New York Yankees, Mlb Playoffs | featured news

The 2012 Yankees will be remembered for hitting a record number of regular season home runs before experiencing the kind of sudden outage rivaling any blackout in the history of New York.

The Detroit Tigers got a big boost from Anibal Sanchez's arm. They got a helping hand from an umpire, too. The reward: a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL championship series, and a trip home with their ace ready to start. Sanchez shut down a Yankees lineup minus injured Derek Jeter, Detroit scored twice after an admitted missed call by an ump and won without any extra-inning drama, beating New York 3-0 Sunday.

On a cool, dark autumn night, the stars shined bright and brilliant in the Bronx. But the biggest ones in pinstripes watched the dramatic conclusion from the afar — shortstop Derek Jeter injured and third baseman Alex Rodriguez benched — while Detroit’s finest, Miguel Cabrera, scored the winning run in extra innings.

With Alex Rodriguez benched, the Yankees advanced to the AL championship series against the Detroit Tigers, starting Saturday night in the Bronx. "It is still a long way to go," Sabathia said. "I still got hopefully three or four more starts. So the job is not done yet."

These Birds don't rattle easily. A day after a demoralizing defeat, the Baltimore Orioles won a test of wills and Game 4 of the AL division series, bouncing back to outlast the New York Yankees 2-1 in 13 innings Thursday night on J.J. Hardy's RBI double.

Justin Verlander was dominant enough for the Tigers while C.C. Sabathia struggled in the matchup of aces that was washed out in Game 1. Game 4 of the best-of-five division series is Tuesday.

The playoff opener between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was suspended because of rain in the second inning Friday night, probably wiping out the ace of each pitching staff for a few days.

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the AL wild card with a stunning rally Wednesday night, overcoming a late seven-run deficit and then beating the New York Yankees 8-7 on Evan Longoria's home run in the 12th inning.

The Tampa Bay Rays moved into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for the wild-card lead, beating the New York Yankees 5-2 on Monday night behind another strong performance by James Shields.

Matt Moore struck out 11 in five innings of his first major league start and the Tampa Bay Rays unloaded on the watered-down Yankees for a 15-8 victory Thursday, a night after New York clinched the AL East title.