MAJOR LEAGUES
The Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins both won their Major League Baseball regular-season finales on Sunday to remain deadlocked for the last vacant berth in the championship playoffs.
After a six-month regular season, the Tigers and the Twins each finished level atop the American League Central Division at 86-76, setting up a one-game tie-breaker today at Minnesota to decide which will qualify for the playoffs.
PHOTO: EPA
Ryan Raburn hit two home runs and Magglio Ordonez added a solo homer to give Detroit a 5-3 home victory over the Chicago White Sox, while the Twins defeated Kansas City 13-4 to keep pace after pulling even with Detroit on Saturday.
Either the Tigers or the Twins will face the New York Yankees in the first round of the American League playoffs, while the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels meet in the other American League first-round series.
The Yankees will have an hour after the conclusion of the tie-breaker to decide whether they will host the winner in Game 1 of the best-of-five opening round of the playoffs tomorrow or on Thursday.
That could give the Tigers-Twins winner short notice to collect themselves and get to Yankee Stadium should New York decide for an opener tomorrow.
The Yankees decision will also dictate whether the Angels-Red Sox opener in Los Angeles will be tomorrow or on Thursday.
The National League playoffs start tomorrow, pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against St Louis in the first round, while the reigning World Series champions the Philadelphia Phillies face the Colorado Rockies.
Minnesota could become the first team in baseball history to trail by three games with four to play and win a division crown, while the Tigers, who have led the American League Central since May 10, risk an epic last-week collapse.
The tie-breaker was pushed back a day later than usual because the Twins, who won the right to host the Tigers by winning more games this season between the clubs, play in the same domed stadium as the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, who entertained their arch-rivals Green Bay last night.
It could be the final baseball game in the Metrodome, which has been the home of the Twins for 28 seasons. The Twins will move into a new open-air ballpark next season, leaving the Metrodome to the Vikings.
The Twins lost a tie-breaker for the American League Central crown last year, falling 1-0 to hosts the Chicago White Sox.
■YANKEES 10, RAYS 2
AFP, ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Alex Rodriguez smacked two home runs and drove in an American League-record seven runs during a 10-run sixth inning for the New York Yankees on Sunday in a 10-2 victory over Tampa Bay.
The Yankees finished the six-month Major League Baseball regular season with the sport’s best record at 103-59, the team’s best one-season mark since 2002.
“A-Rod” smashed a three-run homer off Rays pitcher Wade Davis in the sixth to put the Yankees ahead for good and added an 18th career Grand Slam later in the inning, after Mark Teixiera was walked to load the bases.
Rodriguez matched Mark McGwire for eighth on Major League Baseball’s all-time home run list with 583. He had at least 30 homers and 100 runs batted in for the 12th season in a row, despite missing a month with a hip injury.
The Yankees set a one-season club record with 244 homers, breaking by two the old mark set in 2004. The Yankees belted 136 homers at their new US$1.5 billion ballpark in its inaugural season.
Sunday’s other American League results:
• Reds Sox 12, Indians 7
• Angels 5, Athletics 3
• Mariners 4, Rangers 3
• Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4, 11 inns
Sunday’s National League results:
• Phillies 7, Marlins 6
• Dodgers 5, Rockies 3
• Nationals 2, Braves 1, 15 inns
• Giants 4, Padres 3, 10 inns
• Brewers 9, Cardinals 7, 10 inns
• Mets 4, Astros 0
• Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 2
• Reds 6, Pirates 0
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