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Sometimes, all it takes is one night for emotions to swing and momentum to build -- just ask the Red Sox. Prior to Tuesday night's series opener with the Blue Jays, Boston had lost five straight games, Josh Beckett's next start was not yet scheduled and Kevin Youkilis revealed that he will play through a sports hernia for the rest of the season. Then the Red Sox bats went berserk.Boston pounded B college football results randon Morrow and the Blue Jays in an 18-6 romp, while padding a lead in the American League Wild Card race to four games thanks to the Rays' 4-2 loss at Baltimore. Boston's AL East gap behind the Yankees, meanwhile, remained at four games."I'm glad we won -- I'm thrilled we won," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "It's been a tough week for us, but I don't know. I'm happy we won. It's a nice f college football results eeling to hear the music inside [after] the game. It's been awhile.""That's our job, to get on base and wreak havoc," added Dustin Pedroia, who homered twice and drove in five runs in the victory.Meanwhile, further south in the AL East, the Rays endured a difficult loss with David Price on the mound. The Orioles scored one run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth for the come-from-behind vi college football results ctory, spoiling a solid effort from Price, who allowed two runs (one earned) over 6 2/3 innings."They just got us at the end," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "They just did. We let them up. Realistically, we're not going to win the rest of our games. Hopefully, we're only going to lose a couple. So let's just move on to tomorrow."The Angels kept themselves in the Wild Card discussion with a 6-3 win college football results over the A's. The Angels trail Boston by 5 1/2 games for the AL Wild Card, but more importantly, the victory kept the Halos three games back of Texas in the AL West. The Rangers set the pace by winning, 10-4, over the Indians.The other West division leaders, the D-backs, are also one step closer to clinching their division following a 5-4, 10-inning victory over the Dodgers. Arizona is 9-3 in Sep college football results tember and, with a magic number of six to clinch a postseason berth and the NL West, moving toward its first glimpse of October baseball since 2007.Arizona ace Ian Kennedy may not have delivered his best start of the season, but he kept his club in the game."All I care about is winning for our team," Kennedy said. "I'm glad we won. It kind of stinks that I didn't feel like I did my job. I'm just g college football results lad our team picked me up -- just picked me up when I needed it."Arizona's direct competition for the much-desired second seed in the NL hierarchy, the Brewers, claimed victory in emphatic fashion on Tuesday night. Ryan Braun clubbed a walk-off home run off the Rockies' Matt Lindstrom in a 2-1 victory."I was definitely excited -- it's fun to play meaningful games this time of year," Braun said aft college football results er the game. "Obviously, we understand what's at stake and we really haven't been playing good baseball for the last week or so, and the trend kind of continued tonight. But we found a way to win, and for me personally, I had plenty of pent-up aggression before I hit that ball."Meanwhile, a third straight defeat -- and second in a row to the last-place Astros -- for the Phillies keeps their magic college football results number for clinching a postseason berth at one. Philadelphia's magic number for the NL East holds steady at five. For the second time in as many nights, the Phillies were shut down by a former teammate, as J.A. Happ allowed just one earned run on four hits over six innings for the win. Roy Halladay will take the mound on Wednesday, looking to send Philadelphia back to October.The Yankees moved one college football results step closer to an AL East crown on Tuesday, highlighted by Mariano Rivera becoming the second pitcher in Major League history to record 600 saves. Rivera, who now needs one more save to tie Trevor Hoffman's all-time saves mark, locked down a 3-2 Yankees victory in which A.J. Burnett made his best case yet to stay in the rotation when the postseason arrives. Burnett struck out 11 in a two-run, fou college football results r-hit effort at Seattle."I've been blessed to have a great bunch of guys as my teammates, supporting me and giving me all the opportunities to be able to pitch," Rivera said. "It feels great; it's a great number."St. Louis stayed in the hunt for the NL Wild Card thanks to a 6-4 victory over the Pirates. Chris Carpenter spearheaded the win by allowing four earned runs over seven innings. The Cardin college football results als are still chasing the Braves, who held on to their 4 1/2-game NL Wild Card lead with a 7-1 whitewashing of the Marlins.If the postseason started todayAMERICAN LEAGUERangers (3) at Yankees (1) Red Sox (Wild Card) at Tigers (2)NATIONAL LEAGUEBrewers (3) at Phillies (1) Braves (Wild Card) at D-backs (2) Today's key games to watch Cardinals (Jackson, 11-9) at Pirates (Morton, 9-9), 12:35 p.m. ET P college football results review The Cardinals trail the Brewers by 6 1/2 games in the NL Central. They trail the Braves by 4 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card.Blue Jays (Romero, 14-10) at Red Sox (Lackey, 12-12), 1:35 p.m. PreviewThe Red Sox lead the Rays by four games in the AL Wild Card and trail the Yankees by four games in the AL East. Lackey needs to infuse some confidence as September winds down.Phillies (Halladay, 17 college football results -5) at Astros (Norris, 6-9), 2:05 p.m. PreviewThe Phillies' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one as they send their ace to the mound. Their magic number to win the NL East stands at five.Tigers (Penny, 10-10) at White Sox (Axelrod, 0-0), 2:10 p.m. PreviewThe Tigers lead the AL Central by 12 1/2 games over the White Sox, with a magic number of four to clinch the division. Detroit sit 4 1/ college football results 2 games behind the Yankees for the best record in the AL.Angels (Weaver, 16-7) at Athletics (Harden, 4-2), 3:35 p.m. PreviewThe Angels trail the Rangers by three games in the AL West and cannot spoil any starts by their ace.Indians (Huff, 2-4) at Rangers (Holland, 13-5), 7:05 p.m. PreviewThe Rangers lead the Angels by three games in AL West, and they trail the Yankees by 6 1/2 games for the best college football results record in the AL.Rays (Davis, 10-8) at Orioles (Guthrie, 7-17), 7:05 p.m. PreviewThe Rays trail the Red Sox by four games in the AL Wild Card and need to take advantage of facing the last-place Orioles ahead of this weekend's four-game set in Boston.Rockies (Millwood, 2-2) at Brewers (Marcum, 12-6), 8:10 p.m. PreviewThe Brewers lead the NL Central by 6 1/2 games over St. Louis with a magic numb college football results er of eight. Marcum looks to bounce back from a rocky outing following a dominant streak.D-backs (Hudson, 16-9) at Dodgers (Kershaw, 18-5), 10:10 p.m. PreviewThe D-backs look keep pace with Milwaukee for the NL's second-best record, while Clayton Kershaw looks to build his NL Cy Young credentials.Yankees (Nova, 15-4) at Mariners (Vargas, 8-13), 10:10 p.m. PreviewIvan Nova looks to start a new wi college football results nning streak as the Yankees try to build upon their four-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East.Postseason 101Magic numbersTo calculate a team's magic number, take the number of games it has remaining on the schedule and add one. Then subtract the difference in the loss column between the team and its closest pursuer. Here are the current magic numbers.Yankees: 8 to clinch postseason, 12 to cli college football results nch the AL EastTigers: 4 to clinch AL CentralRangers: 12 games to clinch a postseason berth and AL WestRed Sox: 12 games to clinch the AL Wild CardPhillies: 1 game to clinch postseason, 5 games to clinch NL EastBrewers: 8 games to clinch NL CentralD-backs: 6 games to clinch postseason and NL WestBraves: 10 games to clinch the NL Wild CardTiebreaker scenariosIf two teams are tied atop the divisio college football results n and both are assured of making the postseason, head-to-head record would be used to determine which team is the division champ and which falls to the Wild Card.If two teams are tied atop the division and share the Wild Card lead with another club, the ties will be broken in the following fashion: #149 The teams tied atop the division will play, with the winner taking the division. #149 The losin college football results g team will then play the remaining Wild Card contender, with the winner making the playoffs.If three clubs are tied atop a division or Wild Card standings, each club would be designated in one of three slots, "A," "B," or "C." Clubs get to choose their designation based on head-to-head records. Tiebreaking games would then proceed like this: #149 Club A hosts Club B on Thursday, Sept. 29 #149 The college football results winner of the first game hosts Club C on Friday, Sept. 30, with the winner declared champion.If two division winners are tied for the highest winning percentage, the following tie-breakers will be used to determine home-field advantage in the Division Series: #149; Head-to-head record #149; Highest winning percentage in intraleague games #149; Highest winning percentage in the last half of intral college football results eague games #149; If the clubs remain tied, then the tied club with the higher winning percentage in the last half plus one of the intraleague games during the championship season. This process will be followed game-by-game until the tie is broken. 2011 Postseason scheduleAmerican League Division Series: Sept. 30 - Oct. 6National League Division Series: Oct. 1-7American League Championship Series: college football results Oct. 8-16National League Championship Series: Oct. 9-17World Series: Oct. 19-27Full postseason schedule college football results
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