Ibanez latest hero in the Bronx…Another walkoff win in Oakland…Giants all square with Reds…Cards gain edge

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees are one game away from eliminating the Baltimore Orioles and moving onto the American League Championship Series. Raul Ibanez had a big hand in that.

The 40-year-old veteran connected for a game-tying home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth and then a walkoff homer that ended the Yanks’ 3-2 win over the Orioles in 12 innings.

Ibanez entered the game pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, and manager Joe Girardi’s strategy paid off. The game-tying homer came off Jim Johnson, the major league leader with 51 saves in the regular season. He then connected for his game-winner off Brian Matusz (MAHT’-his) to send Yankee Stadium into delirium.

Coming in, the Orioles were 76-0 this year when leading after seven innings. They had also won 16 extra-inning games.

Ryan Flaherty and 20-year-old rookie Manny Machedo hit solo homers off Hiroki Kuroda for the Orioles.

Game four is Thursday in Yankee Stadium. Either Joe Saunders or Chris Tillman will go for the Orioles against Yankee 16-game winner Phil Hughes.

In Oakland, the Athletics produced their 15th walkoff victory of the season by rallying with three runs in the bottom of the ninth to edge the Detroit Tigers 4-3 to even their AL Division Series at two games apiece.

The Tigers entered the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead and their ace closer Jose Valverde on the mound. But Seth Smith tied the game with a two-run double. Coco Crisp then delivered the game-winning single to climax the three-run rally.

This AL Division Series will be decided Thursday night when the Tigers send out their ace 17-game winner Justin Verlander to try and halt their two-game losing streak.

In Cincinnati, the San Francisco Giants clubbed three home runs and Tim Lincecum picked up a rare win out of the bullpen as the Giants pounded Cincinnati 8-3 to even that series at two games apiece.

Angel Pagan homered on the second pitch of the game. Pablo Sandoval and Gregor Blanco added two-run homers. Lincecum earned the win with four and a-third innings of one-run ball, striking out six.

The Reds started Mike Leake, who wasn’t on the original postseason roster. He lasted 4 1/3 innings and was touched for five runs. Before the game the Reds were given permission by Major League Baseball to drop injured ace Johnny Cueto from their division series roster and replace him with Leake. Cueto is sidelined for the rest of the playoffs.

Game 5 is Thursday in Cincinnati. The Giants are starting Matt Cain, who had a perfect game this season, against Mat Latos of the Reds.

The Giants can make baseball history today. According to STATS LLC, no team has recovered from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series by winning three on the road, but the Giants have a shot to do exactly that.

In Washington, it may have been only his fourth game this season, but Chris Carpenter showed again he’s a big game pitcher.

The right-hander worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings and got offensive support from Pete Kozma’s three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Washington Nationals 8-0 in Game 3 of their NL Division Series. Carpenter missed much of the season after surgery to cure numbness on his right side. Three relievers finished the seven-hit shutout and helped the Redbirds take a 2-1 series lead.

Edwin Jackson took the loss giving up four runs on eight hits over five innings. Nats hitters went 0-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners. Rookie slugger Bryce Harper went 0-5 and is 1-15 in the series.

This was Washington’s first postseason home game since 1933. Game 4 is in Washington with 16-game winner Kyle Lohse (lohsh) going for St. Louis against southpaw Ross Detwiler in a must-win game for the Nats.

Packers RB Benson goes on IR, could still return…RG3 gets the green light

UNDATED (AP) — In another blow to Green Bay’s struggling offense, Packers running back Cedric Benson was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, but designated to return.

Benson sprained his left foot in Sunday’s 30-27 loss at Indianapolis. He must sit out eight games before he can return, though he’s eligible to practice after six weeks.

In other NFL news:

— Robert Griffin III has been cleared to play and is practicing with his Washington Redskins teammates after suffering a mild concussion. Griffin went through the NFL’s concussion protocol after being knocked out of Sunday’s game against Atlanta and was cleared to return to practice. The second overall pick in April’s draft is set to start Sunday against Minnesota.

— Jets owner Woody Johnson says backup quarterback Tim Tebow will “be with us for three years.” Appearing on CNBC, Johnson also said he supports struggling starter Mark Sanchez. Johnson said that despite some speculation that the Jets could try to trade Tebow after this season, his first in New York, the team will “absolutely” keep him for the duration of his contract.

— The Buffalo Bills’ already porous defense has suffered another blow as defensive end Mark Anderson needs surgery on his left knee and will be out indefinitely.

Little progress as talks resume

NEW YORK (AP) — Five hours of talks in two sessions between the NHL and the players’ association have done little to move the sides closer to a deal in the nearly one-month lockout.

The NHL’s top two executives — Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly — met with the NHLPA’s main negotiators — executive director Donald Fehr and special counsel Steve Fehr — for nearly an hour in the morning to assess where the sides were on Day 25 of the NHL lockout, but there was no concrete discussions on the troublesome core economic issues preventing a deal.

A four-hour session that stretched into evening centered on player health and safety issues along with other miscellaneous legal topics.

The sides will meet again today, which would have been Opening Night for the NHL.

The NHL canceled the first two weeks of the regular season Thursday, wiping out 82 games from Oct. 11-24.

NCAA upholds sanctions

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The NCAA is standing by a decision that Boise State must lower the number of football scholarships it can award in the next two years. The decision comes after Boise State officials appealed the scholarship penalty included in a series of sanctions handed down earlier this year by the NCAA. As part of the penalty package, the NCAA ordered the school to cut football scholarships from 85 to 82 in each of the next two years.

In their appeal, school officials argued the penalty levied against Boise State was inconsistent when compared to past cases.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 3 Baltimore 2, 12 Innings
Oakland 4 Detroit 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 8 Washington 0
San Francisco 8 Cincinnati 3

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Detroit 101 Toronto 99
Minnesota 84 Indiana 70
Houston 107 Oklahoma City 105
San Antonio 101 Atlanta 99
Sacramento 102 Phoenix 96
Portland 93 L-A Lakers 75