Still in limbo in the AL East and West
UNDATED (AP) — Nothing is settled yet in the American League East. It will come down to the final day of the regular season — and maybe even require a one-game playoff on Thursday.
— Raul Ibanez hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth and then delivered a game-winning single in the 12th as the New York Yankees beat Boston 4-3. The Yanks retained their one-game lead over Baltimore entering tonight’s regular-season finale.
— Chris Davis homered for the sixth straight game and the Baltimore Orioles overcame a club-record 15 strikeouts by James Shields to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0. If the Orioles win and the Yanks lose tonight, those teams will meet in a one-game playoff Thursday in Baltimore to decide which wins the division and which goes in as the wild card.
— There will be a one-game winner-take-the-AL-West game today between Oakland and Texas. Travis Blackley allowed one run over six innings that helped the Athletics move into a first-place tie in the AL West with Texas and set up a one-game showdown for the division title with a 3-1 victory over the Rangers last night. The winner gets the division title. The loser goes in as the wild card.
In the rest of the AL:
— Miguel Cabrera had two hits and drove in two runs before leaving in the fifth inning, and the K.C. Royals rallied to beat his AL Central champion Tigers 4-2.
— Jason Donald singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Cleveland Indians over the Chicago White Sox 4-3
— Chad Jenkins earned his first major league win, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3.
— Kyle Seager became the first Seattle batter to hit 20 home runs in a season since 2009 with a solo shot in the first inning and the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-1.
Over in the NL:
— The Washington Nationals helped their chances for best record in the league by winning their 97th game, 4-2 over Philadelphia. Adam LaRoche hit his career-best 33rd home run and reached the 100 RBI mark.
— San Francisco eliminated the L.A. Dodgers from the wild card chase with a 4-3 victory. The Dodgers came up short in the ninth when Mark Ellis flied out with the tying run on second base.
— The Cincinnati Reds kept pace with the Nationals by beating St. Louis 3-1, but the Cards still clinched the final wild card berth when the Dodgers lost. Mat Latos won his fourth straight decision to finish the regular season and Scott Rolen homered.
— Kevin Correia pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Garrett Jones homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates won consecutive games for the first time in four weeks, beating the Atlanta Braves 5-1.
— New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey failed in his bid to win his 21st game and gave up two homers in his final start of a Cy Young-hopeful season and the Mets lost to the Miami Marlins in 11 innings 4-3.
— Rookie Martin Maldonado hit a grand slam and the Milwaukee Brewers used 10 newcomers in beating the San Diego Padres 4-3.
— Bud Norris pitched six shutout innings, Jason Castro homered and Houston beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 in a matchup of 100-loss teams.
Cabrera won’t back into crown
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Cabrera won’t back into the Triple Crown.
The Detroit third baseman plans to start the final game of the regular season today as he stalks the first Triple Crown in 45 years.
Now, though, the spotlight shifts squarely to the broad shoulders of Cabrera, who started at third base in last night’s 4-2 loss at Kansas City. He had a pair of singles and drove in two runs in his first two at-bats before flying out to right and leaving the game in the fifth inning.
Cabrera leads the American League in batting average (.331), homers (44) and RBIs (139) — the Triple Crown, last achieved by Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
Greenberg gets his chance…Mariners moving fences in
UNDATED (AP) — Adam Greenberg’s second major league plate appearance went a lot better than the first one, even though he struck out.
Returning to the big leagues seven years after he was beaned, Greenberg fanned on three pitches Tuesday night as a pinch-hitter for the Miami Marlins.
Greenberg signed a one-day contract before the game and batted leading off the sixth inning against New York Mets 20-game winner R.A. Dickey.
After Greenberg received a standing ovation from the modest crowd and his teammates, Dickey threw him three consecutive knuckleballs. Greenberg took the first for a strike, then swung at the next two and missed.
The game was Greenberg’s first since his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2005, when he was hit in the back of the head by the first pitch he saw — a 92 mph fastball that derailed his career.
He suffered from vertigo and never moved any higher than the Double-A level in the minors after the incident.
In other baseball news:
— The Seattle Mariners are moving the fences in at Safeco Field. The biggest change will be in the power alley in left-center where the fence is coming in some 17 feet. Safeco has been one of the stingiest fields in the majors for allowing home runs.
— Outspoken closer Chris Perez thinks the Indians need a more intense manager and better players. Perez said that Cleveland’s second-half collapse was embarrassing and the laid-back approach of former manager Manny Acta didn’t help. The Indians went 5-24 in August, which Perez called “pathetic — in all aspects.”
— Los Angeles Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson will have elbow surgery after the regular season to remove bone spurs. He went 13-10 this season with a 3.83 ERA.
— Chicago White Sox slugger Paul Konerko says he will have surgery on his left wrist to remove a bone fragment.
AP source: Jets’ Holmes could miss rest of season
UNDATED (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes has a Lisfranc injury to his left foot, likely leaving the team’s struggling offense without their top playmaker for the rest of the season.
Holmes went down on the first play of the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday after catching a pass. X-rays on the foot were negative, but subsequent MRI exam results were sent to a foot specialist in North Carolina. Results of that exam confirmed the Jets’ worst fears.
In other NFL news:
— Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says it’s a “safe assessment” that injured stars Rashard Mendenhall, James Harrison and Troy Polamalu will be available Sunday when the 1-2 Steelers host the 3-1 Eagles in the battle for Pennsylvania. The Steelers are looking to avoid their first ever 1-3 start since Tomlin took over in 2007.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 4 Boston 3, 12 Innings
Cleveland 4 Chi White Sox 3, 12 Innings
Toronto 4 Minnesota 3
Baltimore 1 Tampa Bay 0
Kansas City 4 Detroit 2
Oakland 3 Texas 1
Seattle 6 L.A. Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 5 Atlanta 1
Washington 4 Philadelphia 2
Miami 4 N-Y Mets 3, 11 Innings
Houston 3 Chi Cubs 0
Milwaukee 4 San Diego 3
Cincinnati 3 St. Louis 1
Arizona 5 Colorado 3
San Francisco 4 L.A. Dodgers 3