Our long national nightmare is over. After an excruciatingly long one-year absence, the New York Yankees clinched a postseason berth last night. I hope you didn't light any cars on fire during your local celebration.

Who's off: Nobody

First pitch: The Yanks and Angels get NL action underway at 3:35 p.m. ET, while the National League schedule begins with a pair of games at 7:05. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: And you thought I was crazy to pick David Purcey on Monday. His strong outing, followed by another decent effort from Jeff Niemann, have us at 93-90 for the season. The champagne to celebrate an over-.500 season isn't on ice yet, but it's definitely been purchased.

Tonight, we'll go with Rays' rookie Wade Davis (1.9 percent owned), who tossed a four-hit shutout

Every preseason, I write a prediction for every team that tries to step out on at least a little bit of a limb. This year, my Cubs' prediction was: "Milton Bradley will appear in fewer than 110 games." On Sunday, the Cubs suspended Bradley for the rest of the season, basically because they were sick and tired of his attitude. Most of his teammates sounded happy to see him go, and the Cubs will apparently try to trade him even if they have to eat much of the $21 million remaining on his contract.

Bradley appeared in 124 games, but I'd like to petition for an exception to my prediction. With a .257 batting average, 12 homers and 40 RBI, he definitely put up less than 110 games worth of production, and I was correct in trying to steer him away from fantasy owners. What do you think - can

Daisuke Matsuzaka returned to the mound for the Red Sox last night for the first time in almost three months, He threw six shutout innings, and has the Red Sox considering him as their No. 4 starter in the playoffs.

I didn't watch the game, but even when Matsuzaka seems to pitch well, he has control issues that portend future problems. Even though he was 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA last year, as someone who spent last season as a proud Dice-K fantasy owner, I knew this year had the potential to be a disaster, because he didn't throw nearly enough strikes to remain effective. Dice-K walked three batters last night, and here's how the balls and strikes broke down:

• September 16: 55.9 percent strikes (52 strikes, 41 balls)
• 2009 overall: 62.7 percent strikes
• 2008: 60.7 percent strikes

Mets 3B David Wright will return to action against the Rockies on Tuesday after missing a couple of weeks with a concussion. A Met is actually coming off the DL? I think this qualifies as one of the top 10 stories of the season.

Who's off: Red Sox, Indians, Phillies, Mets, Cardinals, Brewers, Giants, Rockies

First pitch: The Rays and Tigers get the AL day going at 1:05 p.m. ET, while the Pirates and Reds play the first game of their doubleheader at 1:10. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: It was a big weekend for our picks, with John Smoltz, Max Scherzer, Ian Snell and Ross Ohlendorf all meeting at least two of our four criteria for a fantasy quality start. We're up to 80-81, but not going to get cocky just yet.

Tonight, we'll go with Rangers' rookie lefty Derek

Wasn't this supposed to get yet another summer of Cub? Ken Rosenthal reports that someone put in a waiver claim on SP Rich Harden, meaning that the Cubs are cutting bait faster than you can say, "Nice job on the Milton Bradley contract."

FRIDAY

First pitch: The Mets and Cubs get NL action underway at 2:20 p.m. ET, while there's a trio of AL games at 7:05. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: Here's how things have gone since Monday, when we started the week at 75-78:

• Monday: Nice job, Ian Snell! I know he only beat the A's, but I'll take it.
• Tuesday: Did Ryan Rowland-Smith really not meet our criteria despite allowing only two runs in 6 1/3 innings? Strike a few people out, will ya?
• Wednesday: Kenshin Kawakami should never be allowed to pitch past the fifth inning, since

Doesn't it kind of sum up the Mets' season to have yesterday's game end on an unassisted triple play? If you haven't seen the highlight yet, check it out.

Who's off: Yankees, Rangers, Marlins, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Astros, Reds, Pirates, Padres, Dodgers, D'backs

First pitch: In the NL, the Phillies look to turn a few more unassisted triple plays against the Mets starting at 1:10 p.m. ET, while today's AL action begins at 7:07 with Jays-Rays. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: On Friday, Randy Wells didn't qualify under our criteria despite not allowing an earned run in 6 2/3 innings. I thought about making an exception until Jorge De La Rosa somehow made the grade with a six-inning, six run outing on Saturday. David Price was good enough Sunday, giving us a 2-1 weekend, and

I don't know what I liked better about yesterday's PGA Championship - the fact that Y.E. Yang became the first golfer to stare down Tiger Woods in the final round of a major, or my seven-year-old next-door neighbor commenting every time "Yee Yang" hit a good shot. Anyway, nice job, Yee Yang.

Who's off: Jays, Rays, Red Sox, Indians, Tigers, Mariners, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins, Reds, Astros, Rockies

First pitch: The D'backs and Braves kick off the NL action with a 4:05 p.m. ET start, while the Angels and O's start the AL day at 7:05. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: The weekend was a mixed bag, as Randy Wells was solid on Friday, Kenshin Kawakami just missed our criteria on Saturday, and Chad Gaudin's Sunday start was pushed back. We're

I hate when fans do stupid things like throw beer on players from the stands. They should have their season tickets revoked, be banned from the ballpark for a long time, etc. But the story about the beer thrower at Wrigley Field, who made national news by surrendering to authorities yesterday, is ridiculous. People made it sound like they were hunting for John Wilkes Booth, locking their doors and hiding their Old Styles.

I hope the good people of Chicago can put this alleged nightmare behind them, and resume focusing on why the Cubs stink.

FRIDAY

First pitch: The Pirate outfielders will try to dodge beer during their matinee against the Cubs at 2:20 p.m. ET, while we've got two American League games at 7:05. Here's the full schedule.

Pitcher to start: Since my last baseball entry on

Folks - the morning blog schedule is changing starting next week. Until the start of the NFL season, I'll write about baseball on Monday and Friday mornings, and football on the other days (baseball will move to a Monday/Wednesday schedule next month). As always, if you're looking for baseball help on the off days, e-mail me at jhalpin37@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @jhalpin37.

Speaking of Twitter, a lot of people I follow had fun with the horribly (and typically) slow pace of last night's Yankees-Red Sox game. My favorites were from two Yankee beat writers:

@PeteAbe: Girardi is playing lefty/righty with his bullpen in the sixth inning with a seven-run lead. Just shoot me.

@ledger_yankees: What comes first: a.) The next Ice Age. b.) The ninth inning

FRIDAY

First pitch: