METAIRIE, La. - The New Orleans Saints have relinquished their short-term injured reserve designation for this season by cutting rookie linebacker Khairi Fortt on Monday, one week before he would have been eligible to return to practice.The short-term injured reserve rule was created by the NFL in 2012 to allow clubs to remove one player each per season from their active roster for about half a season while the player rehabilitates from a significant injury.Teams generally save the designation for prominent players, as the Baltimore Ravens did in 2012 with linebacker Ray Lewis.Lewis tore a muscle in his arm in October during the regular season, returned from short-term injured reserve in December and helped the Ravens beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl in New Orleans.The Saints chose to use the designation at the beginning of the season on the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Fortt, a fourth-round draft choice out of California who missed much of training camp with an unspecified leg injury.Had Fortt remained on the roster, he would have been allowed to return to practice after the Saints return from their bye in Week 7. He would have been eligible to play in Week 9.The Fortt transaction was made official by NFL headquarters on Monday afternoon.Earlier in the day, Saints coach Sean Payton declined to answer a question about Fortts prospects for returning to practice following Week 6.If the Saints had decided not to use the short-term designation on Fortt, they either would have had to cut him before the regular season, or use one of 53 active roster spots on him during his rehabilitation.The Saints also could have elected to place him on regular injured reserve, allowing him to spend all of 2014 rehabilitating and learning the defence before coming back to play in 2015.One of those options would have allowed the Saints to save the short-term injured reserve designation for an early season injury to a more prominent player.On Friday, Payton announced that three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd had torn knee cartilage in practice on Thursday.Payton said Byrds rehabilitation from surgery was going to take long enough to require Byrd to be placed on season-ending injured reserve.As of Monday evening, Byrd was still on the active roster, though Payton said earlier in the day that the Saints still planned to place him on injured reserve.___Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Achraf Hakimi Jersey . 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Dan-Axel Zagadou Dortmund Jersey .com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open.BOSTON - The American League Championship Series, featuring the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, gets underway on Saturday night at Fenway Park. Boston is making its first appearance in the ALCS since 2008. For Detroit, its a third straight trip to the ALCS and its fourth in eight years. The Red Sox last won the World Series in 2007, sweeping Colorado. The Tigers were last victorious in 1984, losing their two most recent appearances (2006 vs. St. Louis and 2012 vs. San Francisco.) GAME ONE PREVIEW: PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez (Regular season: 14-8, 2.57, 1.154 WHIP; Playoffs: 0-1, 10.38, 2.308 WHIP) Did not face Boston in 2013. Tigers manager Jim Leyland on Sanchez: "He led the American League in earned run average. He did not have a good playoff start. I think he was probably a little rusty, as Fister was the other day, it took him a couple of innings to get going. I think hell be back in the groove now. Like I said, he led this league in earned run average. Thats pretty impressive." Toughest matchup: Few Red Sox have large enough sample sizes vs. Sanchez (Shane Victorino and Stephen Drew, who spent significant time in the National League, are the exceptions.) But, as small sample sizes go, you cant do better than David Ortiz has against Sanchez: 3-3, 2 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI. Interesting note: Sanchez, a native of Maracay, Venezuela, was signed by the Red Sox as an international free agent on January 3, 2001. He was traded, along with Hanley Ramirez and others, to the Florida Marlins in the deal that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston, on November 24, 2005. Red Sox LHP Jon Lester (Regular season: 15-8, 3.75, 1.294 WHIP; Playoffs: 1-0, 2.35, 0.783 WHIP) 2013 vs. Detroit: (2GS, 2-0, 4.26, 1.579 WHIP, 2HR in 12 2/3 innings) Toughest matchup: A number of Tigers hit Lester well, including: Torii Hunter (30 AB, .433/.469/.633, 1 HR, 3 2B, 4 RBI) Miguel Cabrera (24 AB, .526/.625/.789, 1 HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI) Victor Martinez (14 AB, .429/.500/.786, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI) Jhonny PPeralta (27 AB, .dddddddddddd296/.406/.593, 2 HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 5 BB) Lester on the Tigers lineup: "I mean, obviously very tough lineup. Weve seen it kind of go both ways as far as them come in and score some runs. But at the same time, the games that they dont theyre still tough outs. I think thats what makes them very similar to I think our offense is. You know youre not going to have three-pitch outs. You know youre not going to have at-bats that they just give away." LINEUP CONSIDERATIONS: Slick-fielding shortstop Jose Iglesias, acquired from the Red Sox in Julys three-team deal (White Sox) that netted Boston the services of Jake Peavy, will start Game One. That means Jhonny Peralta will either start in left field (at Fenway Park - *gulp*) or be relegated to the bench. Beyond Game One, Leyland was non-committal. "At my age I go one day at a time. So Iglesias will be my shortstop (Saturday) night." Meantime, Red Sox manager John Farrell has anointed Will Middlebrooks his starting third baseman but wouldnt look beyond Saturday night. "It will be Middlebrooks (Saturday.) And then based on some matchups, weve got some things were looking at in a couple of different spots." That could mean highly-touted prospect Xander Bogaerts for Game Two or at some other point in the series. INJURY CONCERN: Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera, he of the 2012 Triple Crown, has been limited offensively for about six weeks, his Thursday home run against the Athletics notwithstanding, thanks to a nagging leg injury. Cabreras September: .278/.395/.333, 1 HR. His .729 marked a significant drop month over month. His .995 OPS in April had been his lowest monthly total of the season. In the five game Division Series vs. Oakland: 5-20 (.250/.286/.400,) with his home run in the fifth game accounting for his lone extra base hit. Cabrera didnt want to discuss his injury but described the process of working through it as "day-to-day." GAME ONE PREDICTION: Boston wins 6-4. ' ' '