The Boston Red Sox became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season, rallying on ninth-inning home runs by Jason Varitek and Julio Lugo to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-6 on Saturday.
The victory assured the Red Sox of at least the AL wild-card spot.
Boston trailed 6-5 when Varitek led off the ninth with an opposite-field homer to left off closer Al Reyes (3-3). Eric Hinske then doubled and scored one out later when Lugo homered.
Eric Gagne (4-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 36th save in 39 opportunities.
Carlos Pena homered twice for the Devil Rays, including a go-ahead, three-run shot in the seventh. He has 42 home runs and 116 RBIs -- Pena played 18 games with Boston last season.
Yankees 12, Blue Jays 11, 10 innings
At New York, Melky Cabrera singled home the winning run in the 10th inning for his fifth RBI as New York won a wild one over Toronto.
Cabrera's third big hit of the day off Josh Towers (5-10) ended a messy, back-and-forth game that lasted exactly 5 hours -- after the start was delayed 92 minutes by rain. Plus, it came one day after the teams played 14 innings, a game Toronto won 5-4 after the Yankees rallied for four runs in the ninth.
The Yankees used a team-record 10 pitchers and again took advantage of a defensive misplay by Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill.
Athletics 9, Indians 3
At Cleveland, an early misplay on Mark Ellis' easy infield fly doomed Cleveland, Dan Haren pitched six strong innings and Jack Cust homered as Oakland delayed the Indians from winning the AL Central.
Ellis homered and drove in three runs as the A's built a 6-0 lead and spoiled Cleveland's plans of wrapping up its first division title since 2001.
The Indians' magic number was lowered to one when second-place Detroit lost 7-4 at home to Kansas City.
Haren (15-8), the AL's starter in the All-Star game, won for the first time in six starts since Aug. 21. The right-hander, battling Cleveland's Fausto Carmona for the league's ERA title, allowed two runs and seven hits.
Royals 7, Tigers 4
At Detroit, Mark Grudzielanek again got the best of Kenny Rogers, collecting four hits and scoring three times as Kansas City moved Detroit to the verge of elimination.
Grudzielanek is hitting .647 in his career against Rogers and .355 against Detroit this year, and this time provided plenty of support for starter Kyle Davies.
Davies (3-7) won for just the second time in eight starts.
Seattle 3, Los Angeles 2
At Anaheim, California, Miguel Batista pitched into the sixth inning and Ichiro Suzuki scored a run and drove in another for Seattle, postponing a division-clinching win for Los Angeles.
Batista (15-11) allowed only one run. He struck out four.
Oft-injured Bartolo Colon (6-8) gave up three runs and eight hits in eight innings to lose for the eighth time in nine decisions. He got the start because Kelvim Escobar was pushed back because of inflammation in his shoulder.
Baek Cha-seung , Ryan Rowland-Smith, George Sherill and J.J. Putz held the Angels scoreless until the ninth, when Vladimir Guerrero drove in Reggie Willits with an RBI groundout. Putz struck out Garret Anderson with Cabrera at second to earn his 39th save in 41 chances.
In other Ameican League action on Saturday it was:
* White Sox 8, Twins 3
* Orioles 11, Rangers 9
Alfonso Soriano hit two of Chicago's four homers and had five RBIs as the Cubs continued their late-season power display, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Saturday to solidify their lead in the National League Central.
Soriano hit a solo shot to tie the game in the second and a two-run blast in the fifth for his team-leading 31st homer. The Cubs' star has four home runs in three games and 13 in the 25 games since he came off the disabled list on Aug. 28. He added a two-run double in the seventh.
Aramis Ramirez, who had two homers on Friday, added another and Derrek Lee also went deep as the Cubs hit four homers for the second straight game.
Mets 7, Marlins 2
At Miami, Oliver Perez pitched eight innings, Moises Alou extended his hitting streak to a team record-tying 26 games and New York strengthened its hold on the NL East by beating Florida.
Following a brief swoon earlier this month, the Mets won their second straight. New York's magic number to clinch the division was seven with eight games to play.
Perez (15-9) gave up six hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out eight. Aaron Heilman completed the seven-hitter.
Phillies 4, Nationals 1, 10 innings
At Washington, Ryan Howard drove in the go-ahead run, helping Philadelphia down Washington and keep pace in the NL East.
Chase Utley homered for the Phillies, who won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Philadelphia trails San Diego by a half-game in the wild-card race.
In other National League action on Saturday it was:
* Rockies 6, Padres 2
* Braves 4, Brewers 3, 11 innings
* Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 2
* Cardinals 7, Astros 4
* Giants 2, Reds 0
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set