Sabathia Hurls Brewers Into Playoffs; AL Central Still Undecided

Players of the Day from Sunday, September 28, 2008 American League Joe Mauer wrapped up the AL batting title with a 2-for-5 afternoon, including a 2-run triple in Minnesota's 6-0 win over the Royals, forcing the White Sox - who beat Cleveland 5-1 - to play a make-up game with Detroit on Monday. Mauer's .330 batting average was tops in the AL, beating out Boston's Dustin Pedroia at .326. The Twins finished the regular season with a 1/2 game lead over the White Sox, who will host the Tigers on Monday, making up a game that was rained out in mid-September. Notes: If the White Sox beat the Tigers, the Twins travel to Chicago for a one-game playoff to determine the AL Central. If they lose, the Twins win the division by one game and will begin the playoffs at Tampa Bay on Thursday in the first game of a 5-game series. Boston travels to LA to face the Angels in the other series, which begins on Wednesday. Both series are best-of-five. National League C. C. Sabathia pitched his 7th complete game for the Brewers, allowing just 4 hits and no earned runs while striking out 7 as Milwaukee topped Chicago, 3-1, and clinched the wild card. Tied with the Mets going into the final day of the regular season, Sabathia came through once more for the Brewers as the Mets lost to Florida, 4-2, missing the playoffs by one game, just as they did last season. Notes: The Brewers will open the playoffs at Philadelphia on Wednesday after noon at 3:00 pm ET. Later in the day, Chicago will hosts the Dodgers in the other NL opener at 6:00 pm. Both series are best of five games.