Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miguel Cabrera had two hits and drove in two runs before leaving in the fifth inning, and the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat his AL Central champion Detroit Tigers 4-2 Tuesday night.
With one game remaining in the regular season, Cabrera leads the American League in average (.331), home runs (44) and RBIs (139), putting him on the brink of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
ORIOLES 1, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Another one-run victory by the Baltimore Orioles pushed the AL East race to the final day of the season.
Chris Davis homered for the sixth straight game and the Orioles overcame a club-record 15 strikeouts by Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields.
“We’re not supposed to be here. So just go out and have fun and see what happens,” closer Jim Johnson said after the Orioles improved to 29-9 in one-run games.
BLUE JAYS 4, TWINS 3
TORONTO — Joe Mauer’s bid for a fourth AL batting title took a blow.
Chad Jenkins earned his first major league win, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3.
Mauer, who won AL batting titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009, went hitless in three at-bats, dropping his average to .320.
INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 3, 12 innings
CLEVELAND — Jason Donald singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Cleveland Indians over the Chicago White Sox 4-3.
NATIONAL
ST. LOUIS — Mat Latos won his fourth straight decision to finish the regular season and Scott Rolen homered off Chris Carpenter, helping the Cincinnati Reds keep the St. Louis Cardinals’ postseason plans on hold with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
The Cardinals’ magic number for clinching the second NL wild card remained at one with a game to go, and they were left in the uncomfortable position of watching the Dodgers on television and rooting for a loss for the second straight night. Los Angeles, which began the day two games back with two remaining, played at home against the Giants later Tuesday.
The 37-year-old Carpenter (0-2) has a wealth of big-game experience and went 4-0 in the postseason last fall for the World Series champions, memorably outdueling Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the NL division series.
NATS 4, PHILLIES 2
WASHINGTON — A smile crept across Adam LaRoche’s face while he rounded the bases after hitting his career-high 33rd homer to become the third Nationals player with 100 RBIs in a season, another celebratory moment for NL East champion Washington during a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
ASTROS 3, CUBS 0
CHICAGO — Bud Norris pitched six shutout innings, Jason Castro homered and the Houston beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 in a matchup of 100-loss teams.
MARLINS 4, METS 3, 11 innings
MIAMI — New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey struck out one-shot wonder Adam Greenberg, but also gave up two homers in his final start of a Cy Young-hopeful season and the Mets lost to the Miami Marlins in 11 innings 4-3.
BREWERS 4, PADRES 3
MILWAUKEE — Rookie Martin Maldonado hit a grand slam and the Brewers used 10 newcomers in beating the Padres.
Maldonado connected against Anthony Bass (2-8) in the fourth inning for his first career slam and eighth home run of the year.
Jim Henderson (1-2) pitched a perfect seventh inning.
John Axford worked the ninth for his 35th save in 44 chances, getting Logan Forsythe to ground out with a runner on the third to end it.