MLB PLAYOFF RACE: Will the Orioles knock the Red Sox out of contention?

The Wild Card race is now tied between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays, thanks to the Orioles, who have whipped playoff contenders this month.

There are only two games to play. The Red Sox play at Camden Yards through Wednesday, and the D-Rays are at home vs. the Yankees.

I'd be a happy fan (an extremely delighted fan) if Buck and the O's could knock the BoSox out of post-season...it'd be "Payback" for that brawl earlier this year in Fenway Park.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-guerreros-mileston-hit-sparks-os-rally-red-sox-tied-with-rays-for-wild-card-20110926,0,4517096.story

11:57 p.m. EDT, September 26, 2011
The first game of the season-ending "Fan Appreciation Celebration" at Oriole Park quickly turned into something completely different in the sixth inning on Monday night when Vladimir Guerrero kept his date with international baseball history.

Guerrero singled up the middle in his third at-bat of the Orioles' 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox and passed Julio Franco to become the all-time major league leader in hits by a Dominican-born player. He also sparked a four-run rally that dragged the reeling Red Sox into a wild card dead heat with the surging Tampa Bay Rays.


His 2,587th hit brought the announced crowd of 21,786 to its feet for an enthusiastic ovation as Guerrero waved his helmet to the fans and his teammates – who lined the top step of the home dugout to applaud his magic moment. The night was made even more special for him because his mother, sister, nephew and cousin were in attendance.


"I've played for a lot of years – 16 years – so it felt very good, very satisfying to get that hit.'' Guerrero said through interpreter Rudy Arias, but he also pointed out that it is not something he has been consciously pursuing for a long time. "I didn't know about the record until Buck told me about it in Toronto."

No doubt caught up in all that excitement, Guerrero quickly stole his second base of the year and eventually scored the go-ahead run on a double by third baseman Chris Davis. Obviously, the Orioles got caught up in the moment, too, because they went on to score four times in the inning – the last three runs on an inside-the-park home run by Robert Andino.

Talk about an evening of interesting subplots. Andino's inside job was the first ever by an Orioles player at Camden Yards and it came with his father in the stands to see his son play for the first time ever in a major league game.

"That's almost as big a moment because his dad was here for the first time watching him play his first game,'' manager Buck Showalter said. "First time he ever saw him play. I'm not sure of all the dynamics of it, but I got to meet him today and I know what an unbelievable moment that would be for us. Can you imagine what it meant to him, regardless of the impact on the game? I was really hoping Robert would get a chance to do something to let his dad see what a good year he's had and what a good player he's become."

Andino was a little more concise.

"I've got no words,'' he said. "It's priceless."

And, of course, the Red Sox were desperately trying to hold onto their slim wild card lead over the Rays, but Boston starter Josh Beckett gave up six runs to the Orioles for the second time in six days and lost back-to-back decisions to Baltimore for the first time in his career. The Rays didn't cooperate either, defeating the Yankees, 5-2, at Tropicana Field.

If that wasn't enough intrigue for one night, Showalter had to be helped back to the clubhouse after the exchange of lineup cards with what the club reported to be an ankle injury. The injury apparently wasn't serious, because he returned to the dugout by the second inning and managed the remainder of the game.

The scoreboard watch had already started at that point. The Red Sox came into the game leading the Tampa Bay Rays by one game with three left for each to play. The Rays were at home against the Yankees and the two games were pretty much in sync, so the Sox could see that the Yankees took a two-run lead and then gave it back in the third inning.

"Boston's got somewhere they want to get to and there were a lot of Boston fans here, so it was pretty intense,'' Andino said.

The Orioles may not have anything tangible to play for during their final three games of the season, but Showalter said that the atmosphere in the ballpark and the intensity on the field gave the young players a taste of what September stretch-run baseball is all about.

"They (the Red Sox) are a good baseball team that played with a lot of effort tonight and was scratching and clawing the whole way,'' Showalter said. "Had the tying run at the plate. Beckett pitched well. They did the job out of the bullpen. It was a good baseball game with two teams playing at a high intensity level. Some nights it works out for us.

The Sox had taken the lead in the second, scoring a run on a two-out double by Jacoby Ellsbury when left fielder Matt Angle airmailed his throw back to the middle of the infield and allowed Marco Scutaro to score from first base.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters responded quickly, launching a towering fly ball that just cleared the fence in left to tie the score in the bottom of the inning. It was his 21st home run of the season and his 65th RBI.

The Orioles knew it was going to be no easy task to crack Beckett, who was facing them for the fourth time this season and he had a score to settle after the O's scored six runs off him in that 6-4 victory at Fenway Park last Wednesday. He held them to just four hits through the first five innings before the game unraveled in the sixth.

Orioles starter Tommy Hunter was looking for his fourth victory as an Oriole in 11 starts since he was acquired from the Texas Rangers in the Koji Uehara trade, but he cut into his pitch count early working out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and battling to hold the Sox to just an unearned run in the second. The Sox regained the lead when third baseman Jed Lowrie led off the fourth inning with a home run onto the flag court.

Hunter's overall numbers (3-3, 5.00 ERA) since arriving in Baltimore may not look like much, but he has impressed manager Buck Showalter with his determination on the mound. Monday night's performance was only the second time he has failed to complete the sixth inning.

He gave way at the start of the sixth to Troy Patton, who worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings and was credited with his second major league victory. Rookie Pedro Strop worked out of a big jam in the eighth and Jim Johnson pitched a tense ninth in which the tying run came to the plate, but held on to record his 10th save.

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http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2011/09/red_sox_in_fight_to_keep_sun_f.html

NEW YORK — A striking sunset turned the skies above Yankee Stadium into a canvas of oranges and blues tonight, a gorgeous touch to a satisfying day for those who wore pinstripes. Yet, for all its beauty, it could not rival the impact of another sunset, at least what could to be the makings of one, that revealed itself only in the visiting clubhouse.

It was there, with the residue of defeat still lingering in the air, that the Red Sox quietly ended a brutal day that featured a 9-1 loss to the Yankees.

Two days off had given the staggering Red Sox a chance to rest their weary legs, yet in a game they wanted badly to win, they looked every bit as flat as they have all month long. Manager Terry Francona juggled his starting lineup only to watch Yankees right hander Freddy Garcia neutralize it with his velocity-deficient arsenal.

The Yankees staked Garcia to a big lead and never looked back. At the end of their latest miserable effort, the Red Sox retreated from their dugout, into the tunnel that cuts through the concrete stadium, taking this sullen walk together. Frank Sinatra's familiar voice followed them through the passageway, the faint words of “New York, New York” almost audible even from the cramped office occupied by Francona.

The embattled manager — overseer of an epic 5-17 September collapse — used his fingers to clear his eyes before putting his glasses back over his face. He wore his exasperation the way he would his ballcap.

“We all want to win,” he said. “Now, it's up to us to go win. We know what's in front of us. We just have to play better.”

In the clubhouse, the players hardly spoke a word to one another. Within this space were telltale signs of a wake, from the zombie-like way the Red Sox spoke about their latest failure, to the dark blue towels slung over the clubhouse chairs. They looked black, which would have matched the mood.

“What we've got to do right now is laugh just to see if you can fool somebody,” said David Ortiz, who at the moment, was fooling nobody. “The way things are going, you don't expect a good team like this to struggle the way we have.”

Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who isn't used to getting knocked around, received a mocking standing ovation from Yankee fans. He allowed a three-run homer to Derek Jeter and departed after giving up his second hit to rookie Jesus Montero, a two-run double in the third-inning.

In his last three starts, Lester has crumbled, going 0-3 with an ERA of. His ineffectiveness over his 2 2/3 innings triggered speculation about his health, though he sneered at the notion that he's been pitching through hidden pain. He countered by offering a much simpler explanation.

“I stink,” Lester said.

In that regard, he fits right into with the rest of his cohorts on the pitching staff. If the Red Sox go on to complete their crash landing, and they go down as one of the most disappointing teams in franchise history, it will be because of a September ERA of 6.15.

“I've been getting my ass kicked lately,” Lester said. “It's not a good time to have this stretch.”

With just five games left on the schedule, a questioner asked first baseman Adrian Gonzalez if time was running out on the Red Sox.

“Time’s running out on us?” he said, coating his words with defiance. “We’re in first place in the wild card. Time’s running out on Tampa Bay.”

The numbers say that the Rays still have just a 1-in-10 chance of sneaking in for the wild card. The eyeballs say those chances are higher. Nevertheless, the Red Sox hold their own fate in their hands, owners of a 1 1/2 game advantage heading into today's doubleheader against the Yankees. However slim, a lead is still a lead, though such things are easy to forget in the first fading light of a sunset.

“It seems like no matter what you do,” Ortiz said. “Things go bad.”

For more Yankees coverage, follow Marc Carig on Twitter at twitter.com/ledger_yankees