This Week On Deck

It's a wrap: Cleveland, with a 5 1/2-game lead and a magic number of 9, could pretty much wrap up its first AL Central title since 2001 during a three-game series vs. second-place Detroit beginning tomorrow at Jacobs Field.

Thome run: Two players -- Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez -- already have joined the 500 home run club this season. Chicago's Jim Thome needs one to make it three.

Goodbye, RFK: Baseball bids farewell to RFK Stadium for the second time when the Washington Nationals close out a series vs. Philadelphia at noon Sunday. The Nationals move into their new park next season.

2007 Diary Short Hops

A look back at some of the week's stats, facts and story lines you might have missed:

Monday: With three weeks left in the season, former Pirates P Oliver Perez already has set a career high for wins (14). For that, he can thank the Braves, who he beat for the fourth time this season, 3-2.

Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki hits his 20th home run to break the National League record for homers by a rookie shortstop. The record's previous owner: Chicago's Ernie Banks in 1954.

Wednesday: In case you thought the Red Sox aren't influenced by the hitter-friendly confines of Fenway Park, consider: When Coco Crisp steals his 25th base in the sixth inning vs. Tampa Bay, it gives Boston two players with 25 steals in a season for the first time since 1914, when Tris Speaker had 42 and Hal Janvrin 29.

Thursday: Rejuvenated P David Wells not only beats Greg Maddux and his former team, 6-3, to go to 3-0 since being released by the Padres and picked up by the Dodgers, but he collects two hits for the first multi-hit game of his 21-year career. The previous player older than Wells, 44, to have his first career multi-hit game was Satchel Paige, who was 45 when he did it in 1952, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

DYK: Numerology

0: Complete games for a Braves, Nationals, Marlins or Rangers starting pitcher. Incredibly, according to research by The Dallas Morning News, there never has been a season in which even one team finished without a complete game.

6: Players used by the Mets this year who are at least 40 years old: Jeff Conine, Moises Alou, Julio Franco, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and Sandy Alomar Jr. According to The New York Times, that breaks the record of five previously held by the 1957 White Sox.

26: Consecutive starts to begin the season for Boston's Tim Wakefield in which he earned a decision before getting two no-decisions in his most recent starts

63-35: Yankees record since May 29.