Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum admitted that he was nervous before his first World Series start last week, but says he's ready to start in Game 5. "The experience of being there is the big help," Lincecum said. "Going through the lineup again knowing that you're pitching in another World Series game just eases the tension."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will meet with co-owners Hal and Hank Steinbrenner on Monday in Tampa as the team begins to prepare for the 2011 season. The meetings are expected to take two days, but could go longer. Atop the agenda will be how to proceed with Derek Jeter, who will become a free agent for the first time in his career this winter. Cashman has already said publicly that he is only interested in paying players for how much they are worth in the win column.

Game 3 between the Rangers and Giants on Saturday night earned the second-lowest television rating for a World Series game. The Rangers' win on Fox drew a 6.7 rating and 13 share, beating only the 6.1 for Game 3 of the 2008 Phillies-Rays series. That game was delayed 91 minutes because of rain and didn't start until after 10 p.m. on the East Coast.

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig says he likes the idea of expanding his sport's postseason. On Sunday night, Selig gave his strongest indication that two extra Wild Card teams will be added to the 2012 playoffs. "I like it enough, so we'll seriously consider it," he said. "Is eight out of 30 enough? Is that fair? And that's the basic question here, at least for me." Asked his opinion of 10 playoff teams, Selig responded: "It's more fair than eight."

Giants left fielder Pat Burrell was benched for Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy moved Cody Ross from right field to left to take Burrell's place, while Nate Schierholtz earned his first start of the postseason playing right. "I talked to him awhile today," Bochy said, referring to Burrell. "It's fair to say he's not seeing the ball. His timing's off." Burrell is 0-for-9 in the World Series.

Former Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland says he never feuded with manager Joe Girardi. An ESPN report stated Girardi and Eiland, who was let go this past week, had a falling out. "It is ridiculous and not true," Eiland told The Post. "Joe and I never had a problem, nor do we now. There are no hard feelings in the organization. Joe is a good baseball man, a great manager and one of the best human beings I ever met."

Fox and Cablevision reached an agreement Saturday that will restore programming to more than 3 million New York-area subscribers who have been without some of their favorite shows and baseball playoff games for two weeks. Signals for all stations and cable channels were restored before the first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series between the Rangers and Giants. "In the absence of any meaningful action from the FCC, Cablevision has agreed to pay Fox an unfair price for multiple channels of its programming including many in which our customers have little or no interest," Cablevision said.

The Mets and pitcher Hisanori Takahashi have pushed back a decision on whether he will sign a 2011 contract until Nov. 5. Under the contract the sides agreed to before the 2010, the Mets were required to sign him to a new deal by Oct. 31 or release the 35-year-old left-hander. Takahashi was 10-6 with eight saves and a 3.61 ERA in 12 starts and 41 relief appearances.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he decided to leave Jose Guillen off the postseason roster before learning of the outfielder's alleged link to a federal investigation into shipments of performance-enhancing drugs. Bochy reiterated that Guillen was not put on the roster for the NL division series against Atlanta -- or the rest of the postseason -- because of his troublesome neck.

Rangers manager Ron Washington says he hasn't had any conversations with Cliff Lee about the possibility of the ace left-hander pitching Game 4 on short rest. When asked about it before Game 3 on Saturday, Washington said Tommy Hunter is pitching Sunday as scheduled against the Giants.