The New York Yankees clinched an American League wild-card spot on Thursday night, ending a two-year absence from the post-season by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
Carlos Beltran and rookies Greg Bird and Rob Refsnyder all homered for the Yankees in the club’s 10,000th regular-season win.
Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees open the playoffs with a winner-take-all game on Tuesday. Houston lead the race for the second AL wild-card spot.
Photo: AFP
New York had failed to reach the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since its 1982-1993 drought, just before the start of a golden age that included five World Series titles and seven AL pennants from 1996 to 2009 for the now-retired Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
The Texas Rangers also clinched a wild-card spot and moved to the cusp of the AL West title, with Adrian Beltre’s three-run double backing pitcher Derek Holland in a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
The Rangers (87-72), in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 after a 95-loss season, are a win or a Houston loss away from their first division title since winning two straight and going to the World Series in 2010-2011.
The Angels are a game behind the Astros and tied with Minnesota for the second wild-card slot.
The AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays rested their regulars a day after clinching the division title as Manny Machado homered twice in the Baltimore Orioles’ 6-4 win.
The game was delayed by rain for nearly three-and-a-half hours.
Minnesota pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez scored from third base off a wild pitch and Torii Hunter hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 and moved a little closer to an AL wild-card spot.
Facing a crushing loss, the Twins scored a run in the eighth to tie it and then two unearned runs in the ninth off Cody Allen (2-5). Theym are tied with the Angels, one game behind Houston for the second wild-card berth with three games left.
In Philadelphia, Jerad Eickhoff struck out 10 batters in seven innings and Darin Ruf hit a two-run homer as the Phillies beat the National League East champion New York Mets 3-0 to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mets have a one-game lead over the Dodgers for home-field advantage in their division series next week.
The Chicago Cubs kept alive their slim hopes for home-field advantage in the NL wild-card game after Austin Jackson hit a three-run homer and Anthony Rizzo added an RBI double in a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Cubs moved within two games of idle Pittsburgh in the race for home field in Wednesday’s NL wild-card playoff game. The Reds lost their 12th in a row.
San Francisco pitcher Brett Anderson gave up four hits in 7-2/3 innings as the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up their road schedule with a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
In other games, Jonny Gomes drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 to move into a tie with Toronto for the AL’s best record, the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Miami Marlins 4-1 for a three-game sweep, the Washington Nationals blanked the Atlanta Braves 3-0, the San Diego Padres defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 8-6 winners over the Colorado Rockies.
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