Depth and pitching win in September.

And, oh, don't forget to flip your calendar ahead to September on Wednesday.

The AL wild-card race thunders toward autumn like mothers racing down aisles at the back-to-school sales. It's no longer a marathon, it's a sprint (and oh, we love this time of year when you can say that.) The stakes are growing. Every day is bigger and better than the one preceding it.

Anaheim flies east to open a three-game set in Boston on Tuesday, and you can feel the ramifications from Cape Cod to Newport Beach. There is no more time for messing around.

"Troy (Glaus) will be locked in," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's why we jump-started this."

Since leaving May 11 to undergo shoulder surgery, Glaus -- who was leading the AL in homers at the time -- has been more invisible than flannel uniforms. He spent most of the summer rehabbing in Phoenix, stunned everybody with a prodigious round of batting practice at Angel Stadium last Monday and then left for an injury-rehab assignment to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Sunday he was back. Earlier than advertised? When he left, the Angels pretty much wrote him off for the season. If he came back, they figured, it would be a bonus.

Not only did the bonus arrive Sunday, it got a rousing, loving standing ovation from a hungry crowd of 43,193.

"It was nice. Unexpected," Glaus said later. "It was exciting. It got the blood pumping again."

He will not play third base again this year. No chance, Scioscia says. But they've put the shoulder back together enough so that he can DH, and that can't be all bad. In 10 games as the DH after reinjuring his shoulder on April 30 and before opting for surgery on May 11, Glaus batted .375 (12 for 32) with two doubles, four homers and six RBI.

Those numbers are why many of us strongly questioned him at the time. How could somebody swinging like that bail without trying to play on a little longer? How could a guy look his teammates in the face after doing so?

You can still argue semantics of that well into the winter. Could the Angels be leading the AL West had Glaus stuck around and hit for them? Could they have put any distance between themselves and the pack?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Back in uniform, an ecstatic Glaus isn't opposed to a few "I told you so's."

"This is what I told you guys when I left," he said. "Whether you guys chose to believe it or not, here I am."

There he was, batting seventh and DHing, right in the middle of Anaheim's walk-off, 4-2 victory over Minnesota in Sunday's latest must-have game (Boston already had won, as usual, and now Anaheim heads to Fenway still 1 1/2 games back in the wild-card standings). Glaus, who flied to left, grounded to third and was intentionally walked in his first three plate appearances, drew a five-pitch walk from Minnesota reliever Juan Rincon with one out in the ninth.

Up next, Adam Kennedy drove a full-count slider over the right-field wall, and it was Glaus who scored the winning run.

"As he sees major league pitching, he's going to become more productive," Scioscia said. "Troy is too good not to."

For now, Glaus will linger toward the bottom of a stacked lineup. He batted seventh Sunday and likely will stay in that area until it is clear that he's comfortable.

"No matter where you hit in the lineup, there are going to be times when you have to come up and be productive," Scioscia said. "But we'll give Troy an opportunity to see some pitches, get confident in the box, not worry about being protection for a guy or doing anything outsimulated game conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday and, if all goes well, leave for a minor-league injury-rehab assignment Thursday.

Nursing a left quadricep injury, Nixon hasn't played since July 24. He was batting .273 with three homers and 13 RBI in 29 games after missing much of the first few months with a bad back.

"I think the biggest thing now is to get back with that baseball-type of shape," Nixon told Boston reporters late last week. "I feel like I've got a foundation now when I'm in the batter's box hitting."

The thought in Boston right now is that, perhaps, with no setbacks this week, Nixon could rejoin the team on its seven-game trip to Oakland and Seattle beginning on Sept. 6.

One additional challenge facing Nixon as he attempts to get back into the pennant race that did not inhibit Glaus: Nixon still must serve a three-game suspension as a result of the Boston-Yankees brawl on July 24. But with rosters expanding Wednesday, Boston could activate Nixon a few days before he's ready and designate those days as his suspension days.

One thing is clear: A healthy Nixon will juice Boston similar to the way Glaus can help Anaheim. Nixon batted .306 with 28 homers and 87 RBI last season and compiled an on-base percentage of .396.

Boston leads the AL with 739 runs scored going into the week, but in a race this tight, a team can always use more. The Red Sox lead over Anaheim is only 1 1/2 games despite the fact that Boston has won six consecutive games and 12 of 13.

Anaheim, meanwhile, has won 12 of 14 but remains two games behind white-hot Oakland in the AL West because the Athletics have won seven in a row and, like Boston, 12 of 13.

September is coming, in all of its gold leaf-tinted glory.

"It's evident the caliber of player Troy is, you want him to be in the middle of the lineup somewhere -- and he will be," Scioscia said.

Wherever he bats, the Angels figure he will look good. Very good.

"Adding Glaus is a huge shot in the arm for us," Kennedy said.

Boston is hoping for similar things in the very near future, and the race is on -- on multiple levels.

Blame Canada

There was Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau on Sunday, homering in the Twins' 4-2 loss to Anaheim, and awaiting word on his appearance at the Olympics' closing ceremony.

Nope, he hasn't figured out how to be in two places at once.

Rather, he was supposed to play for the Canadian team in the Olympics and, after he was a last-minute scratch because of his recall by Minnesota, the Canadians took a Morneau bobblehead doll with them to Athens instead.

Always in their hearts, you know.

It started when journeyman Syracuse infielder Stubby Clapp obtained a bobblehead doll that Triple-A Rochester handed out last summer. Clapp wasn't playing that day, so he spent most of the nine innings sanding down the doll. Once the Rochester logos were erased, he painted the Team Canada colors onto the doll. (Who says baseball players have too much time on their hands?)

Next thing Morneau knew, his would-have-been teammates on the Canadian team were phoning him from Greece, telling him how they were keeping his doll in the dugout during games and taking it here and there afterward as if it was the Stanley Cup.

"The Stanley Cup is a little more important than my bobblehead," said Morneau, a native of British Columbia, defending hockey's ultimate trophy like a Canadian worth his skates.

The Canadians didn't win a medal, losing a heartbreaker to Cuba in which they led into the eighth inning.

"I felt bad for them," Morneau said. "They lost a tough one."

Had they won a medal, Morneau was fully expecting one himself -- sort of.

"They probably would have made a mini-medal right there on the doll," he said.

He had no word yet on whether he was to make an appearance at the closing ceremonies.

"I don't know," Morneau said. "They probably will take it with them. They've had it everywhere else.

"It's pretty cool."

So are Morneau's contributions to the Twins this season. He smashed 22 homers at Rochester, thus forcing the issue of his move up to the majors (and forcing the issue of Doug Mientkiewicz's trade to Boston), and Sunday his 14th home run came in only his 48th game.

Around the horn

  • Tony Clark's three-homer game in Toronto on Saturday was even bigger in light of the fact that the Yankees are pessimistic that Jason Giambi will be back for the postseason. The latest, following his bout with a parasite and the diagnosis of a benign tumor, is that he's got a head cold -- which follows a groin strain and an upper respiratory infection. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he is not as "hopeful" as Giambi that the first baseman will be back for the postseason. Even if he does come back in September, he's been out so long that it will take time to get his timing back. Meanwhile, Clark and John Olerud have been doing their best to make sure that Giambi isn't missed.
  • As good as Ivan Rodriguez has been for Detroit, even the catcher himself admitted last week that his defense has not been as good as hoped. He's committed 11 errors so far -- the most he's made since 1992 (when he was charged with 15) and the most for any Tiger since John Flaherty's 11 in 1995. Rodriguez, a 10-time All-Star, had not made more than eight errors in 10 of his previous 13 seasons.
  • OK, so perhaps the fact that Tampa Bay rookie whiz Scott Kazmir allowed five runs and nine hits to Oakland in just three innings Sunday will lend some perspective to the Mets' decision to trade him in the Victor Zambrano deal. On the other hand ... Kazmir still threw five shutout innings against Seattle in his major league debut last Monday and Zambrano is still on the disabled list. Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson, who said it was scouts Al Goldis and Bill Livesey who sold the deal with their gushing reports on Zambrano, raised eyebrows by saying that he's happy for Kazmir because his Tampa Bay debut showed he learned something from the Mets' system.
  • Tampa Bay skipper Lou Piniella said his first impression of Kazmir was that he was a "young-looking kid." Then, Piniella said, "I realized he should look young. He's only 20."
  • Anaheim first-round pick Jared Weaver is due to start classes Monday at Cal State Long Beach and Arizona first-round pick Stephen Drew is due in class Tuesday at Florida State. If either steps foot into the classroom, the organization loses all rights to the player. Weaver is not expected to start classes, though Drew could still go either way.
  • Baker's dozen: When Jeremy Bonderman fanned 14 Chicago White Sox on Monday, he became the first Detroit pitcher to strike out a dozen or more since Mickey Lolich whiffed 12 in a game in 1972. Not only is it a good stat, but Lolich, who went on to open a doughnut shop in the Detroit area after his playing career ended, is always worth mentioning. See, there are things Baltimore's Sidney Ponson could do when he's done playing, too.

Weekend Hot List

The weekend buzz while you were finally catching up to Eric Schlosser's riveting "Fast Food Nation":

1. Wild-card races: Well, you can't really call what the Cubs are doing racing.

2. Adrian Beltre: Did you hear that? They were chanting "MVP!" in Montreal last week. Or was that French for "Commissioner Selig, you hoser, make a decision already on the Expos!"

3. Power outage in SkyDome: It delayed Sunday's Yankees-Blue Jays game by an hour. OK, it delayed the Yankees by an hour. The Blue Jays have been delayed by a power outage for most of the season.

4. Here comes Houston: The Astros now have won 11 of their past 14 games and, suddenly, find themselves back in the race. A little late, isn't it? I had an alarm clock like that once, and it cost me a good grade in an 8 a.m. Spanish class.

5. Roger Clemens: Saturday's win tied him with Don Sutton and Nolan Ryan for 12th on baseball's all-time wins list at 324. Hey, if Jimmy Buffett can have a No. 1 album this summer, why can't Clemens' summer tours continue?

6. Philadelphia says Larry Bowa will finish the season: GM Ed Wade made the announcement Saturday. The key thing to remember here is, nobody said that the comatose Phillies will finish out the season.

7. Reggie Sanders: After Saturday's homer for St. Louis, the major leagues' biggest chameleon now has hit 20 or more homers with six different teams. All hail The Lizard King!

8. Jake Peavy: Not only is San Diego 9-0 in his starts since the All-Star break, but his win over Montreal on Saturday helped Padres move into tie with Cubs in NL wild-card chase by weekend's end. And the Padres didn't even trade for Nomar Garciaparra.

9. Baltimore snaps 12-game losing streak Thus ending the question, after finishing 4-32 two years ago, could the Orioles really finish this season 0-46?

10. Kyle Farnsworth's tantrum: Cubs are forced to place the reliever on the disabled list after he sprains his knee kicking a trash can. In a related story, Sammy Sosa has not sneezed in weeks.