Sunday American League Capsules.
MLB Baseball NewsSunday American League Capsules.
NY YANKEES 7, BALTIMORE 3
BRONX, New York While Babe Ruth famously built Yankee Stadium, it was Jose Molina who closed it down.
Molina belted the go-ahead, two-run homer as the New York Yankees pulled the curtain on their 85-year-old ballpark with an emotional 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
In possibly his final home start for the team, Andy Pettitte (14-14) hurled five innings for the Yankees, who played the final regular-season game at their historic park, where they won 26 world championships as tenants. The lefthander yielded three runs – two earned – and seven hits while striking out three and walking one.
Mariano Rivera, a star relief pitcher in all four of the teams most recent world championships, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning as the fans chanted his name and cameras flashed.
To snap a 3-3 tie in a game that was almost an after-thought, Molina clubbed a towering homer to left-center field – the final blast at the House that Ruth Built – off rookie lefthander Chris Waters (3-4), who allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
The homer was just the 19th of Molinas career, a stark contrast to the teams first great home-run hitter, Ruth, who is third all-time with 714 career blasts.
This season, however, will not send the Stadium out with yet another title like those won by Ruth and his teammates.
Playoffs hopes are strictly mathematical for New York (85-71), which would be eliminated from contention with a loss or one win by the American League wild card-leading Boston Red Sox (91-64) in the final week. The Yankees end the season with a three-game series against the arch-rival Red Sox.
But that didnt stem the excitement at the Stadium, which was sent off with much pomp and circumstance. Captain Derek Jeter made a final speech, imploring fans to take the parks great moments across the street to the new building. Jeter and the Yankees then took a lap around field to thanks all those in attendance.
The Yankees also orchestrated a lengthy pre-game ceremony, which brought back the greatest players in franchise history at each position and had them stand side-by-side on the field. Long-time public address announcer Bob Sheppard, who has missed much of the season due to health problems, presided over it.
In an emotional moment, the family of recently passed former player and broadcaster Bobby Murcer jogged out to center field to stand next the son of fellow Oklahoma native and team legend Mickey Mantle.
To complete its center field triumvirate, the Yankees invited back Bernie Williams, who appeared at Yankee Stadium for the first time since retiring in a huff when the team didnt retain him as a free agent after the 2006 season.
Williams received the biggest ovation on a night drenched in applause. Pettitte and Jeter were both lured out for curtain calls, highlighting a bittersweet game with a playoff feel.
While everyone knows about those past playoff moments here, it should be noted that Yankee Stadium hosted some of the most famous events in history – including the first papal mass in North America, the Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight in 1938 and the first sudden-death overtime contest in NFL history – the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants.
This night, however, was about baseball and even the current players took a little bit of the game with them before they left, snapping pictures on the field and grabbing some dirt from the mound as the stands remained filled for nearly 20 minutes after the final out.
As for what happened on the field, Johnny Damon gave New York a 3-2 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning. Brian Roberts tied the game in the following inning for Baltimore before Molinas blast in the bottom of the frame.
Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano each had an RBI in the seventh for the Yankees, who used four pitchers in the final four innings, including Joba Chamberlain for 1 2/3 frames to set the stage for Riveras dramatic entrance in the ninth.
BOSTON 3, TORONTO 0
TORONTO The magic number is down to one for the Boston Red Sox.
Daisuke Matsuzaka tossed six strong innings and David Ortiz homered to lead the Red Sox to a 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
With seven games remaining in the season and a seven-game lead in the American League wild card standings, Boston (91-64) can clinch its second consecutive postseason berth with a win against Cleveland on Monday.
Matsuzaka (18-2) allowed two hits and walked two while striking out five to move into a tie for third place in wins in the AL. The Japanese righthander also leads the league in batting average against and ranks second with a 2.80 ERA.
Matsuzaka ran into trouble once when he allowed a leadoff double to Vernon Wells in the second inning. Wells moved to third on a groundout and Lyle Overbay walked before Matsuzaka struck out Scott Rolen and Travis Snider to end the threat.
The Red Sox jumped on the board in the first when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a triple and came in to score on Dustin Pedroias sacrifice fly.
Ellsbury doubled with one out in third and moved up on a groundout before Ortiz drove a 3-2 pitch to the opposite field for his 22nd home run.
Boston did all of its damage against 29-year-old rookie Scott Richmond (0-3), who struck out four and allowed five hits in five frames.
Ellsbury finished 3-for-4 in extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
Hideki Okajima pitched a spotless eighth and Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 40th save.
MINNESOTA 4, TAMPA BAY 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida Francisco Liriano worked seven strong innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Liriano (6-3), who was coming off an awful outing on Tuesday during which he lasted just 2 2/3 innings, turned it around against the Rays. He struck out seven, giving up one run and five hits as he won his sixth straight decision.
His only blemish was Carlos Penas sacrifice fly that gave the Rays a1-0 lead in the third, but the Twins offense answered with a four-run fourth inning to take control for good. Mike Redmond, Adam Everett and Carlos Gomez each delivered RBI singles.
Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine (13-8) failed to set a new franchise record in wins, giving up four runs – two earned – and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
CLEVELAND 10, DETROIT 5
CLEVELAND Ryan Garko went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs to lead the Cleveland Indians their sixth straight win, a 10-5 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.
Garko laced a three-run triple in the first inning, giving the Indians a quick start. He also had a sacrifice fly in the fourth, doubled home a run in the seventh and singled twice.
Ben Fransisco, Victor Martinez and Andy Marte each added a pair of hits and an RBI for Cleveland.
Scott Lewis (3-0) pitched five innings, allowing three runs and eight hits, striking out six and walking three.
CHI WHITE SOX 3, KANSAS CITY 0
KANSAS CITY, Missouri John Danks tossed seven sterling innings as the Chicago White Sox recorded a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the rubber match of a three-game set.
Danks (11-8) surrendered just four hits while striking out three and walking one en route to maintaining Chicagos 2 1/2-game lead over the Minnesota Twins (84-72) in the American League Central.
Counterpart Brandon Duckworth (3-2) yielded a sacrifice fly to Jim Thome in the first, allowing the White Sox to grab the lead for good. In the seventh, Duckworth walked Thome to leadoff the frame and Paul Kornerko followed with a two-run homer.
Bobby Jenks tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the game and notch his 29th save of the season.
LA ANGELS 7, TEXAS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas John Lackey threw six scoreless innings and Mark Teixeira homered as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim completed a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 7-3 victory.
Lackey (12-4) allowed just two hits, and struck out a career-high 12. The righthander walked three and did not allow a hit until Hank Blalock doubled with one out in the fifth.
Teixeira belted a two-run homer in the first and Sean Rodriguez hit a three-run shot in the sixth for Anaheim (96-59), which leads Tampa Bay (92-62) by 3 1/2 games in the race for home-field advantage in the American League.
Blalock broke up the shutout with a three-run homer in the ninth.
OAKLAND 5, SEATTLE 3
OAKLAND, California Jack Cust hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Oakland Athletics overcame a three-run deficit en route to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
The Athletics, who had only one hit and trailed, 3-0, after six innings, got an RBI double from Bobby Crosby and a two-run double from Aaron Cunningham in the seventh to tie the game, 3-3.
After Miguel Bautista (4-14) issued a leadoff walk to Ryan Sweeney, Cust blasted his 30th homer of the year to left field to put Oakland on top.
Brad Ziegler (3-0) threw a scoreless eighth to earn the win and Joey Devine registered his first career save, pitching around a single in the ninth.
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 pm and is filed under MLB Baseball News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
