-The big story today came out of Milwaukee where they axed manager Ned Yost with only 12 games remaining in their season. The Brewers just were swept and caught by the Phillies dropping a double header yesterday allowing Philadelphia to tie them for the NL wild card lead. Both are now 83-67 two and a half clear of the Astros who a day after getting no-hit by Carlos Zambrano were no-hit into the seventh by Ted Lilly falling 6-1 to the Cubs dropping both makeup games in Milwaukee due to Hurricane Ike.

Milwaukee dropped all four games to the Phils falling into a shocking tie for the WC by getting outscored 26-10. That was 11 defeats in their last 14 and was enough to cost Yost his job. He managed them for six years turning them into a contender. But after last year’s September dive saw them blow as much as an eight and a half game lead losing the division to the Cubs, they were once again falling apart at the wrong time of the year making you wonder if they’d once again miss the postseason. They haven’t seen October since 1982 and ironically hired former ’82 first round pick Dale Sveum, who had been serving as their third base coach.

He’ll try to save their season which won’t be easy considering the first three will be at Wrigley. Not long ago, it looked like they could even catch the Cubs for the NL Central but now they sit eight out knowing it’s wild card or bust. So, the change was made. GM Doug Melvin indicated that it wasn’t easy but explained further:

“The club is just not performing close to the way they performed earlier. We have 12 days left and we don’t know what could jumpstart the club. This was, I guess, the only thing we thought had a chance of jump-starting the club. … It’s tough when you have someone who has done what Ned has done for the organization, built the organization back where it hasn’t been in 15 years. I feel sometimes I quit on Ned a little bit by not allowing him to do it for the last two weeks. But in the end, the decision was made.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With rental C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets headed to free agency, it’s no wonder Melvin pulled the trigger. This is his team’s best opportunity to get back to October and compete for a World Series. Get in and they could go all the way. Fail and they’ll probably lose both their top two starters and have a very different look next year having sacrificed top outfield prospect Matt Laporta in the Sabathia deal. Suddenly, they’ll have to rebuild.

The Brew Crew better find their big bats and put their best swings before it’s too late or they’ll once again have collapsed. Only this time, it’d be much worse cause many took this team seriously and felt they could go all the way.

-Speaking of teams in trouble, the Mets are in danger of losing the first of four to baseball’s worst team Washington trailing 4-1 in the seventh. Somehow, they’ve managed only one hit against Long Beach, NY native John Lannan in seven innings while a Nats team that features ex-Mets Lastings Milledge and Anderson Hernandez have gotten four off struggling Pedro Martinez. Considering Jerry Manuel’s club just blew two to the Braves thanks to their pigpen, this isn’t the way to begin their final road trip of the season. If they don’t rally, suddenly a three game lead just a couple of days prior turns into half a game over the Phillies. Good thing the Brewers continue to lose making the WC a viable option.

-Congrats to Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter on tying Lou Gehrig for the most hits ever at Yankee Stadium. The Yankee captain tormented the Rays finishing 9-for-11 this past weekend including three hits in yesterday’s 8-4 win which saw him tie it in style by going opposite field for his 11th homer of the season. In what’s otherwise been a miserable final year at the House that Ruth Built with no October baseball for the first time in 14 years, the 34 year-old former 1992 first round pick gave fans something to cheer about Sunday using the short porch to greet former Rays No.1 pick David Price in the fifth for his 1,269th hit at the Stadium. Of course, it was bittersweet for Jeter who’s never missed October since he’s been here:

“It’s definitely special. They always say records are meant to be broken but this one, with the stadium closing here in a week, you know at least I know I tied for it.”

According to a scout who watched the Yankees this weekend in an interesting Kevin Kernan piece, some of Jeter’s teammates didn’t look like they were giving their all but also noted that wasn’t the case for the shortstop who prides himself on putting forth his best effort day in and day out.

It’s little surprise that Jeter who has struggled much of the season has gotten his average over .300 and even looks like he’ll drive in more runs than last year. He’s a battler. You wish you could say that for everyone on this underachieving bunch with lackadaisical play from younger talented players like second baseman Robinson Cano, who finally got benched for a lack of hustle in the second game yesterday. Pride needs to be restored in the Bronx when the new Stadium is unleashed next Spring.

-Are the Jets still Un4gettable and a lock to win the AFC East after that dreadful home showing versus a Tom Brady-less Bill Belichick Patriot team? More like forgettable as the game which they lost 19-10 in Brett Favre’s home debut was unwatchable. Had it not been for a fantasy hockey draft, I’d have dozed off. And can anyone explain Eric Mangini’s insistence on running Thomas Jones as much as possible including three straight times from the NE 2? Isn’t that why they got No.4? Bryan Schottenheimer’s playcalling was putrid making ya wonder if it was Browning Nagle or Neil O’Donnell behind center and not a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

-Say this for Belichick. He might be a cheater but he sure can coach totally outclassing his former SpyGate understudy yesterday. The Pats D played well giving them a chance and they managed the game well offensively not allowing Matt Cassell, who hadn’t started since high school to make any costly mistakes. A smart simple game plan. Somehow, Belichick will keep these Pats afloat.

-The Giants sure looked good yesterday in St. Louis handling the Rams 41-13 for their biggest blowout win in a decade. In particular, the three-headed monster run attack of Brandon Jacobs (15-for-93), Derrick Ward (8-for-58) and Ahmad Bradshaw (52 rushing, 18 receiving, 2 TDs) sliced and diced the Rams for over 200 on the ground. Eli Manning also had a solid day bouncing back with a 20-for-29 performance for 260 yards with three TDs including an easy one stepping up to elude the rush for a 33 yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress. It was the kind of performance you’d expect from Tom Coughlin’s defending champs against inferior competition extending their NFL record road win streak to 12 straight. Best of all, Justin Tuck continued to play very well finishing with two sacks while also making the defensive play of the contest blocking and intercepting a Marc Bulger pass and then taking it back 41 yards for a score extending to 34-13 before a Bradshaw 31-yard scamper concluded the scoring. The Big Blue D sacked Bulger six times including one from the always chatty middle linebacker Antonio Pierce and a pair from overlooked Fred Robbins.

There’s much to like about this team even without Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan. The offense looks even more balanced with one of the best lines in the game and the D continues to flourish under Steve Spagnuolo. They get the Bengals next Sunday at home and they’ve looked awful so far. So, they should be 3-0 going into their bye week. We won’t really know how good this team is until the middle of the season when the schedule picks up with back-to-back games against NFC East rivals Dallas and Philadelphia, who are doing battle tonight.

-It’s ashame such a botched call by NFL referee Ed Hochuli ruling that he blew his whistle for an incomplete Jay Cutler pass on what replays showed was a fumble recovered by the Chargers. Instead, due to a rule interpretation where he blew the whistle early, they couldn’t reverse his call and watched as Cutler tossed a TD on fourth down to rookie Eddie Royal cutting San Diego’s lead to 38-37. Rather than kick the PAT, veteran Denver coach Mike Shanahan opted to go for the win. Much like the week before in which they couldn’t stop Jake Delhomme from beating them on the final play, they allowed Cutler to thread the needle to Royal again losing for a second straight week in devastating fashion this time by a point. Unfortunately, the Chargers and an irate Norv Turner pointed to that awful call going against them for the loss and they’d be right. But as Hochuli noted even admitting to the San Diego coach he blew it, there was nothing they could do:

“All we can do to fix it is put the ball at the spot that it hit the ground, which is why we moved it back to the 10-yard line and the down counts and it becomes third down.”

A tough break for the Lightning Bolts who lost star LB Shawne Merriman to season-ending knee surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his knee. Instead of being 1-1 tied with Denver for the division lead, they’re two behind and now host the Jets next Monday night. A must win.

Bad luck for sure. But their D hasn’t come through either which is why they’re in this 0-2 hole.

-Keep a close eye on the Bills who pulled out a hard fought 20-16 road win over Jacksonville handing them their second defeat. Trent Edwards followed a third down conversion on a deep pass to Lee Evans by tossing a seven-yard go-ahead TD to James Hardy with 4:10 left. The second-year QB out of Stanford was an efficient 20-of-25 for 239 yards and a score finishing with an impressive 119.8 rating. The Bills got great special teams play in their Week One home rout of Seattle with dangerous punt returner Roscoe Parrish returning a touchdown and punter Brian Moorman executing a fake field goal for a TD to Ryan Denney. With lowly Oakland coming up next week at home, they should improve to 3-0. Perhaps the Patriots will get competition for the AFC East but from an overlooked team which hasn’t been to the postseason since 1999.

-The Vikings got five Ryan Longwell field goals building a 15-0 lead while dominating the Colts for three quarters but that’s never enough against Peyton Manning, who again rose up and led his team to 18 unanswered including a last second 47-yard Adam Vinateri field goal giving Indy a huge win while Minny dropped to 0-2 despite 160 rushing yards from super soph Adrian Peterson. If only they had a real QB who could put it in the end zone.