■ Sunday night's Game 4 was the highest-rated World Series game in five years.
The Yankees' 7-4 win over the Phillies drew a 13.5 fast national rating and 22 share on Fox. That's up 45 percent from last year's Phillies-Rays Game 4.
Fox said yesterday that it's the best rating for a non-decisive Game 4 since a 13.6/23 for a 12-inning Yankees-Marlins game in 2003.
It is also the best rating for any World Series game since 2004 when the Red Sox finished their four-game sweep of the Cardinals to end their 86-year championship drought.
The rating is the percentage of households with televisions tuned to a program. The share is the percentage of homes watching among those with TVs in use at the time.
■ Injured outfielder Melky Cabrera has been replaced by backup infielder Ramiro Pena on the New York Yankees' World Series roster.
Cabrera left the Yankees' 7-4 win in Game 4 on Sunday night in the middle of the sixth inning with a slightly strained left hamstring. Cabrera took an awkward swing and appeared to hurt his leg while running out a grounder.
Brett Gardner, who took over for Cabrera on Sunday night, got his first career postseason start in center field last night. He was 2 for 5 with three runs and two caught-stealings in the postseason.
Pena, picked over pinch-runner Freddy Guzman and No. 3 catcher Francisco Cervelli, has not appeared in a game since the regular-season finale on Oct. 4.
■ Right fielder Jeff Francoeur of the New York Mets has undergone thumb surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training.
The Mets said that the operation on Francoeur's torn ligament in his left thumb took place in Atlanta yesterday.
Francoeur was injured while making a diving catch against Philadelphia on July 23. That was the game in which he lined to second baseman Eric Bruntlett for the second game-ending unassisted triple play in major-league history.
The Mets obtained Francoeur on July 10 from Atlanta for Ryan Church. He hit .311 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs for the Mets. Overall, he hit .280 with 15 homers and 76 RBIs.
■ The San Francisco Giants have promoted Class AAA hitting coach Hensley Meulens to the major-league club.
Meulens was hired as the club's big-league hitting coach yesterday to replace Carney Lansford, who was told last month by Manager Bruce Bochy that his contract wouldn't be renewed.
The Giants finished 88-74 this season, four games behind wild-card winner Colorado -- and with 16 more victories than in 2008. But the team is hoping to boost its run production after having the second-fewest homers (122) and drawing the fewest walks (392) in the majors in 2009.
Meulens spent parts of seven season in the major leagues as an infielder and outfielder with the New York Yankees, Montreal and Arizona, retiring after the 1998 season.
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