NEW YORK – Raul Ibanez tied it with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning then had an RBI single in the 12th, helping the Yankees remain a game up on Baltimore in the AL East with a game to go by beating the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, on Tuesday night.
The Yankees need a win or Orioles loss on the final day of the season to secure their 13th division title since 1996. If the teams end up even after today’s games, they’ll play a tiebreaker Thursday in Baltimore.
Orioles 1, Rays 0: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Chris Davis homered for the sixth straight game, and Baltimore overcame a club-record 15 strikeouts by James Shields to beat Tampa Bay, pushing the AL East race to the final day of the season.
Royals 4, Tigers 2: At Kansas City, Mo., Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera had two hits and drove in two runs before leaving in the fifth inning, and Kansas City rallied to beat his AL Central champion Tigers.
With a game remaining in the regular season, Cabrera leads the American League in average (.331), home runs (44) and RBIs (139), putting him on the brink of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Reds 3, Cardinals 1: At St. Louis, Mat Latos won his fourth straight decision to finish the regular season, and Scott Rolen homered off Chris Carpenter, helping Cincinnati keep St. Louis’ postseason plans on hold with a victory.
The Cardinals’ magic number for clinching the second NL wild card remained at one with a game to go. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who began the day two games back with two remaining, played at home against the Giants later Tuesday.
Marlins 4, Mets 3 (11 inn.): At Miami, New York knuckleballer R.A. Dickey struck out one-shot wonder Adam Greenberg, but also gave up two homers in his final start of a Cy Young-hopeful season, and the Mets lost to Miami.
Greenberg struck out on three pitches against Dickey when he batted for the first time in seven years in the sixth inning. Greenberg signed a one-day contract before the game, his first since he was beaned in his major league debut in 2005.
Nationals 4, Phillies 2: At Washington, Adam LaRoche hit his career-high 33rd homer to become the third Nationals player with 100 RBIs in a season in a victory over Philadelphia.
Brewers 4, Padres 3: At Milwaukee, rookie Martin Maldonado hit a grand slam, and Milwaukee used 10 newcomers in beating San Diego.
