Yankees' Season Withers on Pedroia Slam; Delgado Puts Mets Back in First

Players of the Day from Wednesday, August 27, 2008 American League Dustin Pedroia may have finally delivered the blow that ended the Yankees' post-season hopes. With the Red Sox already ahead 7-2 in the and three runs already plated in the 8th inning, Pedroia drove a David Robertson offering to left center, up and over the wall, a grand slam that finally, maybe mercifully, ended New York's season. The Red Sox won, 11-3, the second straight one-sided Boston win over the Yankees, leaving New York 7 games behind Boston in the wild card race with only 30 games left to play. The task seems too gargantuan, the opposition too strong, for the Yankees to do anything except slip quietly into the oblivious off-season. Notes: Tampa Bay got another exceptional performance from Matt Garza (12-7), topping Toronto, 1-0, to remain 3 1/2 ahead of Boston in the East. The Central is still very much up in the air as the White Sox lost and the Twins won, leaving Minnesota a game behind Chicago. The Indians won their 10th straight, a 9-7 win over Detroit, solidifying their hold on third place, 10 1/2 back, but hopelessly out of any kind of playoff contention. In the West, the Angels dropped a 6-5 decision to Oakland, keeping their magic number at 15. National League Carlos Delgado is feeling it. A night after the Mets blew a 7-run lead and lost to the Phillies in extra innings, Delgado stepped up with a pair of solo homers and an RBI single to lead the Mets to a 6-3 win over Philly and back into first place by 1/2 game. Delgado has hit 4 homers (30) and driven in 9 runs (93) in his past 3 games. Notes: The Marlins beat Atlanta, 4-1, and remain 5 1/2 back in the East. The Cubs got some help from the Cardinals, who beat Milwaukee, 5-3, while Chicago was winning, 2-0, over the Pirates. That left Chicago 6 games in front of Milwaukee and the Brewers hanging onto a 3 1/2 game edge over the Cards in the wild card. The Dodgers lost their 6th straight and Arizona lost their 4th straight, as the West race turns into a war of attrition. All of a sudden, the Rockies are just 6 games back. The Diamondbacks are the only team in the West with a winning record, at 68-65.