THE final tease and the final indig nity collided at the same time, at 5:05 in the afternoon, when an old Mets farmhand named Matt Lindstrom threw a fastball that Ryan Church centered on his bat and sent soaring out toward the big top hat in...

Jonathan Papelbon said his mission was simple: Strike out Brett Gardner and get the Red Sox into the 11th inning. Papelbon thought he did his job. The one who truly matters, plate ump Laz Diaz, felt otherwise, and Papelbon's envisioned strike...

Phil Hughes' push for a job next season with the Yankees begins tonight. First, there is a piece of unfinished business in 2008. How about at least one victory for the right-hander? In GM Brian Cashman's master plan, Hughes was supposed to enter...

MIAMI - Mike Pelfrey was more amused than concerned by the near-brawl he started by plunking Marlins center fielder Cody Ross last night. A quiet night at Dolphins Stadium suddenly turned heated with two outs in the bottom of the second inning...

Rich "Goose" Gossage smiled broadly as he held his new Hall of Fame plaque. It was nine years in the making for the dominant Yankees reliever, but he finally had his day at Cooperstown after coming up short on the ballots in his first eight...