Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one hit in 6-2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Blue Jays 4-0 to tie Toronto for the first AL wild-card berth.
The Orioles took the rubber match of the three-game series in Toronto after the Blue Jays took the opener. Baltimore’s victory eliminated the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees from wild-card contention.
The Yankees’ already dim hopes were extinguished despite a 5-1 victory over the Red Sox in New York.
Photo: Nick Turchiaro, USA TODAY
CC Sabathia pitched 7-1/3 effective innings, finishing his eighth season with the Yankees by allowing one run and four hits. He struck out the first four hitters, eight overall and threw 105 pitches.
One of Sabathia’s strikeouts came against David Ortiz, who was 0-for-1 with a walk in his final game against the Yankees.
Ortiz, retiring after this season, was lifted for pinch runner Brock Holt after drawing a walk in the fourth and exited to mild applause, mostly from the Red Sox fans in the crowd after getting a standing ovation before his first at-bat.
The Yankees had honored their longtime nemesis in a brief ceremony — one that Ortiz said he appreciated, even if it felt strange to be feted at Yankee Stadium.
That was just one oddity on a night that saw the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates play to a rare tie.
They were level at 1-1 in Pittsburgh after 4-1/2 innings when rain washed out the remainder of the Pirates’ final home game of the season.
The St Louis Cardinals kept their bid for a NL wild-card berth going in controversial fashion, rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Reds on Yadier Molina’s two-out run-batted-in double in the bottom of the ninth inning.
With Matt Carpenter on base, Molina belted a 2-0 pitch to left field and the ball appeared to bounce off a sign behind the wall — which would have made it a dead ball. However, the ball was ruled in play and Carpenter scored from first.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two