Manny Machado, Jon Johnson Help Orioles to Tie for First; Michael Morse's Grand Slam Get Nationals Closer to NL East Title

Players of the Day for Saturday, September 29, 2012

American League

Even though they've scored oly eight more runs than the competition all season, the Baltimore Orioles remain in contention for both the AL East title and the wild card, tying the Yankees for first place in the AL East with a 4-3 win over Boston as the Yanks were losing 3-2, to Toronto.

Manny Machado

Jim Johnson

Manny Machado broke a 3-3 tie with a solo homer in the seventh inning and Baltimore's relievers put the game away with hitless eighth and ninth innings. Jim Johnson earned his AL-best 49th save of the season, putting away the Red Sox in order to end the game.

Machado put the O's on the board with an RBI single in the second inning, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

The Orioles finish up their series with the Red Sox Sunday afternoon, then head to Tampa for a critical three-game series with the Rays which could impact both the AL East, but, more likely, the wild cards.

National League

Michael Morse

Washington's Michael Morse socked a first-inning grand slam, staking the Nationals to a 4-0 lead in the second of their three-game series with St. Louis, eventually winning in 10 innings on Kurt Suzuki's two-run double, for a 6-4 victory.

The win got the Nationals to within one win of wrapping up the NL East, the only division in the National League yet to be decided. Atlanta topped the Mets, 2-0, but remain four games behind the division leaders.

St. Louis' loss left them two games in front of the Dodgers for the second wild card as LA stopped Colorado, 3-0.