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

Little did these furry creatures know back when this friendly picture was taken that they would be fighting to the death just two and a half short months later on the last day of the season ... albeit in different cities. But with the White Sox and Twins both refusing to the chokeslam down on their respective weekend opponents (the Indians and the Royals), this divisional fight to the death is looking like what you would expect a fight between furry mascots to look like: sloppy, clumsy, and downright hilarious.

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

Florida Marlins (83-76) at New York Mets (88-72) - 1:10 PM ET

They couldn't possibly do this again, could they?

Of course they could. You know they could. And your New York Mets know gosh darn well they could choke away another season ... especially after another lifeless late season loss to the Florida Marlins (who are now basing the success of their season on knocking the Mets out of the playoffs ... mature) and a Brewers victory which puts the Mets one game behind the wild card lead, and one game closer to another disastrous ending. So in response, the Mets are bringing back Johan Santana on three days rest to try to extend the season to Sunday. Of course, if they get to Sunday still alive, who will pitch then? Jon Niese? Brandon Knight? Frank Viola? Jesus?

That's silly. Everyone knows that Jesus would be in the bullpen because the Mets pen is so horrible. (And, you know ... Jesus saves.)

If you weren't already aware, the Tigers and Indians had a little incident last night after Miguel Cabrera hit his 36th homer of the season, and Fausto Carmona followed it up by hitting Gary Sheffield with a pitch on the elbow. Now, as anybody who has paid attention to The Sheff throughout his career already knows, Mr. Sheffield is an angry man.

Of course, Gary controlled his temper for a little bit, choosing only to glare at Carmona as he walked to first base, but once Carmona tried to pick him off, Gary charged at him, the benches cleared, and all the pushing and shoving that accomplishes nothing followed. Still, even though the fight ended on the field, that doesn't mean it's over in Gary's head. After the game Gary channeled his inner WWE wrestler, and sent a message to Carmona that soon the 24-inch pythons will run wild on them. Oh yeah!

"If I hit two home runs, normally guys send a message to me," Sheffield said. "I wasn't the one hitting the home runs. Just because someone else hit a home run on you, don't take it out on me.

"Anytime you do that, we're going to have problems. I don't care who you are, how big you are. Anytime I get hit because you're upset about something else, we're going to deal with it during the game, after the game, or whenever you want to deal with it."

Literally as I type this, CC Sabathia is on the mound with the hopes of Brewer fans everywhere resting on his broad shoulders, hoping he can stem their losing streak and the team can start to preserve their ever evaporating lead in the NL Central. They won't be the only ones rooting for the Brewers today. They'll be joined by the Indians' front office, who has an interesting stake in how well CC pitches from here on out. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

If the Brewers make the playoffs, the Indians get to choose the "player to be named" to complete the Sabathia deal. If the Brewers don't make the postseason, they get to choose the player they'll send the Indians.

[...]

On July 7, the Indians sent Sabathia to Milwaukee for outfielder Matt LaPorta, left-hander Zach Jackson, right-hander Rob Bryson and the player to be named. The Indians made a point of saying the unnamed player had the talent to reach the big leagues.

The player to be named could come from a list of four players. Outfielder Michael Brantley and third baseman Taylor Green are the most talented players on the list.

That's not an unusual caveat to be put into a deal, but both Green and Brantley are very good prospects that the Brewers would likely to be slow to part with, if given the choice. So there you go, Brewer fans. Your team may be on the verge of an epic collapse, but it'll let you keep Taylor Green!

Fistbump: MLB Trade Rumors

Minor League Spotlight is the MLB FanHouse's look into baseball's minor leagues. But you probably figured that out already.

Travis Hafner hasn't played a major league game since May 25th. You would think that if he was healthy enough to play in the majors he'd be up ... either that or the Indians would think it pointless to bring him back to a lost season.

Apparently the Indians went with option C: let him play in the AA playoffs with the Akron Aeros, and help eliminate the Bowie Baysox. Wait, what?

Hafner, who has been on the disabled list since May 31 with a right shoulder strain, hit a two-run shot in his first at-bat Saturday that sent Akron on the way to a 5-1 victory over Bowie. In Game (3) on Friday, he smashed a grand slam in the Aeros' 6-2 triumph.

Hafner spent a half-hour in the trainer's room before joining his new teammates in celebration in the home clubhouse that was plastered in clear plastic as players sprayed champagne and beer at anything that moved.

"Hafner! Hafner! Hafner!" went the chant while the giddy Aeros shook the remaining bottles of bubbly over his head. When they ran out of the good stuff, they went to beer. And when that ran dry, someone brought chocolate milk out of the nearby refrigerator to ensure the party continued.

But, predictably, not everyone was giddy.

The world was a lot different back on September 25th of 2007. The Cleveland Indians had already clinched the AL Central division, and teams like the White Sox and Rays were sitting at the bottom of their divisions. Outside of baseball, kids across the country were discovering the latest craze that was the Soulja Boy.

All in all, the world was a magical place where anything could happen. September 25th was also the day that Indians catcher Victor Martinez hit his 25th homer of the season. Little did he know at the time that it would be nearly a year before he hit his next one.

Victor Martinez hugged teammates and danced in the dugout as if he had just won the World Series.

It was a special moment for Cleveland's switch-hitter, who hit his first home run in nearly a year to help the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 last night.

"It felt great to see one finally go out," Martinez said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about (the drought)."

The return of Martinez's power was also a good sign for the Indians as they start to turn their eyes to the 2009 season. It's pretty safe to say that the cause of Martinez's power drought was the elbow injury that caused him to miss most of this season. Now that he's had surgery on the elbow to correct the problem, it appears as though he's getting his power back.

On Monday night Cliff Lee became the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to win 20 games in a season since Gaylord Perry did it back in 1974. Lee accomplished the feat the exact way a pitcher would want to do it, too. Pitching a complete game shutout against the Chicago White Sox, and at one point retiring 20 straight hitters.

Now obviously Cliff has been fantastic all season, you kind of have to be to win 20 games, but last night he seemed to have a bit of extra motivation. It was as though his intensity level had risen, and after the game Lee admitted it was a bit higher. The reason for this? Well, A.J. Pierzynski of course.

"He slammed his bat down and stared me down[ after popping out]," Lee said. "I stared back. He was chirping in the dugout. It gave me a little extra energy. Actually, I appreciate him doing that."

Of course, Pierzynski had a different story to tell afterwards.

"I rounded first, and he said something else and I looked at him like, 'What?'" Pierzynski said. "I didn't say anything. I was mad because I missed a 3-2 pitch and popped up. It wasn't meant anything toward him. You miss a pitch, you pop up against a guy that good, you can't miss pitches to hit. Oh well."

Now it's hard to believe Pierzynski when it comes to this kind of stuff, as it follows him around constantly, but I'm kind of leaning more towards his side of the story here. Why on earth would A.J. be talking crap to Lee after popping up? "You see how high I hit that? You suck!" That makes no sense.

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

- Arizona Aces Faltering: One of the reasons I, and several other pundits, think the Diamondbacks will be a very dangerous team in October is because of the Brandon Webb-Dan Haren-Randy Johnson trio at the top of their rotation. It has the potential to be devastating in the postseason, but if they don't get their collective acts together, it might be a moot point.

Haren, Webb and Johnson have started the last three games for the Snakes, putting up this cumulative line: 13 IP, 24 H, 16 ER. All three are seasoned pros, and if this were June or July, this streak would barely be worth batting an eyelash over.

It's September, though. Time is short and the Diamondbacks' edge in the NL West is slim. Arizona can't afford another stretch like this from the top three pitchers on its staff.

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.