The left-hander had been scheduled to start Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles. The AL East champions hope he will be ready for the postseason.

"It's been a progression thing," Johnson said. "Let's get it taken care of, and obviously the regular season start doesn't mean much. So we'll get ready for the postseason game."

The injury means Chien-Ming Wang will likely start the Yankees' playoff opener next week. Mike Mussina could get the call for Game 2, with Johnson possibly going in Game 3.

"He's experienced some back problems, and he's been pitching with them," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of Johnson. "We're going to shut it down. It doesn't mean he's not going to do anything. He's still going to work toward the playoff start."

Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell was released from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Monday, three days after surgery to remove his tonsils and a growth behind the left one. Bell went to rest at his home in Chandler, Ariz. Bench coach Billy Doran is interim manager in Bell's place.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Mike Butcher were ejected in the first inning of Monday's game against the Yankees for arguing balls and strikes. Butcher was thrown out by plate umpire Alfonso Marquez for arguing from the dugout after a number of close pitches by Devil Rays starter Jae Seo were called balls. TV replays on several pitches during the inning appeared to show the calls were correct.

Maddon also left the dugout to argue and was thrown out by Marquez. Butcher, who had left the playing area, returned to the field from the dugout and had to be restrained by bullpen coach Bobby Ramos.

Radke, 33, did light bullpen work Monday and felt better than he did in his last session, manager Ron Gardenhire said. If Radke, who plans to retire after the season, isn't hurting when he reports to the Metrodome for tonight's game, the Twins will likely start him in the next couple of days.

"I know that if you have Brad Radke and he goes out and pitches before the playoffs and throws the living fire out of the baseball, I think you'd want to really look at that to see if he could help you out," Gardenhire said. "Chances are he probably could, just knowing Brad Radke ."

The Cleveland Indians have slammed their way to a share of a major league record. Casey Blake 's grand slam in the sixth inning Monday against the Chicago White Sox gave the Indians 14 slams, tying them with the 2000 Oakland Athletics for the most in a single season.

Carlos Beltran paid a visit to Willie Randolph when he arrived at Shea Stadium for the Mets' game against the Nationals on Monday and flashed a gesture at the manager.

That meant Beltran's strained upper left thigh was good enough to go again. So the center fielder returned to the starting lineup after a six-game absence. He had spoken about possibly needing a cortisone shot to come back, but that didn't happen.

Beltran was getting antsy during his downtime, worrying about losing the MVP-like rhythm he has been in at the plate before Game 1 of the NL Division Series next week. So he was happy to be back from a problem that had bothered him for a little more than a week.

Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds , out more than a month with post-concussion syndrome, hit a three-run, pinch-hit homer on Monday in his first at-bat since Aug. 26.

Edmonds, batting .262 with 19 homers and 68 RBI, was cleared to play Monday. He has been limited to one start since Aug. 15 because of headaches, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision. He sustained a concussion in June when he crashed into a wall in Chicago in a game against the White Sox while trying to rob Joe Crede of a home run.

Edmonds hit a 0-1 pitch from San Diego's Mike Thompson over the wall in right-center. It was his third career pinch homer and second this season.

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