AMERICAN LEAGUE
Jorge Posada came off the bench and helped the Yankees to yet another first-place finish with a go-ahead single in the eighth inning as New York swept the Tampa Bay Rays by identical 4-2 scores in a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday to win the American League East.
Accomplishing most of their regular-season goals with a week to spare, the Yankees earned their 16th playoff berth in 17 seasons by winning the day game behind Robinson Cano’s tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth.
Photo: Reuters
For the Rays, it was a damaging day as they missed a chance to move up on Boston in the AL wild-card race. The Red Sox lost to Baltimore 6-4, but still extended their lead over Tampa Bay to two games. The Los Angeles Angels also are two games behind.
ORIOLES 6, RED SOX 4
At Boston, the Red Sox blew another late lead and lost for the 14th time in 18 games, booed by fans at Fenway Park after Vladimir Guerrero and Baltimore rallied.
Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health
Photo: Reuters
Despite the loss, Boston’s lead over Tampa Bay for the AL wild-card spot increased to two games. The Rays were swept by the New York Yankees in a day-night doubleheader.
Ace Josh Beckett took the mound, hoping to put some distance between Boston and the Rays. Beckett (13-6) allowed just one hit through five innings as the Red Sox built a 4-1 lead.
But Beckett allowed a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh on Mark Reynolds’ second homer that leveled the game.
MARINERS 5, TWINS 4
At Minneapolis, Ichiro Suzuki stopped Kevin Slowey’s no-hitter with a two-out infield single in the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh, spurring Seattle to a victory in Minnesota, the 11th straight defeat for the Twins.
This is the third-longest losing streak in Minnesota’s 51-season history, behind a 14-game skid in 1982 and 13 in a row in 1961, the first year after the franchise moved from Washington. The Twins (59-95) need two more wins to top their worst finish in Minnesota, 60-102 in 1982.
Brandon League, who escaped a ninth-inning, no-out, bases-loaded situation to preserve the win the night before, gave up a two-out RBI single to Trevor Plouffe before retiring Brian Dinkelman on a roller in front of the plate with two runners on.
WHITE SOX 8, INDIANS 4
At Cleveland, Mark Buehrle bounced back from a poor outing and pitched six effective innings to lead Chicago past Cleveland.
Buehrle (12-9) gave up two runs and four hits. He had gone 0-3 with an 11.74 ERA in three previous September starts, allowing 33 hits in only 15-1/3 innings.
Buehrle’s skid included a career-worst 15 hits in 6-1/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to Kansas City last Thursday. The left-hander left after being hit in the left arm by a line drive off the bat of Alcides Escobar.
Alejandro De Aza hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3) in a three-run seventh. Chicago added four runs on three homers off reliever Chad Durbin in the eighth.
In other games on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Angels 7, Blue Jays 2
‧ Tigers 6, Royals 3
‧ Rangers 3, Athletics 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, PHOENIX
Miguel Montero had a two-run homer among his three hits as the Arizona Diamondbacks jumped on the Pittsburgh Pirates early in an 8-5 win on Wednesday that cut their magic number for clinching the National League West to two.
A day after stranding 11 runners in a loss to Pittsburgh, the Diamondbacks put pressure on the Pirates from the start, setting a team record with four stolen bases while scoring three runs off Russ Ohlendorf (1-3) in the first inning.
Arizona added five more runs in the third inning with two-run hits by Aaron Hill and Ryan Roberts, giving Wade Miley (4-2) more than enough run support.
Derrek Lee homered and drove in two runs, and Ryan Ludwick added a solo shot for Pittsburgh, which has lost 10 of 14.
CARDINALS 6, METS 5
At St Louis, David Freese drove in five runs with a triple and a three-run homer as St Louis beat New York.
The Cardinals have won four straight and 12 of 14 to move within one game of Atlanta in the National League wild-card race. St Louis, a season-high 17 over .500 (86-69), has seven games left and would go for a sweep of the Mets yesterday.
The Mets fell to 73-82, ensuring the third straight losing season for the big-spending ballclub that has been plagued by injuries and off-field financial woes.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 0
At Miami, Javier Vazquez allowed only two hits in seven innings on Wednesday against his former team as Florida played the spoiler’s role by beating Atlanta.
The Braves, who lost for the 13th time in their past 20 games, saw their lead over the St Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card race fall to one game. The Cardinals were 10 games back on Aug. 25.
For the third start in a row, Vazquez (12-11) did not allow a run. He extended his streak of scoreless innings to 25, a Marlins record for a starter.
Leo Nunez walked two in the ninth before retiring Heyward to complete a two-hitter. It was the ninth time the Braves have been shut out.
CUBS 7, BREWERS 1
At Chicago, Matt Garza pitched a six-hitter and Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer as Chicago prolonged Milwaukee’s drive to clinch the NL Central, beating the Brewers in the final game at Wrigley Field this season.
The Brewers’ magic number for winning the division title and closing out St Louis remained at three. Garza (9-10) allowed just an unearned run and struck out 10.
DJ LeMahieu broke a 1-1 tie with two-out, two-run double in the fifth off Randy Wolfe (13-10).
In other games on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Reds 2, Astros 0
‧ Padres 4, Rockies 0
‧ Nationals 7, Phillies 5
‧ Giants 8, Dodgers 5
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS