Tony La Russa will announce today his return as St. Louis Cardinals manager along with the surprise addition of Mark McGwire, the former home run king, who will end an eight-year self-imposed exile from baseball to become the team’s hitting coach.

La Russa, 65, has agreed to come back for a 15th season as the team’s manager after taking two weeks to weigh the factors that contributed to the Cardinals’ abrupt exit from the postseason in a division series sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of those factors apparently led to Friday’s move to sever ties with hitting coach Hal McRae and to install McGwire as his successor.

Indians hire Acta

The Cleveland Indians hired Manny Acta to be their manager, giving him the job about three months after he was fired by the Washington Nationals.

Acta signed a three-year contract with a club option for 2013, Indians spokesman Bart Swain said Sunday. Additional terms were not disclosed.

“I am very excited to become part of the Cleveland Indians family,” Acta said. “I look forward to working with this talented group of young men who seem to possess a lot of energy and passion for their work.”

The Indians chose Acta after a second interview over former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Indians Triple-A manager Torey Lovullo. The team had been expected to interview Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly this week.

Phils to start Lee

Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee will start Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees, manager Charlie Manuel announced.

Lee has been dominant in the postseason, going 2-0 with an 0.74 ERA in three starts.

Lee will take the mound Wednesday night at New York.

Manuel hasn’t set the rest of his rotation. Pedro Martinez and Cole Hamels are the candidates to pitch Game 2. By pitching the opener, Lee could get three starts if needed.

Lee was the AL Cy Young Award winner last year with Cleveland. He joined the Phillies in a trade and went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts.

ESPN fires Phillips

Baseball analyst Steve Phillips was fired by ESPN on Sunday night, less than a week after he admitted having an affair with a production assistant at the cable network.

A representative for Phillips also announced the former Mets general manager was entering a treatment facility “to address his personal issues.”

Phillips’ acknowledgment Wednesday of his relationship with 22-year-old Brooke Hundley was splashed across the New York tabloids for days, embarrassing the Bristol, Conn.-based sports giant.

“Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN,” network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said in a statement. “His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways.”

Phillips had taken a leave of absence after the affair became public. Krulewitz declined comment when asked Sunday night about Hundley’s status with the company.

According to a police report filed in Wilton, Conn., Hundley began calling Phillips’ wife, Marni, on Aug. 5 after he broke off the affair and sent her a letter graphically describing their relationship and the 46-year-old Phillips’ birthmarks.

Marni Phillips called police Aug. 19 when she came home to find Hundley in her driveway. “I knew instinctively that this was the woman Steve was involved with and I was terrified,” she wrote in a statement to police.