ANAHEIM, Calif. — Peter Bourjos(notes) felt he could laugh a little bit about his first extra innings game as a major leaguer.

Having a sense of humor definitely helped in getting through the Los Angeles Angels' 4-3 victory in 16 innings against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night.

The season's final installment of "Angels in the Outfield" vs. "Major Leagues I, II and III" lasted three minutes shy of five hours and required 506 combined pitches.

For both playoff non-contenders, it was the longest game of the season.

"After a while, you go, 'You gotta be kiddin' me.' After the ninth, there just weren't too many opportunities to score runs," Bourjos said. "We were just doing enough to keep the game going."

It lasted roughly three at-bats too many for Bourjos, who struck out in the 10th, 12th and 14th after connecting for his third home run of the season in the sixth.

"I think a lot of people would have been happy if we had won it in the ninth," Bourjos said with a laugh. "I know

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in the Bronx, where Nicky "Two Times" Swisher is going get the papers, get the papers.

Game of the Day: Yankees 3, Orioles 2

Lt. Uehara, no!: Just two outs from the O's first three-game sweep in the Bronx since 1986, Koji Uehara(notes) did a bad thing and Nick Swisher(notes) went oppo for a game-ending two-run homer. Uehara had been 7 for 7 in save opportunities.

Watch Swisher swing

Double take: Awesomely, strangely and awesomely again, the walk-off moment came a year to the day that Swisher ended another ballgame with a homer. Swisher did the same thing against Dan Wheeler(notes) and the Rays on Sept. 8, 2009

"I guess it's my day," said Swisher, who has 26 homers on the season.

Gotta give it to him.

Headway: Jorge Posada(notes) received good medical news: No concussion.

Ohs: The progress the Orioles have made under new major domo Buck Showalter is kind of freaky. They're 21-14. Coulda been

SAN DIEGO — Had it been feasible, San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell(notes) would have left PETCO Park on Tuesday night and traveled to Milwaukee's Miller Park.

Trevor Hoffman(notes), a friend and former teammate, was collecting his 600th career save in front of his family. Bell was sad to miss it, but the Padres needed him to close out their 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dumb ol' pennant race!

"I'm a little disappointed I wasn't a part of it — because I was part of 500," said Bell, who is pictured on the right hoisting Hoffman by the right leg on that very night in 2007.

Like many of the fans at PETCO, Bell settled for watching a video highlight of Hoffman's 600th on the scoreboard. Bell probably stood as long and clapped as enthusiastically as anyone in the stadium.

"I stood up, tipped my hat, clapped the whole time I saw it. And a tear came ... well, my eyes got watery. I don't want to say I cried," Bell said. "It was a huge honor just to be a set-up guy to

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in Philadelphia, where all of the angst about the Phillies not being in first place/being perpetually banged up/underperforming/Why isn't Dom Brown playing?/etc can be eased for at least a few hours.

Games of the Day: Phillies 8, Marlins 7;
Pirates 5, Braves 0

Who did what: Placido Polanco's(notes) RBI single broke a tie in the eighth for the Phillies, countering a three-run rally by the Fishies. With Brad Lidge(notes) resting his tender elbow, Ryan Madson(notes) got four outs for the save. ... James McDonald(notes) pitched seven innings and Ronnie Cedeño hit a key triple for the Bucs.

Remember, remember, the 7th of September: Do you recall the previous morning the Phillies were in first place? Only Memorial Day. The NL East had been all-ATL all summer — much to the beguiling of Phillies fans, many of whom treat each game on the 162-game baseball schedule like a win-or-else Sunday in the NFL.

Not 96 hours ago, someone at Big League Stew wrote that the San Diego Padres' losing streak was not a signal of doom for their first-place dreams.

Well, as the image of David Eckstein(notes) on the right indicates, more bad things have happened in the past 96 hours for the Friars.

Chiefly, they dropped three games to the Colorado Rockies over the weekend, including a 4-2 contest Sunday, to increase their losing streak to 10.

San Diego's lead in the NL West, which was 6 1/2 games Aug. 25, has shrunk to one game (two in the loss column). The San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers on Sunday night, are knocking on the door. The Rockies are also only 4 1/2 behind.

"We have a sense of urgency right now,” Padres left-hander Clayton Richard(notes) said. "We have a special opportunity and we are going to do every thing in our control to take advantage of it."

He's right, in that the Padres still have control. Just not nearly as much as they used to.

Coolstandings.com — an invaluable site

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in sunny Florida, where the on-deck circle can be a dangerous place.

Game of the Day: Marlins 7, Braves 6 (10 inn.)

Head! Move! It's remarkable Emilio Bonifacio(notes) kept his composure after fouling a line drive off Logan Morrison's(notes) helmet as Morrison stood in the on-deck circle in the 10th inning. Just the sound of the ball making an impact is sickening.

Bonifacio, undaunted, lined the next pitch from left-hander Eric O'Flaherty(notes) into the gap for a leadoff triple (nice job cutting it off, Melky) and the Fish were in business.

Morrison was unavailable, so Scott Cousins(notes) stepped in and hit a long single over the drawn-in defense to give the Marlins a victory that left the Braves stunned. They had clawed back from an early 6-0 deficit.

Watch it all go down

Morrison was taken to the clubhouse, but he's expected to be OK.

"Definitely a roller-coaster," Cousins said. "You go

Jonathan Papelbon's(notes) sorry performance Sunday, along with an unwillingness to be fully accountable for it, probably made Boston Red Sox fans want to scream like Captain Kirk did at Khan.

It wasn't simply that Papelbon blew his seventh save of the season and lost for the sixth time, pushing the Red Sox one day closer to the end of a disappointing season without playoff baseball.

It was how he did it — getting caught being a spectator during a key moment of the Chicago White Sox's ninth-inning rally, then blowing it off when a reporter asked him to comment — that really should have gotten the New England blood boiling.

Watch Papelbon watch the grass grow at Fenway

It's possible that a meltdown lasting a career-high 48 pitches is just too long for a guy to pay attention on every play.

Via Pete Abraham on Boston.com's Extra Bases:

Papelbon failed to cover second when the center fielder, shortstop and second baseman converged on a shallow pop that fell in. Carlos Quentin(notes),

The budding rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds — specifically, Brandon Phillips(notes) — is attractive, a lot of fun, good for baseball, etc. No argument there.

But this throwing back of the foul ball, it sets a worrisome precedent.

Lest you forgot, Phillips back in August upset all of Redbird Nation — especially Mother Hen Tony La Russa — by referring to the Cardinals as a bunch of [whiners]. Phillips actually used an unkinder word, one with other connotations, in setting a certain tone.

Phillips also went 2 for 14 in the three-game series, in which the teams brawled (Johnny Cueto(notes) got his kicks) and the Cardinals swept.

Despite what seemed to be a guaranteed bellwether moment in the season, the Cards would lose nine games in the standings heading into Friday night's series opener in St. Louis.

At least, at long last, Cards fans had a chance to respond to Phillips — who has been dubbed "Public Enemy No. 1" by Al Hrabosky of Fox Sports Midwest. Easy