By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are going to the playoffs.
Saturday's emotionally-driven 7-2 win over the Twins in front of a home sellout crowd of 36,048, clinched the Rays' franchise-first postseason appearance. Additionally, the win -- coupled with Boston's loss to Toronto -- extends Tampa Bay's lead atop the American League East to 2 1/2 games.
The Rays' Division Series playoff destination will shake out in the final week of the season. Assuming the Rays win the AL East and Boston wins the Wild Card, the Rays will open at home against the Central winner, either the White Sox or Twins, while the Red Sox would open at the Angels, who have the AL's best record. Should Boston win the East and the Rays get the Wild Card, the Rays would open at Anaheim, while the Red Sox would host the Central Division champion. The Division Series is a best-of-five set.
Carlos Pena's two-out double in the third inning wasn't just clutch -- it had some luck involved, as well. Initially, it appeared the Tampa Bay first baseman popped up to Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer, but the ball hit Tropicana Field's catwalk in foul territory and per the dome's ground rules, was a dead ball. After working the count full, Pena laced a double hit into center field to plate the Rays' first pair of runs.
The offense padded starter Scott Kazmir's cushion with three runs in the fifth inning and a pair of solo homers from Fernando Perez and Cliff Floyd in the sixth and seventh frames, respectively.
Rays clinch club's first playoff spot....
CHICAGO -- The Cubs can't make up for 100 years without a world championship just by winning the National League Central, but it's a start.
Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs and Ted Lilly executed a perfect suicide squeeze to lead the Cubs to a 5-4 victory Saturday over the St. Louis Cardinals and clinch the division for the second consecutive year. It was time to party in Wrigleyville.
Saturday's sunshine-splashed crowd of 41,597 pushed the season home total to a club record 3,259,649. And that's just a fraction of the championship-starved Cubs fans Lou Piniella has encountered in his second season in Chicago. He's tried to harness the expectations. Yes, this is the longest drought in professional sports, but Piniella wants the 2008 Cubs to be judged on what they've done this year, not carry the burden of what they haven't done in the last century.
Lilly (16-9) set a personal high for wins, giving up four runs, six hits, and two walks over seven innings. Carlos Marmol pitched the eighth, and Wood handled the ninth for his 32nd save.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the second, ignited by Jim Edmonds' leadoff double, and one out later, Soriano hit a single off Joel Pineiro (6-7) that left fielder Brian Barton overran for an error, allowing all three runs to score.
Geovany Soto reached on an error by third baseman Troy Glaus in the fourth and scored on Mark DeRosa's double off the left-field wall to make it 4-0. DeRosa advanced on a groundout and scored on a suicide squeeze by Lilly.
But the Cardinals rallied with a four-run sixth, highlighted by Glaus' three-run homer, his 25th.
By Christian Wiessner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Say it ain't so. An era ends on Sunday when the curtain comes down on baseball in storied Yankee Stadium, scene of more moments that will live in sporting history than any other place in America.
Strangely, in Sunday night's final contest between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, nothing more than pride is at stake. The Yankees have had a rare down season and will not be adding to their championship record this year.
Wrecking balls and sledgehammers, not baseballs and bats, will soon be the equipment of choice as the stadium is demolished in coming months, although there may yet be a "closing ceremony" featuring big name rock stars before the wrecking crews move in.
Next season, the Yankees will take their bats, balls and fabled pinstriped uniforms to a brand new Yankee Stadium nearing completion across the street from the current one.
Americans have always been wistful about their National Pastime. Many cherish memories of playing catch with their fathers and of their first childhood visits to ballparks.
"This field, this game. It's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again," James Earl Jones's character said in the film "Field of Dreams."
Through baseball history, no venue came closer to capturing that mystical quality than Yankee Stadium.
Yankee Stadium to host last game before demolition....
The 2009 Major League Baseball season: A late start and the probability of November baseball; two grand openings in New York, one grand re-opening in Kansas City and one farewell season in Minnesota; the Rays and Red Sox picking up where they left off as an Opening Day matchup; sellouts and ballpark dogs galore; the first All-Star Game for St. Louis in 44 years; and a master schedule that is now available for your perusal earlier than ever.
MLB has just released the tentative 2009 regular-season schedule, for those already looking ahead -- and those engrossed in the 2008 finish but wanting to be ahead of the game for another blockbuster year. Individual clubs are handling season-ticket opportunities in their own ways, with some now accepting deposits.
The next-year schedule traditionally was released in bits and pieces, a club schedule here and a club schedule there. Then in January, the master schedule typically was released. Times have changed in Major League Baseball, though. Baseball is headed for yet another overall season attendance record, and fans schedule their desired ballpark dates earlier than ever due to so many large crowds, competitive balance and collective zeal.
The annual Sunday night opener will be announced later pending a matchup for the ESPN audience, but everything else is pretty much set. The Monday openers will be on April 6, highlighted by the traditional opener that day in Cincinnati vs. the Mets, and that will be one week later than usual. Because the season starts a week into April, there exists the possibility for a World Series Game 7 on Nov. 5, 2009 -- if the postseason schedule follows the 2007-08 procedures.
MLB reveals 2009 schedule....
By Thor Nystrom / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins' new home has a name: Target Field.
The club announced on Monday morning that they have reached an agreement in principle on a 25-year deal that includes the naming rights for Target Field. The ballpark is scheduled to open in 2010.
Financial terms of the pact were not released.
"We took what we think is a non-traditional approach -- a lot of teams would have had an auction; that was never what it was about for the Twins," Twins president Dave St. Peter said. "When we considered corporate names, it was clear that one, it needed to be a Minnesota-based brand, and two, it had to be involved in the community and consistent with our brand, which is very family focused. There was a small list of companies that we felt fit those criteria. Target was at the top of that list."
The Twins and Target will also collaborate on the design of Target Plaza, a pedestrian bridge and public gathering space connecting Target Field to downtown Minneapolis
Twins name new ballpark Target Field....
Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Brewers have fired manager Ned Yost and named Dale Sveum interim manager for the final two weeks of the season.
The Brewers are 83-67 and tied for the top spot in the National League wild card race with Philadelphia. The Phillies, though, just completed a four-game sweep of the Brewers.
Milwaukee, just 3-11 in September, is also 7 1/2 games behind Chicago in the NL Central race.
Brewers fire manager Ned Yost....
Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Robb Quinlan's two-run single in the fifth inning proved to be the difference as the LA Angels of Anaheim downed the New York Yankees, 4-2, and cliched the American League West title.
The Angels' earned a share of the crown with the win and then wrapped up their fourth division title in five years outright when second-place Texas fell in Seattle, 8-7.
Garret Anderson finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Angels, who have won three of their past four contests. Vladimir Guerrero was also 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Angels top Yankees, clinch AL West crown....
