The North Platte Community College Lady Knights split a double-header at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium last night. In their first match, they fell to Northeastern Junior College in four sets (19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25). They rebounded in the nightcap and snapped a five-match losing streak with a four-set victory over McCook Community College (25-13, 25-10, 14-25, 8-25). Whitney Smith led the Lady Knights with 16 kills in the loss to the Plainswomen. Sandrina Hallahan’s 13 kills led the winning effort against the Indians. The Lady Knights are now 11-12 on the season. They play at a quad at Doane College on Sunday.

The Colorado Rockies ended a sour season on a high note. DJ LeMahieu’s RBI single in the fourth inning proved to be the winning run in a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies scored both their runs in the fourth, thanks to a Diamondback error and LeMahieu’s hit. Jeff Francis pitched five strong innings to earn the victory, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out three. Matt Belisle recorded the final out as the last of six relief pitchers used by the Rockies. The Rockies had ten hits on the night, with Jordan Pacheco and Jonathan Herrera recording three apiece and LeMahieu chipping in two. The victory means the Rockies finish their season with a record of 64-98, the worst record in franchise history by three games. That gives them the third worst record in all of Major League Baseball.

NBA sets flopping penalties; players may be fined 

Two division titles up for grabs

UNDATED (AP) — This is the last day of the regular season in Major League Baseball and two of the six divisions are still undecided.

In the American League East, the Yankees start the day with a one game lead over the Orioles. If New York loses to Boston tonight and the Orioles beat the Rays, then the O’s and Yankees would end the season tied for the championship. Under that scenario, a one-game playoff would take place in Baltimore tomorrow with the loser then playing in the wild-card game Friday against the loser of tonight’s Oakland-Texas game.

Entering this evening’s game in Oakland, the Athletics and Rangers are tied for first place in the AL West. Oakland has won the first two games of the three-game series. The winner takes the division title while the loser settles for a wild card berth.

Depending how things turn out this evening, the Yankees, Orioles, Rangers or Athletics could wind up with the best record in the American League.

Either Cincinnati or Washington will finish with the best mark in the National League. Both the Reds and Nationals are 97-64 with Cincy playing St. Louis this evening and the Nationals at home to Philadelphia this afternoon. The Reds need a win and Washington loss to get home-field advantage through the postseason because the Nats won the season series.

Despite all the excitement surrounding those games, all eyes in baseball will be on Kansas City tonight as Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera attempts to win the American League Triple Crown. Entering the final game, he leads the AL in home runs with 44, batting average at .331 and runs batted in with 139. He leads the RBI tally by a considerable margin and it would take a wild night for him to lose the batting title. The possible stumbling block could be home runs as Josh Hamilton of the Rangers has 43.

Just in case you are wondering, if Cabrera ends the season tied in any category, it would still count as the Triple Crown.

Boston great Carl Yastrzemski was the last man to win a Triple Crown, back in 1967.

In a final note regarding a game tonight, Jered Weaver of the Angels is going for his 21st win of the season as LA is in Seattle to face the Mariners. Weaver is 20-4 on the season with a sterling 2.73 earned run average. He’s 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts against the Mariners this season.

The 2012 post season begins Friday with the two Wild Card games. We know in the National League that the Braves will be playing host to the Cardinals.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas at Oakland 2:35 p.m.
L.A. Angels at Seattle 5:40 p.m.
Boston at N-Y Yankees 6:05 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Cleveland 6:05 p.m.
Minnesota at Toronto 6:07 p.m.
Baltimore at Tampa Bay 6:10 p.m.
Detroit at Kansas City 7:10 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta at Pittsburgh 11:35 a.m.
Philadelphia at Washington 12:05 p.m.
Houston at Chi Cubs 1:20 p.m.
N-Y Mets at Miami 3:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona 6:10 p.m.
San Francisco at L.A. Dodgers 6:15 p.m.
San Diego at Milwaukee 7:10 p.m.
Cincinnati at St. Louis 7:15 p.m.

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

The Colorado Rockies snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their penultimate game of the season. Rafael Betancourt blew his second save in as many nights as the Rockies fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 in Phoenix. The Rockies took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning on a two-run double by Jordan Pacheco. But Betancourt couldn’t secure the final out, allowing back-to-back hits with two outs in the ninth, the second of which was a walk-off three-run home run by Aaron Hill. Jhoulys Chacin pitched five innings of shutout ball for the Rockies, but had to settle for the no-decision. Offensively, Pacheco, Tyler Colvin, DJ LeMahieu and Jonathan Herrera has two hits apiece. The Rockies wrap up their miserable regular season tonight with one final game against the Diamondbacks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10.

Tonight on ESPN Radio 1410, it’s North Platte Community College volleyball. The Lady Knights host Northeastern Junior College and McCook Community College at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. North Platte has lost a pair of matches to NJC this season but claims two wins in two tries over McCook. The Lady Knights haven’t played since going 0-4 at the Johnson County Invite in Kansas back on September 22. The match against NJC starts at 4 PM, with the match against McCook scheduled for a 7 PM start. ESPN Radio 1410’s coverage will start at 3:45.

Nebraska’s defense has made steady improvement in each of the last three weeks. But they’ll be tested this Saturday by perhaps the best quarterback they’ll face all season. Ohio State’s Braxton Miller had his way with the Husker defense last season before an ankle injury caused him to leave the game and opened the door for Nebraska’s comeback win over the Buckeyes in Lincoln. Huskers defensive coordinator John Papuchis says Miller is an even greater threat this time around. Miller has passed for 933 yards and rushed for 577 more in Ohio State’s first five games, all victories. The Huskers face Miller and the Buckeyes Saturday night at 7 PM.

To listen to John Papuchis’ post-practice comments, click play below: