only three times before his trade to Cleveland. On Monday, when the Indians open up a crucial series against the first-place Tigers at Progressive Field, Jimenez will square off against Detroit for the third time in a little over a month.

As we hit Labor Day, the labor intensifies for most of the second-place teams in baseball. Going into the games of Sept. 5, the road to October is presenting few obstacles for the majority of division leaders, except for a few possible speed bumps.

After Arizona took two of three in a crucial weekend series at AT&T Park this past weekend, the Giants sit seven games back of the National League West-leading D-backs with just 22 games left in the season, starting with Monday's bout in San Diego against the Padres.