The Closer: Mr. Met Administers Coup De Grace

Notes from a day in baseball:

• 1. Death Of The Chop. The Tomahawk Chop died peacefully in its sleep on Sunday, the New York Mets officially supplanting the Braves as King of the Hill in the East with a 10-6 win. It was the Mets' first three-game sweep in Atlanta in 21 years. Carlos Beltran is still unconcious, in case you were wondering, hitting his third grand slam in July. The Braves: 15 games back. R.I.P.

• 2. The Chase Continues. Bobby Abreu may be gone, but the story in Philadelphia right now is Chase Utley, anyway. Utley extended his hitting streak to 31 games, Philadelphia sweeping a doubleheader from Florida, 11-5 and 9-2.

• 3. We're Not Listening! La La La La La La! Why can't the Cardinals win in Chicago? The answers are shrouded in mystery. What is known: Carlos Zambrano won his ninth straight decision as the Cubs beat the Cards 6-3, giving Chicago its first four-game sweep of St. Louis at Wrigley Field since 1972. St. Louis is 0-7 there this season.

• 4. Well, This Can't Be Good. Not a great time to watch Curt Schilling get shelled, if you're a Sox fan. Schilling did the perp walk on Sunday, lasting just five innings, as Orlando Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Rivera all homered off of him to lead the Los Angeles Angels over Boston 10-4.

• 5. Twins Barely Escape Mauling. Twins have not been swept. We repeat: no sweep. Jeremy Bonderman's balk in the eighth brought in the tying run, and Minnesota went on to beat Detroit 6-4, avoiding its first home sweep of the season.