Cubbies’ starter Rich Harden has made an agreement with the Cubs, and will shut down his fatigued right arm for the rest of the season.  ”It’s more precautionary,” Harden said. “If the team needed me, that’s completely different. It’s a good opportunity to get some of the young guys innings.”

Rich is an impending free agent this offseason, which is what basically fueled this decision.  If the cubbies were still in some kind of playoff race I’m %100 positive he would still be pitching.  Harden will finish the year going 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 141 innings.

The Philles have flown catcher Carlos Ruiz back to Philadelphia today for an exam on his sprained left wrist.  Ruiz sprained it earlier last week but he aggravated it on a play at the plate against the Braves on Friday.  Ruiz still caught the night double-header against the Marlins that same night.

GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told ESPN.com “We don’t think it’s serious, we just thought it made sense to be cautious and have him examined.”  Ruiz is having a normal catcher’s season hitting just .253 with 42 RBI.

Braves’ slugging catcher Brian McCann exited tonight’s game early against the Mets in the fourth inning with a bruised right wrist he suffered after fouling a ball off the wrist in the third.  He received good news though after X-rays showed no fracture.  His status is listed as day-to-day.

McCann was replaced by David Ross in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Rockies ace Aaron Cook will return to the mound Friday night to face the Cardinals.  Cook, who’s been on the DL since Aug. 22 with a strained right elbow, will be limited to only 70 pitches.

With the Rox only being out of the Division chase by five games with a three-game series with the Dodgers to end the season, this is definitely an important start for Cook; not only because of the chase, but to see if his arm feels well enough to presumably face the Cardinals in the NLDS.

North-Side starter Ted Lilly will miss his next start on Wednesday due to tendinitis in his left shoulder.  Management is saying it’s just precautionary, and Lilly is expected to start this weekend in San Francisco.

This gives the Cubs a chance to give highly-touted rookie Jeff Samardzija a start in a rotation that already planning their October fishing trips two months ago.  Samardzija isn’t living up to the title though, giving up seven earned runs in just 3 1/3 innings in his only other start this year and is 1-2 with a 7.89 ERA in 19 games overall this season.

San Francisco second basemen Freddy Sanchez left in the first inning of tonight’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks after twisting his knee on a Justin Upton pop-out to center field.  Kevin Frandsen replaced Sanchez and there was no word on how long Sanchez could be sidelined.  More as it comes…….

As we are all aware as this season runs down, the Pirates have made American sports history with their 17th straight losing season.  But fear not Bucco’s fans, with great young players like Garret Jones and Andrew McCutchen, you won’t look like a Triple-A team next year!  Until, of course, they are traded to the Yankees or Red Sox………let’s see how some of their better players are healing up…..

• Rookie sensation Garret Jones will return to the lineup tonight after an MRI done on his shoulder Saturday revealed some internal bleeding and bruised cartilage, all suffered while making a diving catch in Friday night’s win. Jones leads all NL newbies with 20 home runs.

• Ex-Dodger farmhands Delwyn Young and Andy LaRoche also returned to Monday’s lineup after Young had been suffering from some tightness in his lower back and LaRoche had been benched with an undisclosed illness.  Both players will hopefully spark an offense that in the month of September has scored the least runs in the Majors.

8:00: ESPN is now reporting Pedro is suffering from stiffness in the right side of his neck.  Does this hurt Pedro’s chances at a postseason start?   The Phils’ are 7-0 in his starts this season.  We’ll have to wait to see the severity of his injury.

9/19 6:15Phillies’ starter Pedro Martinez was pulled in the bottom of the 4th inning during today’s game against the Braves at Turner Field with an apparent injury.  Although it is still unknown why he was pulled, it looked like he may have been favoring his neck while walking around the mound.  More as it comes…….

With the Giants being absolutely demolished at Dodger Stadium today, the Rockies now hold onto a three game lead while leading by two runs in Arizona with only 13 more to play.  Let’s see how if anyone on the Rockies DL will be able to help them down the stretch run to their second postseason berth in three seasons……

• Starter Aaron Cook threw a simulated game today at Chase Field in Arizona and felt great.  If all goes to plan, he should get a few starts, hopefully starting next Saturday, before the the NLDS on Oct. 7.

• Jose Contreras, coming back from a right quadriceps strain, also felt good in the simulated game.  According to Manager Jim Tracy, Contreras performed better than expected in mobility drills Saturday.

• Lefty Jeff Francis, who’s been out all season after having shoulder surgery during spring training, is ready to start throwing drills and has been sent to the Rockies’ instructional program in Tucson.

Carlos Delgado’s Mets career basically ended Friday, as he suffered yet another setback in his recovery from right hip surgery he had May 11.  Delgado tried again to run outside last weekend but his surgically-repaired hip became inflamed.

After an amazing 2008 second half, the Mets picked up Delgado’s 12MM option.  But they will probably have to settle for just 4 homers and 23 RBI from the once-mighty Delgado.  Carlos is also just 27 home runs shy of the 500 benchmark.