Alex Rodriguez finally delivered the playoff performance he needed and his talent demanded, powering the New York Yankees back to the AL championship series. During this first-round sweep of the Twins, Rodriguez's performance was nothing like all those oh-fers of Octobers past. Rodriguez and Jorge Posada hit seventh-inning home runs to spoil Carl Pavano's opportunity to frustrate New…
Torii Hunter emerged from the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park to spray champagne over the fans and family gathered there. Erick Aybar did him one better, handing over bottles of bubbly to those who came from California to see the Los Angeles Angels go for the sweep. History gave no reason to hope for such a celebration.
Jered Weaver followed in John Lackey's day-old footsteps throughout the night, all the way to his final triumphant walk off the Angel Stadium mound. He even waved his cap at the standing, cheering crowd with nearly the same sweep of his arm. With Weaver picking up right where Lackey left off for the Los Angeles Angels, not even Josh Beckett could keep the Boston Red Sox off the brink of playoff…
Placido Polanco drove in three runs, Detroit's bullpen pitched four shutout innings and the Tigers avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday to increase their AL Central lead to three games. Ryan Raburn homered for slumping Detroit, which won for the second time in six games and fourth in 13.
Adam Wainwright won his major league-leading 16th game and Albert Pujols had the go-ahead hit in the sixth inning, helping the St. Louis Cardinals complete a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with a 2-1 victory on Sunday. Colby Rasmus had two hits and scored twice for the NL Central leaders, who have won five of six and are 29-4 since July 1 in starts by their top three — Wainwright,…
Paul Byrd, making his first major league start since last September, pitched six shutout innings and the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep with a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. The win was the sixth in seven games for Boston, which opened the day 2 1/2 games ahead of Texas in the AL's wild-card race.
Mark Teixeira homered and drove in four runs, Johnny Damon also went deep and the New York Yankees polished off a three-game sweep of the struggling Chicago White Sox with an 8-3 victory Sunday. Alfredo Aceves (9-1) provided stellar relief pitching after Joba Chamberlain's abbreviated outing, and the streaking Yankees won for the 20th time in 26 games.