Baseball Today

SCOREBOARD

Thursday, Oct. 8

Boston at Los Angeles Angels (9:37 p.m. EDT). The wild card-winning Red Sox send Jon Lester(notes) (15-8, 3.41 ERA) against the Angels’ John Lackey(notes) (11-8, 3.83) in the opener of their AL division series.

STAR

Tuesday

— Alexi Casilla(notes), Twins, singled home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning to lead Minnesota to a 6-5 victory over Detroit, giving the Twins the AL Central Division title.

COLLAPSE COMPLETED

Detroit’s 6-5, 12-inning loss at Minnesota on Tuesday night gave the Twins the AL Central Division title and made the Tigers the first team in Major League history to miss out on the playoffs after holding a three-game lead with four to play. Trying to win their first division title since 1987, the Tigers held a seven-game lead on the Twins on Sept. 6, but limped to an 11-16 finish.

WEDNESDAY IT IS!

The New York Yankees announced their decision to start their AL division series opener on Wednesday, hours before they knew who the opponent would be. Then, after 12 innings of an AL Central tiebreaker Tuesday night, they learned it would be the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees could have waited until one hour after that game to pick when they wanted to begin, but made the call about an hour before the first pitch. They picked to get going right away—instead of waiting until Thursday—in the first postseason game at the new Yankee Stadium, meaning the Twins would have about 21 hours between the final out and the first pitch. With the schedule the Yankees chose, the teams will get a day off between Games 1 and 2. The Red Sox and Angels will start their series on Thursday.

I’M SORRY, GUYS

Detroit star Miguel Cabrera(notes) apologized to his teammates for being drunk last weekend while the Tigers were trying to clinch the AL Central title, then delivered two big hits in Tuesday night’s tiebreaker loss to Minnesota. The slumping Cabrera had a double his first time up, then hit a two-run homer that put the Tigers ahead 3-0 in the third inning. But it wasn’t quite enough. He had two groundouts and a walk the rest of the way and was thrown out at home plate by Twins second baseman Nick Punto(notes) in the 12th inning of Detroit’s 6-5 loss that gave Minnesota the division championship.

JOSE FOR A.J.

Preparing for his first playoff series as a manager, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi confirmed Tuesday that light-hitting backup Jose Molina(notes) will catch A.J. Burnett(notes) during the postseason. That probably puts longtime Yankees star Jorge Posada(notes) on the bench when Burnett pitches, because Girardi said Hideki Matsui(notes) “is probably going to be our DH most of the time.” Burnett is slated to start Game 2 against Minnesota in the best-of-five first round Friday night, and then a potential Game 5. Both games would be at Yankee Stadium.

STICKING AROUND

The manager with the most wins in Florida Marlins history will be given a chance to increase his total. Fredi Gonzalez will return in 2010, the Marlins announced Tuesday, ending two days of speculation about his status. The Marlins will seek a new pitching coach to replace Mark Wiley, who has been offered a different position in the organization. Gonzalez’s job was considered in jeopardy because owner Jeffrey Loria was upset that the Marlins failed to make the playoffs, although they finished 12 games above .500 with the smallest payroll in baseball.

SALE APPROVED

Major League baseball owners on Tuesday unanimously approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs from the bankrupt Tribune Co. to the family of online brokerage billionaire and longtime fan Joe Ricketts. The vote was made during a conference call. Tom Ricketts, who has headed the sale for his family, could take day-to-day control of the Cubs by the end of the month.

SPEAKING

“No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be,” Detroit’s Brandon Inge(notes), after a 6-5, 12-inning loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night gave the Twins the AL Central Division title.

SEASONS

Oct. 8

1908—The Chicago Cubs won the NL pennant when Mordecai Brown beat Christy Mathewson 4-2 in a replay of the disputed game Sept. 23 in which Fred Merkle failed to touch second base.

1929—Howard Ehmke, a surprise starter for the Philadelphia Athletics, struck out 13 Chicago Cubs to win the opening game of the World Series 3-1.

1956—Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits.

1961—The Yankees’ Whitey Ford set a World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings by extending his streak to 32 innings in a 7-0 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 4.

1973—Rusty Staub’s two home runs powered the New York Mets to a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Pete Rose of the Reds and Bud Harrelson of the Mets scuffled at second base in the fifth inning after Rose slid hard into the base.

1986—Mike Scott equaled a playoff record with 14 strikeouts and threw a five-hitter as the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 1-0 in the first game of the NLCS. Glenn Davis opened the second inning with a home run off Dwight Gooden.

2000—Bobby J. Jones pitched the sixth complete game one-hitter in postseason history as the Mets eliminated the Giants with a 4-0 win in Game 4 of their NL division series. It was the first one-hit shutout in the postseason since Boston’s Jim Lonborg beat St. Louis in the 1967 World Series.