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.

Phillies Clinch NL East; NL Wild Card Tied; Who Wants Al Central?

Players of the Day from Saturday, September 27, 2008 American League Paul Konerko cranked a pair of homer runs and drove in three, but it wasn't nearly enough as the White Sox lost their fifth straight and continue to trail the Twins by 1/2 game in the Central division. Cleveland beat the White Sox, 12-6, while the Twins were losing their second straight to the Royals, dropping a 4-2 decision to Kansas City. It was the Twins' second straight loss to the Royals. Notes: Unless Minnesota wins the final regular season game on Sunday and the White Sox lose, Chicago's make-up game will have to be played on Monday in order to decide the division. Further, depending on the outcomes of all games, there may be a playoff on Tuesday at Chicago between the Twins and Sox to decide the division. National League Maybe it will turn out to be a little too late and a game or two short, but Johan Santana hurled a 3-hit, complete game shutout as the Mets dropped the Marlins, 2-0, and tied Milwaukee (losers to the Cubs, 7-3) in the wild card race. Meanwhile, the Phillies did their job, beating the Nationals, 4-3, to clinch their second straight NL East crown. Philadelphia will have home field advantage in one of the first round series. If the Mets win the wild card, the Phillies would play the Brewers. If the Brewers win, they would play them. Notes: Should the Mets and Brewers remain tied after Sunday's games, a single-game playoff on Monday at New York would determine the wild card.

Yanks Help Rays Clinch East; Howard, Utley Get Phillies to Within One

Players of the Day from Friday, September 26, 2008 National League Philadelphia improved to within one win of clinching the NL East as Ryan Howard and Chase Utley provided nearly all of the offense in the Phillies 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals. Howard cracked a three-run homer (his major league-leading 48th) in the first inning and doubled home Utley in the 2nd. Utley powered home 3 runs with his second inning double and scored 3 times, including the final run of the game, scampering home from third on a passed ball. Utley also singled twice and stole his 14th base. The win, coupled with the Mets 6-1 loss to Florida, left the Phillies staring at the NL East pennant. One more win or a single Mets loss will clinch. As for the Mets, with two games left, they now need help in the form of Philly or Milwaukee losses. The Brewers topped the Cubs, 5-1, and now lead the wild card race by one game. Milwaukee can force at least a playoff with a win in either of their last two games vs. the Cubs. Ben Sheets will start for the Brewers on Saturday. Notes: If the Brewers are the wild card, the LA Dodgers would begin the NLDS at Chicago and Milwaukee would travel to the NL East champion site, either the Phillies or Mets, though the Mets could only win the division if Philly loses their last two games and the Mets win a single-game playoff. The Nationals' loss on Friday was their 100th of the season, tops in the NL. Seattle leads the majors in futility with a 59-101 record. American League The Rays can thank Yankee Robinson Cano for helping them clinch the AL East. In a night which saw the four remaining playoff contenders all lose, the Red Sox were relegated to wild card status as Boston was pounded by the Yankees, 19-8. Cano singled, doubled twice and provided a sac fly in five at-bats, driving in five runs. New York hammered six Boston pitchers for 20 hits, including 6 doubles and 3 homers. With both Minnesota and Chicago losing, the Central division is still up for grabs. The Twins hold a 1/2 game lead over the White Sox. Minnesota has two games remaining at home against the Royals. Chicago is home for two games against Cleveland. If necessary, the White Sox would play Detroit on Monday, making up a postponed game from earlier in September. Notes: With the Rays backing into the AL East title, most of the layout for the playoffs is set. Because the wild card - Boston - is also in the East, they cannot play the Rays in the opening round, so Boston will travel to LA to face the Angels and the Rays will host the eventual AL Central winner.

Twins Overtake White Sox; Dodgers Clinch; Braun Slams for Brewers

Players of the Day from Thursday, September 25, 2008 American League Alexi Casilla singled home Nick Punto in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Minnesota Twins completed a comeback and three-game sweep of the White Sox with a 7-6 win. Minnesota began the series trailing Chicago by 2 1/2 games and ended it, rallying from a 4th-inning 6-1 deficit to complete the sweep and take the lead in the AL Central by 1/2 game. With the regular season ending on Sunday, no matter what the Twins do, they will need Chicago to lose one of their three weekend games with Cleveland. That's because the White Sox still have unfinished business with the Detroit Tigers. In the event that the two teams are still separated by 1/2 game, either way, the Tigers will play at Chicago on Monday, Sept. 29. If the two are tied after that game, Minnesota would travel to Chicago for a one-game showdown. In the interim, the Twins host a three-game series with Kansas City. Minnesota has handled the Royals well throughout the season, compiling an 11-4 record. Notes: Jon Lester allowed just 2 hits and one run over 6 innings and Kevin Youkilis homered and collected two RBI as the Red Sox inched closer to the East division-leading Rays, who lost at Detroit, 7-5. Tampa's magic number remains at 1, with three games remaining. The New York Yankees, who've already played their final game at Yankee Stadium, may have the last laugh in determining the eventual AL East winner. They travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox in the final three-game series of the season. Tampa Bay will finish up with three games at Detroit. National League Ryan Braun shattered a 1-1, 10th inning tie with his 36th home run of the season, a grand slam that gave Milwaukee a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh and kept them tied with the Mets in the wild card race. New York won, 7-6, over the Cubs, as Jose Reyes raced home with the winning run on Carlos Beltran's 2-out, 9th inning single. The Mets had been down 6-3 in the 7th inning, but the bullpen held up as the batters rallied for the win. With the Phillies idle, the Mets are now 1 game behind them in the NL East. In the West, the LA Dodgers backed into clinching the division when Albert Pujols led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 12-3 win over Arizona. It was Arizona's third straight loss at St. Louis after taking the opener of their 4-game series on Monday. Pujols went 3-for-3 with his 35th home run and 4 RBI, giving him 112 on the year. Pujols is desperately chasing Atlanta's Chipper Jones for the NL batting title. Jones leads at .365. Pujols is second at .353. Since Jones already has the requisite 502 plate appearances and has been limited lately to pinch-hitting due to an ailing back, Pujols is unlikely to run him down in the final three days. The Dodgers lost to San Diego, 7-5, but don't even have to win another game. They hold a 4-game lead over Arizona with 3 left to play. Notes: As the final weekend is played out, the Phillies host the Nationals, the Mets have the Florida Marlins in town and the Brewers host the Cubs. All are three-game series ending Sunday. In the case of ties, one-game playoffs would determine either the winner of the NL East or wild card. If all three teams are tied at the end of play on Sunday, there would be multiple playoff scenarios. The Mets and Phillies would play one game for the East division title, then the loser of that game would play Milwaukee for the wild card spot on Tuesday.