Adding another first baseman to an already crowded field at that position, the Royals obtain Mike Jacobs (.247, 32, 93) from the Marlins in exchange for reliever Leo Nunez (4-1, 2.98). The 28 year-old infielder from Florida gives Kansas City a much-needed left-handed slugger in the middle of the lineup.

Ken Macha is hired by the Brewers to manage the team. The former A’s skipper, fired by Oakland after Detroit swept the club in the 2006 ALCS, replaces interim manager Dale Sveum, who finished with a dozen games left in the regular season for the fired Ned Yost.

After playing in drenching steady rain until the middle of the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park, Game 5 of the World Series is suspended, making it the first Fall Classic contest to start and not be played to completion. The 2-2 tied game between the Rays and hometown Phillies, who are one victory away from a world championship, will resume tomorrow at the point the rain delay stopped play.

In a 10-2 rout of the Rays in Game 4 of the World Series, right-hander Joe Blanton hits a home run, making it only the 15th time in the history of the Fall Classic that a pitcher has homered. Ken Holtzman was the last hurler to accomplish the feat when he went deep off Andy Messersmith in 1974.

Jack Zduriencik, the first non-GM to be selected as Baseball America Executive of the Year, is named as the Mariners general manager, the eighth in franchise history. The former Brewers vice president and special assistant for player personnel is given credit for the marked improvement in Milwaukee due to his scouting savvy.

Two storied franchises, the NFL Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees, form a partnership which will handle concession and merchandise sales at the clubs’ new stadiums. The company, known as Legends Hospitality Management, LLC, and founded in cooperation with Goldman Sachs and CIC Partners, envisions expanding its services to other professional franchises and college programs.

The Cubs and Jim Hendry agreed to a four-year contract extension. The deal, which will expire in 2012 and extend into the tenure of the club’s new ownership, is the general manager’s reward for the team’s best regular season showing in more than sixty years en route to its second consecutive National League Central title.

Behind the solid performance of starter Matt Garza and the stellar relief work of rookie David Price to finish the game, which included striking out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the eighth, the hometown Rays beat the defending world champion Red Sox, 3-1, in the decisive Game 7 of the ALCS to win their first American League pennant. After posting the worst record in baseball last season, the Rays advance to the World Series and will host the Phillies in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Tropicana Field.

The first pitch of a potential Game 6 of the World Series will begin eight minutes later to accommodate Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama’s desire to purchase the 8-8:30 p.m. slot on the Fox network, the same airtime the campaign has secured on CBS and NBC. The Tropicana Field game is now scheduled to start at 8:35 p.m.