It's been a hard week for baseball fans, as collectively we've all held our breath waiting for an answer to a very important question. Did CC Sabathia throw a no-hitter on Sunday in Pittsburgh? The box score said he didn't, but Sabathia and the Brewers felt that Andy LaRoche's single in the fifth inning was an error, and appealed the decision to MLB.

After a few days of Ned Yost whining about it, the Brewers and Sabathia finally heard MLB's decision on Wednesday night (apparently it takes three days to look at a replay), and MLB let them know that they won't be changing anything. It was a hit, deal with it.

Major League Baseball's scoring review committee ruled Wednesday that official scorer Bob Webb did not err when he decided that Pittsburgh's Andy LaRoche singled against Brewers pitcher CC Sabathia in the bottom of the fifth inning of Milwaukee's 7-0 win on Sunday.

On Wednesday, the committee viewed footage of the play in question and considered the documentation presented by the Brewers.

Today, a full two-days after a semi-controversial scoring decision cost CC Sabathia a potential no-hitter, the Brewers are STILL whining about the ruling that gave the Pirates their only hit on Sunday. Even after official scorer Bob Webb explained himself quite well (the ball was spinning down the third base line away from Sabathia making it a very difficult play for a lefty), both manager Ned Yost and GM Doug Melvin have kept complaining about the call. Yost's latest rant makes him sound like a petulant child.

"I think that whatever it ends up is whatever it ends up," he said. "(Sunday) was the day it should have been a no-hitter. It takes away from that aspect; the celebration with your teammates, the excitement of our plane ride home. That's all gone.

"So whatever they call it, whatever. They missed their opportunity to do it right."

"You picked me last? You can't pick me last! It's my ball, and I'm going home and taking it with me!" Seriously, Ned, get over yourself. If Sabathia had carried a no-hitter into the eighth and ninth innings, he would've pitched differently and the Pirates would've approached their at-bats differently. There's no guarantee the game ends the same way with a different scoring decision. Shut up and enjoy it while your supremely talented team wins the wild card for you and saves your job.

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- The Cavalry Arrives: The rosters expand from 25 to 40 today, allowing clubs that have fallen out of contention to give their younger players a taste of the majors and giving contenders the chance to add another bullpen arm or bench bat for the stretch run.

A few players to keep an eye on that could actually contribute to contenders down the stretch:

Doug Slaten, RP, Diamondbacks - Should give Arizona a much-needed left-handed bullpen arm for the final month.

James McDonald, SP, Dodgers - Could get a spot start or two.

Mat Gamel, 3B, Brewers - Shortstop Alcides Escobar has gotten a little more buzz, but Gamel could be in the platoon mix with Bill Hall and Russell Branyan plenty over the final month.

Jonathon Niese, SP, Mets - He's starting against Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Phil Humber, RP, Twins - One of the players acquired by Minnesota in the Johan Santana deal, Humber will start out in the bullpen, which hasn't been as strong as the Twins would like, but he could also make a spot start if needed.

John Jaso, C, Rays - Whither David Price? As Pat Lackey pointed out last week, he might not be as ready as most people think. Jaso has a gaudy .820 OPS at Triple-A Durham, and with Dioner Navarro nursing the bumps and bruises of a long season, he could spell the catcher effectively.

With the Pirates mired in an nine-game losing streak and CC Sabathia dominating the National League since his trade, the stars seemed aligned for an easy Brewer win before today's Pirates/Brewers game even started. The resulting complete game shut out (CC's third in the NL) win for the Brewers was about as predictable as outcomes come. In fact, the only hit allowed by Sabathia was a fifth inning single by Andy LaRoche. Apparently, that was one hit too many, because the Brewers are protesting the scoring:

"That's a joke," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "The scorekeeper absolutely denied Major League Baseball a no-hitter. He threw a hit up on the board before LaRoche had even hit the bag. It's sad. That's sad. I'm upset. I can see if it was borderline, that it could have gone either way. That wasn't even close."

Yost continued, "If you know baseball at all, you know that's a play that has to be made and is made all the time. He rushed it. That's a stinkin' no-hitter that we all got cheated out of. I'm upset. That was my first no-hitter. I could have told my grandkids about it."

The play in question was Sabathia's flubbing of a squibber off of LaRoche's bat that he didn't even bother to throw to first. Fielding errors are pretty rare for pitchers and with the easy 7-0 win the Brewers have a 5 1/2 game lead in the NL wild card with only a month to go. I'd like to tell my grandkids about watching a no-hitter today, too, but I bet they'll get over it.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Toronto Blue Jays (75-60) at New York Yankees (68-67) 1:05 PM ET

If Alfonso Soriano can get booed, then why not the player he was traded for? There are probably still some people who want the merciless booing of Alex Rodriguez to stop. But they're getting harder and harder to find after Rodriguez's latest ninth inning gag job: a double play with the winning runs on base and nobody out against B.J. Ryan and the Blue Jays on Saturday. It's gotten so bad, the "Get Rid of A-Rod" websites are starting to turn up. While the Soriano booing might be a little bit silly with the Cubs steaming towards the playoffs, the Rodriguez booing can be understood a bit more with the growing reality that the last season of Yankee Stadium is going to end in September. (P.S. Your inevitable argument that all the injuries are to blame more than Rodriguez is probably valid. But it's harder to boo a player on the disabled list. Trust me, I've tried.)

If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

Hank Steinbrenner has made no secret about his plans to buy his way back into contention this winter, preferably by picking up a big-name pitcher. But there's a difference between saying you want to sign "a pitcher" and actually naming names -- especially when it's still August and the players in question are under another team's employ. From the New York Daily News:

"Everybody is looking at Sabathia and Burnett, not just us," Steinbrenner said Thursday. "We'll see. I mean, our main concern is, are their arms going to be okay after this season?"

On the one hand, nothing he's saying is revolutionary -- everybody knows CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett will hot items this winter. On the other, each of those two now have even less reason to sign an extension before testing the open market since they know Hank's wallet will be out.

Make no mistake, this isn't the first time Hank has toed the line. He raised the ire of the Twins this past winter by talking about how much he wanted Johan Santana, and if the Twins didn't file a complaint with the commissioner's office, it was probably only because they were holding out hope the Yanks would up the ante and top the Mets' offer. But talking up Sabathia and Burnett while in the same breath suggesting they might be damaged goods? That's not going to make anybody happy.

(Though, really, should we be surprised? It took Hank's dad 14 years [Dave Winfield in 1990; Randy Johnson in 2004] before he finally understood the rule)

The Detroit Tigers don't have much left to play for this season other now that they've fallen to fourth place in the AL Central, so really, the only goal they have is to finish the season without embarrassing themselves. Well, that and try to catch the red hot Cleveland Indians (see, CC Sabathia and Paul Byrd were only holding them back) and reclaim third place.

They won't have Todd Jones around to help them, though, as he has thrown his last pitch this season, and probably in his career.

Todd Jones fought back the tears and forced himself to smile as he walked around the clubhouse Wednesday, hugging each of his Tigers teammates and shaking their hands.

Minutes earlier, in a brief, closed-door meeting, Jones had given them the news: After 16 seasons and 319 saves -- a team-record 235 of them in two tours of duty with the Tigers -- the 40-year-old reliever has probably pitched his last game, at least for the Tigers.

"I'm going home, try to rehab and get better, and see if I can come back," Jones said.

Unfortunately for Todd, the odds of him coming back aren't very good. Even if he can recover from his shoulder injury this offseason in time to pitch next season, there generally aren't many teams in the market for 40-year old relievers with shoulder problems.

There's still a pennant race being staged in baseball, but with the way CC Sabathia is straight dealing right now for the beermakers in Milwaukee ... well, we just can't stop thinking about the free agent frenzy. The big left-hander is going to easily break the bank with a Johan-like contract. Where will he end up? Casey Blake thinks Los Angeles:

"I think he wants to be close to home," Blake said. "I think it would be in his best interest to stay in the National League."

If this is the case, the Dodgers are obviously the last remaining team, since the Padres and Giants won't be in the running. Blake also went on to say that he'd like to stay in La-La land, but it's more likely they pay CC instead.

On Sabathia, the move would make sense for both sides. CC is reportedly looking for a house in southern California, after growing up in the bay area. The Dodgers can afford to pay him, and they've completely dwindled their farm system for this season's run. If you're gonna act like the Yankees (trading prospects for veterans over and over), you might as well spend like them as well.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox don't worry about individual awards. They don't even like to talk about them out of fear that it might distract them from the task at hand, winning a third World Series in five years. That's probably part of the reason why they've been baseball's most successful franchise in the past decade.

If Kevin Youkilis finishes with a bang, they might have to start.

The player once dubbed "a fat third baseman, who couldn't run, throw or field," in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" is having quite the season. He entered play Thursday with 24 home runs, 88 RBI and a .321 batting average. He ranks in the top 10 in those categories as well as on-base percentage, slugging average, OPS, total bases, doubles, triples and walks.

He might not look like an MVP. He certainly doesn't act like one, grinding hard in every at-bat and taking every out personally in a manner ex-Yankee Paul O'Neill would be proud of, but like it or not, he's a serious contender for the award with under six weeks to go in the season.

"It's been fun to watch," says Dustin Pedroia of Youkilis' season. "He's been the biggest part of our offense."

"He's growing into his power," says Jason Varitek. "He's always been a really good hitter."