MLB Notes 9.6.07 [J. Mark English]

On a night when the NFL begins anew, the baseball season is still heavy on our minds. As the Colts battle the Saints, lets look around at some of the big stories swirling around the Majors.

• Some bad news for the Mets...just as Carlos Delgado was finally starting to regain his swagger of years past, he finds himself injured, and will be missing the next 7-10 days due to a hip flexor.

• The Cardinal's Rich Ankiel continues his improbable resurrection as an every day outfielder, as opposed to a pitcher. The former wild man on the hill, has now become a wild man at the plate. Just read this: The Cardinals sent Mike Maroth to the mound on Thursday hoping that the left-hander could keep them in the game for a few innings. They learned again that with the way Rick Ankiel is swinging the bat, they may never be out of a game -- regardless of who is on the mound....Ankiel's shock-and-awe assault on the National League continued Thursday at Busch Stadium when he went 3-for-4, hit a pair of home runs and a double, drove in seven runs and even walked for good measure in a 16-4 evisceration of the Pirates.

• Yesterday the Philadelphia Phillies had an opportunity to gain ground on the Mets. Instead, they once again proved why they are the most pathetic team in the history of baseball. Here is the recap: Where to begin in this apple-cart-tipping defeat that may resonate well into October, should the Phillies miss the postseason they've been fighting so hard to reach. They led, 8-2, heading into the eighth inning after first mounting a 5-0 lead off Tim Hudson. They allowed seven unanswered runs over the next two innings...