Baseball to start using instant replay Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) -- Umpires will be getting a third choice on potential home runs down the line: fair, foul or replay.

Umpires will be allowed to check video on home run calls starting Thursday after Major League Baseball, guardian of America's most traditional sport, reversed its decades-long opposition to instant replay.

"Every team can go home and sleep better at night if they know the call was right," Oakland designated hitter Frank Thomas said.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who described himself as "old fashioned" when he made the announcement Tuesday, softened his opposition following a rash of blown calls this year.

For now, video will be used only on so-called "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs.

"Any time you try to change something in baseball, it's both emotional and difficult," Selig said. "There's been some concern that, well, if you start here, look what it's going to lead to. Not as long as I'm the commissioner."

Replay will go into use with three series scheduled to open Thursday: Philadelphia at the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota at Oakland and Texas at the Los Angeles Angels. For other games, replays will be available to umpires starting Friday.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella wondered whether a team could challenge a call.

"I'd love to be able to throw a red hankie or a green hankie. Imagine being able to throw something on the field and not be ejected," he said. "I shouldn't say it's not going to work, but this could turn into a little bit of a fiasco initially."

The NFL first used replay to aid officials in 1986, the NHL in 1991 and the NBA in 2002. Even at stuffy old Wimbledon, technology has been used on line calls since 2006. Replay equipment to help determine calls was in place at this year's Little League World Series.

Fan interference has been a big issue in baseball, with almost constant debate since Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall and gave Derek Jeter a home run during the 1996 AL championship series. Many blown calls have occurred at newer ballparks, where fans are closer to the field and have the ability to reach over fences.

"Everybody was tired of hearing about it. So they finally had to step up and do something to make a change," Angels pitcher Jered Weaver said.

Detroit pitcher Kenny Rogers called the decision "a slap in the face of umpires that have been here for a long time" and said the decision might have been made because Alex Rodriguez lost a home run on a blown call May 21.

"It overshot the mark by far just because, what, in a Yankee game someone didn't get a homer? Please. It's happened thousands of times," Rogers said. "That's part of the game. It's the beauty of the game. Mistakes are made."

Baseball general managers voted 25-5 last November to recommend use of the technology, and baseball's lawyers spent recent weeks finalizing agreements with the unions for umpires and for players.

"I find it very strange that, with 30 games to go in the season, that they would start it now. I find that very peculiar," Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "If they wanted it so bad, what took them so long to get it going and why wait until this particular point in time?"

Baseball officials wanted to avoid having a situation in the postseason where fans with access to televisions and viewers at home knew what the correct call was but the umpires on the field did not.

"Some people thought that we ought to wait until the postseason," Selig said. "I'd rather go into the postseason knowing that we've already used it."

Leaving the dugout to argue a call following a replay will result in an automatic ejection. Replays of the boundary calls will not be shown on stadium video boards, MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Jimmie Lee Solomon said.

MLB said replay delays will be offset by fewer arguments.

"So if the game is held up for a couple of minutes a couple of times a year, I think that's OK," New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina said. "It's certainly not going to be seen as often as it is in the NFL."

Umpire Gary Cederstrom said his crew had a training session Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

"We talked to the technicians and he explained what they're going to be doing," he said. "We just basically did a dry run."

Michael Strahan will stay in retirement

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Michael Strahan isn't doing a Brett Favre.

The seven-time Pro Bowler decided to stay retired after seriously considering a request by the Super Bowl champion New York Giants to return to the team in the wake of a season-ending injury to fellow star defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

"He was very close to returning, but the great part about Michael is that he takes his time to think about things and he is very thorough," Tony Agnone said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "You can get excited about coming back and running through the tunnel one more time."

Agnone said that Strahan struggled deciding whether he could give 100 percent mentally.

"In the end, he felt he could not get back to where he was," Agnone said.

The first report of Strahan's decision was provided by FoxSports.com, which contacted Strahan in Greece where he was vacationing.

"This has been one of the toughest nights of my life," Strahan told FoxSports.com. "But after long deliberation and throwing around a million scenarios in my head for the past day, I think it's just best if I stay retired."

Giants general manager Jerry Reese had asked the 36-year-old Strahan to reconsider his retirement on Monday, just 48 hours after the team lost two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a knee injury in the preseason game against the New York Jets.

Strahan needed just about a day to turn down an offer to return for a 16th season with what could have been an $8 million contract.

"I really love my life now," Strahan said. "It's great having nobody put a finger on me. You really put yourself through an awful lot in this league, more than people realize."

Agnone said money was never an issue.

A-Rod flops, Wakefield pitches Red Sox past Yanks

Jason Bay drove in two runs, David Ortiz had a strong game at the plate and Boston got an outstanding effort from its bullpen to close out the opener of a key three-game series.

Johnny Damon homered twice for the Yankees, but Rodriguez grounded into two double plays - one with the bases loaded - and struck out for the final out.

This is Boston's final regular-season visit to Yankee Stadium, the site of so many memorable moments throughout the teams' long rivalry. Next year, New York moves into a lavish new ballpark being built across the street, and this isn't the way A-Rod and the Yankees wanted to say goodbye.

The three-time MVP finished 0-for-5 and was booed loudly as New York fell six games behind Boston, which leads the AL wild-card race by a slim margin over Minnesota. Rodriguez also committed an error at third base.

With a couple more wins this week, the Red Sox can leave the Yankees with a huge hill to climb and little time left to do it. New York hasn't missed a postseason since 1993.

Wakefield (8-8) allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings. The 42-year-old knuckleballer hadn't pitched since Aug. 6 because of tightness in his right shoulder.

Five Red Sox relievers combined for four scoreless innings, and Jonathan Papelbon got four outs for his 34th save in 38 chances.

Usually reliable in big games, Pettitte (13-10) was touched for six runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Ortiz hit two doubles and walked twice. Playing his first game in the rivalry, Bay had an RBI single in a two-run third and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Rodriguez flied out with two on in the fifth. With the Yankees trailing 7-3 in the seventh, he came up with the bases loaded and grounded into an inning-ending double play against Justin Masterson.

That left A-Rod 1-for-10 this season with the bases loaded - 0-for-7 when there were less than two outs.

A-Rod, who struck out twice, also bounced into a double play that ended the third. He has grounded into nine double plays in his last 19 games.

Phillies rally to beat Mets and reclaim 1st place

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The New York Mets' beleaguered bullpen blew another one. Chris Coste hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 13th inning and the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a 7-0 deficit to beat the Mets 8-7 on Tuesday night and retake the lead in the NL East.

Fernando Tatis hit a three-run homer and the Mets staked Pedro Martinez to a seven-run cushion. But the Phillies chipped away against Martinez and rallied against a bullpen that has blown 10 leads in the ninth inning, according to Stats LLC.

The Mets have 22 blown saves overall, including seven by injured All-Star closer Billy Wagner. This one might have been the most devastating.

Ryan Howard hit his league-leading 35th homer and Jimmy Rollins was 5-for-7 with a two-run shot for Philadelphia, which moved a half-game ahead of the Mets with its ninth win in 11 games.

The last time the Mets had a lead of seven or more runs and failed to win was May 13, 2003, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They led that one 7-0 and lost 9-8 at Colorado.

Coste then drove one to center way over the head of the drawn-in Carlos Beltran.

Seanez (5-3) pitched a scoreless 13th for the win.

The Mets used four relievers to get to the ninth after Pedro Martinez lasted five innings. But Luis Ayala couldn't protect a one-run lead.

Ayala, who converted his other save chance since joining the Mets in a trade with Washington last week, got the first two outs. But Werth singled and pinch-hitter Bruntlett, the last position player available for Philadelphia, drove him in with a double to right-center.

Martinez allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out eight. The three-time Cy Young Award winner, who once had an overpowering fastball, relied heavily on offspeed pitches and didn't throw harder than 88 mph.

Jamie Moyer lasted just three innings in his shortest outing in three years. The 45-year-old left-hander gave up six runs and nine hits. Moyer had been outstanding recently, not giving up more than three runs in 14 straight starts since June 1.

Tatis, who has resurrected his career after spending three of the last four seasons out of baseball, gave the Mets a 6-0 lead when he connected in the third inning.

Damion Easley was 4-for-5 with a homer for the Mets, who trailed the Phillies by 7 1/2 games on June 13. New York is 39-25 since Jerry Manuel replaced Willie Randolph as manager.

The Mets blew a seven-game lead with 17 remaining last season, losing the division to the Phillies on the final day. The teams meet four more times, including a three-game series at Shea Stadium next weekend.

Trailing 7-1, the Phillies stared their comeback in the fifth. Relief pitcher Clay Condrey led off with a broken-bat double down the left-field line for his first career extra-base hit.

Rollins then ripped a liner to the seats in right to cut it to 7-3. Howard hit an opposite-field, two-run drive to left to get the Phillies within 7-5.

Rollins' RBI single cut it to 7-6 and put runners on first and third with one out in the eighth. Booed throughout the homestand for calling fans "frontrunners" in a television interview two weeks ago, Rollins got a standing ovation when he came to the plate that inning.

A sellout crowd of 45,204 at Citizens Bank Park included many Mets fans who had reason to cheer right from the start.