Print

Mail

wiki links

Yankees keep title hopes alive

Phil Hughes allowed four hits in seven innings and Jose Molina delivered a two-run single to lead the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-1 in the American League on Thursday.

The win kept the Yankees' hopes for the AL East title alive, with a spot in the playoffs already assured.

Joba Chamberlain pitched on consecutive days for the first time, striking out B.J. Upton to escape a jam with runners at first and second in the eighth inning. Jose Veras pitched the ninth, completing a six-hitter for his second career save.

New York went ahead in the seventh against Jon Switzer (0-2). Shelly Duncan singled and Robinson Cano doubled before Molina's grounder through a drawn-in infield put New York ahead 3-1.

Twins 5, Red Sox 4

At Boston, Michael Cuddyer and Garrett Jones homered off 20-game winner Josh Beckett in his last start before the playoffs, preventing Boston from closing in on the AL East title.

Boston has already clinched a playoff berth, but it needs two more wins -- or Yankees losses -- to clinch its first AL East title since 1995.

David Ortiz was 4-for-4 with his 34th homer and his 51st double.

Beckett (20-7) allowed five runs and 10 hits in six innings, striking out six.

Minnesota's Boof Bonser (8-12) allowed three runs and six hits and two walks, striking out two in five innings. Joe Nathan got four outs for his 36th save.

Mariners 4, Indians 2

At Seattle, Jose Guillen and Jose Lopez each hit two-run homers to back Baek Cha-seung as Seattle prevented Cleveland from taking sole possession of the best record in the American League.

The loss keeps the AL Central-champion Indians (94-65) even with AL East-leading Red Sox (94-65). Home-field advantage is at stake for the team that finishes with the best record.

Baek (4-3) went six innings in his first start since June 16, allowing a run and seven hits. He had two strikeouts and no walks.

Orioles 8, Blue Jays 5

At Baltimore, Luis Hernandez hit his first major league homer in the sixth inning to give Baltimore the lead as the Orioles beat Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.

Jay Payton and J.R. House also homered for the Orioles, who blew a four-run lead before coming back.

Toronto led 5-4 before Hernandez hit a two-run drive off Brian Tallet (2-4). Miguel Tejada added a run-scoring grounder in the seventh and House led off the eighth with his second big league home run.

White Sox 10, Royals 0

At Chicago, Lance Broadway allowed two hits over six innings for his first major league win as Chicago defeated Kansas City.

Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer for the White Sox, who have won seven of their last 11 games.

Staked to an early 3-0 lead in his first career start, Broadway (1-1) fooled Kansas City hitters with a sharp breaking ball. The 24-year-old right-hander ended his impressive performance by striking out Billy Butler to end the sixth inning. Broadway struck out eight and walked two.

Billy Buckner (1-2) took the loss for Kansas City.

The New York Mets' division lead is gone, leaving them on the brink of a historic collapse in the National League East.

The free-falling Mets managed just three hits off Joel Pineiro and Jason Isringhausen in a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, dropping New York into a first-place tie with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

Not even Pedro Martinez could save New York, which had led the division alone every day since May 16. The Mets (87-72) were ahead by seven games on Sept. 12 with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of their last 14, a monumental tailspin for a team that counted on being in the playoffs.

Phillies 6, Braves 4

At Philadelphia, Ryan Howard hit his 44th homer, Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up John Smoltz before hanging on for a victory over Atlanta.

Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira hit consecutive homers for the Braves, who were mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

While the Phillies celebrated their 11th win in 14 games, a crowd of 40,589 cheered wildly and waved their white-and-red "Fightin' Phils" towels.

Marlins 6, Cubs 4

At Miami, struggling to avert another collapse, Chicago stranded 10 runners and lost to last-place Florida for the third game in a row.

Chicago remained two games in front of Milwaukee, which lost 9-5 to San Diego.

The Cubs' magic number for clinching the Central division fell to two. They were scheduled to begin the regular season with a three-game series at Cincinnati beginning yesterday.

Florida beat Chicago for the 10th straight game over two seasons, the longest active streak between major league teams.

Padres 9, Brewers 5

At Milwaukee, Milwaukee made five errors, its most in eight years and Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking three-run double to lead San Diego.

While San Diego (88-71) maintained its one-game lead in the NL wild-card race and stayed one game back of Arizona in the NL West, the Brewers (81-78) failed for the second straight day to take advantage of a Chicago loss. The Cubs (83-76) lead the NL Central by two games with just three games remaining.

Padres starting pitcher Jack Cassel was chased after four innings as Milwaukee closed to 5-2. Joe Thatcher (2-1) relieved with the bases loaded and retired Prince Fielder on a grounder, then pitched a perfect sixth.

Diamondbacks 8, Pirates 0

At Pittsburgh, last-minute replacement Micah Owings pitched six innings and went 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs to help Arizona stop a three-game losing streak.

Owings (8-8) allowed four hits, struck out four and walked none.

He hit an RBI double during a three-run second against John Van Benschoten (0-7), then added a two-run double in the seventh off Romulo Sanchez.

Rockies 10, Dodgers 4

At Los Angeles, Garrett Atkins had four hits including a home run and Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton also homered as Colorado beat Los Angeles to sweep a three-game series and extend its franchise-record winning streak to 11 games.

Hawpe had three hits and four RBIs for the Rockies, who trail first-place Arizona in the NL West by two games and are one game behind San Diego in the wild-card race along with Philadelphia and the New York Mets.

The Rockies and Diamondbacks were set to open a season-ending three-game series in Colorado yesterday. Should the Rockies sweep, they will either clinch a postseason berth or qualify for a tiebreaking game to determine the division winner or wild-card team.

Astros 4, Reds 3

At Cincinnati, Carlos Lee's RBI single in the ninth inning broke a tie as Houston completed a three-game sweep of Cincinnati.

Ty Wigginton doubled off the wall in left field with one out against Gary Majewski (0-4) and he scored on Lee's single to left. Lee went to second on the throw home and advanced to third on Majewski's throwing error before scoring on Eric Bruntlett's single.

Cincinnati right-hander Matt Belisle was perfect through six innings but he couldn't help the Reds avoid being swept by the Astros in a three-game series in Cincinnati for the first time since 2004.
This story has been viewed 777 times.