In Spencer Fordin's notes on MLB.com, he mentions Bobby Kielty's determination to get stronger for next year, then sheds some light on the Jays' pitching plans for the final week.

Pete Walker is out of the starting rotation -- again -- and Vinny Chulk might be in for the first time in his big-league career. Tosca named his starting staff for the next four days: Mark Hendrickson, Roy Halladay, Josh Towers and Kelvim Escobar.

Thursday's game is officially TBA, but according to Fordin, it will be Chulk, with Lidle bumped a day. It seems that Mark Hendrickson will go to the bullpen after today, and Pete Walker also has the manager's confidence against lefty batters.

"We're going to be a little more cautious with [Miller and Kershner], and he's the one guy that can counter left-handed hitters," Tosca said about Walker. "They're just gassed."

The game I'll be keeping an eye on (other than Doc's impending 22nd win) is Florida at Atlanta (Mark Redman versus Mike Hampton). This is Florida's last road game of the regular season: a win would leave them a game up with a 3 to play at home against the Phillies beginning Tuesday.

AL West/Wildcard

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining	Yesterday	Schedule	Elim
Oakland	93	63	6	Sea 12-0	Tex 3, @Sea 3	__
Boston	91	64	7	Cle 2-0	Bal 4, @TB 3	__
Seattle	89	67	6	Oak 0-12	@Ana 3, Oak 3	5

Oakland stunned Gil Meche and the Mariners with 5 runs in the 2nd on route to a 12-zip shellacking. The AL West is all but Oakland's - there's every chance they'll wrap it up with Texas in town (they need only to match the Mariners' performance versus the Angels). The Mariners lost ground to the Pedro Sox and only poor play by Boston versus also-rans can save Seattle now.

Good morning all! From here on in, I'll be providing daily updates on all the pennant races.

AL West/Wildcard

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining	Yesterday	Schedule	Elim
Oakland	92	63	7	Sea 3-9	Sea, Tex 3, @Sea 3	__
Boston	90	64	8	Cle 4-13	@Cle 1, Bal 4, @TB 3	__
Seattle	89	66	7	Oak 9-3	@Oak 1, @Ana 3, Oak 3	7

The Mariners made it two impressive performances in a row in Oakland, and with Boston getting hammered in the late innings, Seattle has renewed hope for a playoff spot. Their patient approach at the plate should help them against Rich Harden, who has great stuff but hasn't quite harnessed it yet. They are slight favourites for the sweep, which would cut the Athletics' division lead to 2 games. The wildcard lead is likely to remain at least 1.5 games, as Pedro takes the mound in Cleveland.

This is a repeat of last Sunday's pitching matchup in Toronto. A seemingly indifferent Cory Lidle grooved a few in the first inning and fell behind 3-0, then after the Jays cut the lead to 3-2, a sixth-inning 2-run shot by Jay Gibbons sealed the deal. On The FAN 590 the other night, Mike Wilner speculated that Lidle won't get any offers as a free agent and may have to accept a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. Good riddance. Of course, that's what we all said about Esteban Loaiza.

Baltimore southpaw Matt Riley went five innings for his first big-league win, four years after being rushed to the Show while barely out of his teens. He had good success in AA (5-2, 3.11) and AAA (4-2, 3.58) this year, striking out a combined 150 while walking 51 and giving up 126 hits in 142.2 IP. In his first AL start, he was touched for a solo homer by Josh Phelps, along with three singles and three walks. We'll see tonight if the Jays learned anything about him.

The Seattle Mariners, stuck in an offensive funk for several weeks now, were facing a must win situation against the Oakland Athletics by the Bay Friday night.

They were up against Cy Young candidate Tim Hudson. Hudson had been almost invincible against the most dangerous rivals in the league. Check out his performance against 3 of the 4 best teams in the A.L. this season:

William Houston in todays Globe has good news Rob Faulds is 'on the bubble' as Sportsnet's Jays announcer. He goes on to even better news, that the job will probably be offered to Box favourite Dan Shulman, before ending on a downer - Shulman will likely refuse and the likeliest candidate is Rod Black.

Houston reported last week that Toronto One might be covering up to 25 Jays games next year, as Sportsnet is looking to lighten its baseball schedule. Hopefully the new channel will not become Faulds new home.

The conditions may not be perfect, but the last I heard, they were going to play baseball in Baltimore tonight. With the hurricane interrupting their normal routines, let's hope the Jays' hitters can take full advantage of mediocre, expensive southpaw Omar Daal, who has a 10.45 ERA against Toronto this year, and has pitched just two innings since June.

Kelvim Escobar is 9-2, 3.86 with nine saves vs. the Orioles in 28 appearances, 12 of them starts. He wasn't brilliant (six walks in six innings) but allowed them just one run last week at the Dome, and he's fared well in two previous starts at Camden Yards this year. Of course, you never know when Kelvim will be at his best; he could allow something like the unusual travel schedule to distract him.

Carlos Tosca has tweaked his "lefty-proof" lineup, dropping Hinske back down to seventh, with Bordick in the 2-hole. Kevin Cash (122/151/146 in 82 AB) remains a fixture behind the plate; the staff's ERA and W-L record with him receiving compensate for his hitting stats, which can only improve. In case you hadn't noticed, the Jays are 11-1 this month when Cash starts.

I’m overwhelmed by the kind words from my colleagues and by the continued popularity of our little hobby. Batter’s Box was intended as a place for a few Jays fans to talk baseball and amuse ourselves. I’m no visionary; there was no plan. When strangers began to leave comments and send e-mails, I was pleasantly surprised. The best evidence of my modest expectations was the original hit counter, installed with four digits, because I figured we’d never have ten thousand visitors. To my amazement, a few months later, we get that many every week.

There have been plenty of other milestones in our first season. Exchanging e-mails with Keith Law led to three of us having lunch with him last winter. That’s where I met Jordan and Craig for the first time, and I can’t recall a better baseball conversation. Meeting J.P. the day before the season began, and hearing his praise for the site, was quite a thrill for this fan. My first media pass (many thanks to the Blue Jays for acknowledging a mere blog) hangs on my desk, reminding me that sitting in the dugout to interview the coaches and Reed Johnson was a dream come true. Best of all was my sitdown with J.P., made even more memorable by being invited into the private box during a game. Along the way, we’ve swung and missed a few times, but a pretty good percentage of these 1,000 threads have been fun to read, and we’ve knocked a few out of the park.

As Batter's Box Entry #1000 approaches, we decided to take an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back. Those of you who abhor such shamelessness should click the "Back" button immediately.

The prospects for the weather improving immediately in the Chesapeake region are much better than are the prospects for the local ball club turning its recent slide around. Mike Hargrove, though well-respected and an ardent players' manager, has sealed his fate in Maryland with a second consecutive late-season collapse.

The Orioles did get a bit of good news this week, as Luis Matos is back in the lineup. The Jays finally complete their nineteen-game season series with the O's, which didn't even start until June 18 this season. As for pitching matchups, Kelvim should be able to handle the Baltimore attack tonight, and Lurch may get another shot at starting on Sunday. Meanwhile, Cory Lidle, whose stock has continued to slip, gets another shot at Tommy John recipient Matt Riley on Saturday.

On to the Advance Scout!

During the 6-minute segment, J.P. discusses budget constraints, Roy Halladay and Vernon Wells.

Not a lot we don't already know. J.P. hints that he's going to have about 11 million to work with in the off-season (Stewart and Lidle's contracts added together), versus the 5 million he had last off-season. J.P. added that he turned the 5 million into Sturtze, Cat, Myers, Bordick, and "without mentioning names 3 out of the 4 worked out good for us".

I would have liked the hosts to ask about what plans he had to address the bullpen and how many starters from this year were likely to return to the rotation (Escobar, Towers, Hendrickson?).

Go the Official site's front page and click on the audio link to listen.

In spring training, asked what would constitute a great 2003 season, J.P. Ricciardi said "85 wins," so the GM is pleased, but not satisfied. As he told Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun, .500 was a positive target this year.

"It's not a goal that I would accept five years from now. I don't know if I'm gonna be a GM for 20 years or for 10 years but I do know I don't want to be GM of a club that sits at .500 for five years."

The New York Yankees are furious about their tie this afternoon. The commissioner's office tried to slip in a couple of games ahead of the storm, which George Steinbrenner said showed "terrible judgment and overall stupidity." It wasn't quite as bad in Philadelphia, though the wind helped Jim Thome's game-winner.

It looks like the Jays may play a 159-game season. They shouldn't even be required to go to Baltimore, and those games are meaningless in the standings. Tonight in Detroit, Josh Towers looks to continue his success as a starter (4-1, 2.83) and earn a place in the 2004 rotation. The 26-year-old Californian shut out the Tigers 10 days ago on four hits in seven innings, following that up with sweet revenge on the Orioles, allowing two runs in 7.2 IP while striking out nine. If Towers stays aggressive, I like his chances to complete the sweep. There's a lot of talk about losing in Detroit. Mike Maroth, roughed up badly in Toronto, tries to avoid #21, and the Tigers have #114 in their minds.

Eric Hinske is batting second against a lefty. He's earned it. I thought Chris Woodward might start, but he's a spectator again; Bordick's glove is important with Berg (now part of a platoon) at second.

Blue Jays fans have had been fortunate to follow 3 players having great years in 2003. There's a chance that all three will finish in the top 10 in AL MVP voting, though none of them is likely to win. One of those three, Roy Halladay, has nosed ahead of Esteban Loaiza for the Cy Young because of his chief rival's poor outing in a crucial game against Minnesota last night. My gut feeling is that if the ChiSox don't make the playoffs, and that's looking likely, Loaiza won't win the Cy.

Carlos Delgado has had the 2nd best year of his career, but the lack of good stuff to hit has cut into his power hitting lately. Vernon Wells continues to pound out the hits and is on track to break the club record this season. Vernon has also earned praise in centrefield, while Carlos has drawn respect for his much improved glovework at the first sack.

So who deserves the Jays' MVP this year? I'll leave discussion of Roy Halladay's credentials for another day.

Maybe next September, and I hope by 2005, there will be pennant fever in Da Box, but interest is waning as the Jays' season winds down. With 12 games remaining -- three of which might be rained out this weekend, as Baltimore boards itself up in preparation for a hurricane -- it's time for Toronto fans to look elsewhere for baseball excitement.

In both leagues, fantastic playoff races are coming down to the wire, and there's much discussion about the individual awards. Aaron Gleeman has already declared his Twins the AL Central winner, and examines Esteban Loaiza's latest rough outing, which came at the perfect time for Roy Halladay's late charge to his first Cy Young.

The Phillies sent a message to the Marlins last night. A Cubs-Red Sox World Series remains a possibility, though the Astros might disagree. Rob Neyer proclaims A-Rod the MVP, calling the choice, in a friendly nod to the scribes who vote, "dummy-proof."

We'll gear up for three more "big" Jays games (namely Halladay starts, tonight and next week) but let's not overlook the fascinating developments outside the GTA.