RHP Aaron Cook, who has worked 5 2/3 innings or less in five of his past six starts and is coming off a season-low three-inning outing, will start Tuesday at Atlanta. His turn in the rotation would have come up Wednesday but with two off days since his last start Wednesday against the Giants, Cook would have pitched with six days' rest, two more than usual, Wednesday against the Braves.

LHP Cliff Lee is the American League's Pitcher of the Month for August. Lee was 5-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his five August starts. He also won the award in April, when he was 5-0, with a 0.96 ERA. Lee is the first Indians pitcher to win the Pitcher of the Month award twice in the same season since Charles Nagy, in May and September of 1996.

3B Evan Longoria returned to the Rays lineup Saturday for the first time since his right wrist was fractured by a J.J. Putz pitch on Aug. 7 in Seattle. The Rays were 19-11 without him. He returned to his usual cleanup spot Sunday.

CF Torii Hunter was suspended for two games for his part in a benches-clearing incident during Monday's game against the New York Yankees. He began serving the suspension Wednesday but probably wouldn't have played anyway. He left Tuesday's game after five innings because of tightness in his left quadriceps muscle.

RHP Josh Beckett has been pushed back to starting Game 3 of the ALDS after reportedly suffering a right oblique strain during a bullpen session last Friday. The Sox right-handed ace had been thought to be a mortal lock for Game 1 of the series in Anaheim, but instead LHP Jon Lester will pitch the first game and RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch Game 2. "We'll pitch [Lester and Dice-K] first and slot him in Sunday, and hopefully we'll be rolling," said Sox Manager Terry Francona. "That's the idea. He has to go out there and execute pitches, but I think he's going to be okay."

SS Stephen Drew doubled Sunday, the fourth double in his last five games. He has 41 doubles, 11 triples and 19 home runs this season, leaving him one homer short of joining Milwaukee's Robin Yount (1982, 1984) and Boston's Nomar Garciaparra (1997) as the only shortstops in major league history with a 40-10-20 season. Drew would be the first in the NL.

LF Manny Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and an intentional walk. Ramirez is now batting .410 (50-for-122) with 11 homers, 34 RBI, 24 walks and a .507 on-base percentage since being acquired from Boston on July 31. In nine games against the Diamondbacks with the Dodgers, he is batting .625 (20-for-32) with five doubles, five homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs and seven walks.

RF Ichiro Suzuki has led the Mariners in batting average in each of his first seven big league seasons. With two weeks to go in the season, however, LF Raul Ibanez pulled ahead of Ichiro .312-.311 over the weekend. Ibanez has 181 hits, matching his career best, set in 2006. Ichiro, in quest of his eighth consecutive 200-hit season, has 195 hits.

C Geovany Soto led the Cubs' attack, such as it was, by going 3-for-4. Soto has a four-game hitting streak, going 9-for-17 (.529). He's 21-for-55 (.382) with three homers and 16 RBI over his last 16 games.

1B Kevin Youkilis, who missed the series opener while tending to a family matter in Boston and had played only one of five games before that because of the flu and back spasms, rejoined the team and hit his 25th homer. His three-run shot in the third got the Red Sox within 7-4.