AMERICAN LEAGUE
Scott Baker scattered four singles over seven shutout innings, pitching the Twins past the Kansas City Royals 6-0 on Sunday to preserve Minnesota’s half-game lead in the American League Central.
The White Sox snapped their five-game losing streak by beating Cleveland 5-1, pushing the season into an extra day.
PHOTO: AFP
Yesterday, Detroit visits Chicago for a makeup game. If the White Sox (87-74) win, they’ll host the Twins today in a one-game playoff to determine the division title and the first-round opponent for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Delmon Young’s two-run single and Joe Mauer’s two-run triple gave Baker (11-4) some extra insurance, and relievers Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan finished the final two innings to give Minnesota an 88-74 record — far exceeding almost every forecast.
WHITE SOX 5, INDIANS 1
At Chicago, Mark Buehrle won on three days’ rest, Paul Konerko hit his fourth homer in three games and Jermaine Dye had a two-run single to lead Chicago past Cleveland.
Buehrle (15-12), coming off a 121-pitch outing, made his third start on short rest this season and his second this month. He allowed one run and nine hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one, throwing 111 pitches.
Chicago backed him with four double plays, and Indians third baseman Jamey Carroll made a key error that allowed the go-ahead run to score in a three-run second inning.
Jhonny Peralta’s second-inning homer put Cleveland ahead. But Bryan Bullington (0-2), starting because 22-game winner Cliff Lee was scratched with a stiff neck, couldn’t hold it.YANKEES 6, RED SOX 2, 1ST GAME
RED SOX 4, NY 3, 10 INNINGS, 2ND GAME
At Boston, Mike Mussina became the oldest pitcher to win 20 games in a season for the first time, reaching the milestone in the opener of a day-night doubleheader between New York and Boston.
The playoff-bound Red Sox won the second game on Jonathan Van Every’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the 10th off Jose Veras (5-3). Devern Hansack (1-0) pitched the 10th for the win as Boston prevented the Yankees (89-73) from reaching 90 wins for the seventh straight season.
Mussina won his final three starts, allowing one run over 16 innings. His previous high for wins came in 1995 and 1996, when he won 19 games each year for Baltimore.
New York finished five games back of the wild-card Red Sox and missed the postseason for the first time since 1993.
ANGELS 7, RANGERS 0
At Anaheim, California, the Angels posted their team-record 100th win, with Joe Saunders pitching six sharp innings and Mike Napoli homering in their final postseason tuneup.
The Angels (100-62) take baseball’s best record into the first round of the playoffs against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox beginning tomorrow in Anaheim.
The Angels became the first major league team since the 2005 St. Louis Cardinals to reach 100 wins, and the first AL team to do so since the 2004 New York Yankees.
Saunders (17-7) tuned up for the playoffs by allowing two hits, striking out a career-high nine and walking none. The All-Star lefty improved to 3-0 in his last four starts.
RAYS 8, TIGERS 7, 11 INNINGS
At Detroit, Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead single in a four-run eighth and had a solo homer in the 11th, lifting the playoff-bound Tampa Bay to a win over Detroit.
Rays manager Joe Maddon said he would start right-hander James Shields, who started and threw only an inning Sunday, or lefty Scott Kazmir in the first two games of the ALDS, but he would not say who would be on the mound for Game 1.
Edwin Jackson (14-11) gave up two runs and four hits over two innings. Jason Hammell had his seconds save in as many opportunities.
BLUE JAYS 10, ORIOLES 1
At Baltimore, Vernon Wells went 4-for-4, homered twice and had five RBIs as Toronto trounced Baltimore.
MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 3
At Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and scored the decisive run for Seattle over Oakland.
The reloaded Mariners expected to win the AL West this season, or at least make the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Instead, they fired their manager and general manager, became the first team with a US$100 million payroll to lose 100 games and endured their worst season (61-101) since losing 102 games in 1983.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin
CC Sabathia pitched a four-hitter and Ryan Braun hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, leading the Milwaukee Brewers over the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Sunday and into the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
The Brewers, who fired manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left to go, won the National League wild card less than a half-hour later when the New York Mets lost to Florida 4-2. Milwaukee (90-72) and New York (89-73) went into the final day of the regular season tied.
The Brewers will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs will play the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sabathia (11-2) pitched his NL-leading seventh complete game — those came in just 17 starts after the Brewers got the big lefty in July from Cleveland. The only run he allowed was unearned after an error by first baseman Prince Fielder, and he finished with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers.
The Brewers couldn’t get much going offensively until Braun’s towering two-run homer off Bob Howry (7-5) broke a 1-all tie.
MARLINS 4, METS 2
At New York, Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning that put Florida ahead, and New York missed the playoffs after another slide this month and a loss in the final game at Shea Stadium.
It was an eerily similar scenario to last year, when New York lost at home to Florida on the final day of season, ending their playoff hopes.
Pinch-hitter Wes Helms homered off Schoeneweis (2-6) to start the eighth, snapping a 2-all tie. Dan Uggla connected against Ayala.
Joe Nelson (3-1) struck out two in a perfect seventh and Lindstrom earned his fifth save.
PHILLIES 8, NATIONALS 3
At Philadelphia, Lou Marson and Matt Stairs hit back-to-back homers for the NL East-champion Philadelphia, which rested its regulars in a win over Washington.
Cole Hamels was scheduled to pitch, but took the day off to rest for his Game 1 start in the division series tomorrow. Manager Charlie Manuel said he was undecided about his Game 2 starter and might wait until yesterday to announce one.
In other games, it was:
■ Giants 3, Dodgers 1
■ Astros 3, Braves 1
■ Cardinals 11, Reds 4
■ Diamondbacks 2, Rockies 1
■ Pirates 6, Padres 1
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB