Braves' run over; Yankees' up next

A Mets' victory or a Braves' loss tonight will bring to an end Atlanta's major-league record-run of 14 straight division titles.

Once that is a done-deal, the team with the longest current streak of consecutive division titles won will be the Yankees, with eight. Not-so-bold prediction: the Bombers' Their streak will stretch to nine since 10 1/2-game leads in mid-September are rarely blown.

Especially not when you field a lineup of the sort the Yankees are sporting these days. With the return of Hideki Matsui, the addition of Bobby Abreu and the pending activation of Gary Sheffield, the Yankees will have current or one-time all-stars at every position except second.

Joe Torre's toughest decision of the day is who to sit, not who to play. An embarrassment of riches? To some. To Torre, it's a window to a world of possibilities - not to mention the expensive pieces that could make a run at the division title-champion Braves possible.