Rangers rough up Shields to knot series at one all

Mike Napoli had a tying two-run single before Tampa Bay starter James Shields threw two wild pitches to the same batter, and the Texas Rangers went on to an 8-6 victory Saturday over the Rays in Game 2 of the American League division series in Arlington, Texas.

After Napoli’s two-run single tied it at 3, one of the wild pitches by Shields was a strikeout pitch that sent home the tiebreaking run in a five-run outburst in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.

“It was very satisfying because Tampa has some great pitching over there, and pitching usually settles down a great offense,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “But we kept grinding and kept grinding, and, you know, I think we got our confidence back.”

The best-of-five series is even at a game apiece. Game 3 is in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday, when Colby Lewis pitches for the Rangers against David Price.

Yankees 9, Tigers 3: Robinson Cano hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, rookie Ivan Nova pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning in an unusual relief appearance and New York shook off a 23-hour rain delay to beat Detroit in a suspended playoff opener in New York.

A day after rain wiped out aces Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia after only 1 1/2 innings, the game resumed in the bottom of the second. No national anthem, all Yankees.

Cano barely missed a homer on his tiebreaking double in the fifth and New York broke it open with a six-run sixth against Doug Fister. Brett Gardner had a two-run single with two outs to make it 4-1 and, moments later, Cano connected off Al Alburquerque for his fourth grand slam since Aug. 11.

“I always say things happen for a reason,” Cano said. “We couldn’t play last night, but we played today and we ended up winning the game.”

Freddy Garcia starts for New York this afternoon in Game 2 of the best-of-five series. Max Scherzer gets the ball for the Tigers, who will try to rebound the same way they did against the Yankees in 2006.

That year, Detroit dropped the series opener in New York before winning three straight to stun the heavily favored Yankees in the first round.

Phillies 11, Cardinals 6: Ryan Howard took a mighty cut, dropped his bat and admired the shot.

The big slugger didn’t go down looking in a clutch spot this time, and Roy Halladay overcame a shaky start to help Philadelphia beat St. Louis in the opener of a National League division series in Philadelphia.

Howard shook off his season-ending strikeout last October to hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in a five-run sixth inning, sending Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy. Halladay retired his last 21 batters, and the N.L. East champions began their all-or-nothing postseason run with a comeback win.

Halladay allowed three runs and three hits, striking out eight in eight innings. He didn’t allow a runner after Skip Schumaker led off the second with a single.

Game 2 is tonight, with Cliff Lee pitching for Philadelphia against Chris Carpenter, who is starting on three days’ rest.

Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 1: Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers made Ian Kennedy work hard in his first postseason appearance, beating the Arizona ace in a N.L. division series playoff opener in Milwaukee.

The Brewers’ pair of MVP candidates combined for five hits, and Fielder’s two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning made it 4-0 and chased Kennedy.

Kennedy went 21-4 this season, including 13-1 in his final 15 starts. The streak included a win over Milwaukee in which he threw seven scoreless innings, and only once during that run did he allow more than three runs.

“It’s real tough because you feel like everything falls on my shoulders,” Kennedy said. “It’s frustrating ’cause I feel like as the starting pitcher you have got to set the tone. You’d like to take the first game, but we’ll have to brush this off quickly.”

Yovani Gallardo, meanwhile, emerged from the shadows and pitched the Brewers to victory.

Gallardo retired 14 of 15 during one stretch, perhaps helped by how the shadows cut across the infield. With an early start time, the sun peeked through the retractable roof at Miller Park all afternoon, creating a crazy, changing pattern.

Gallardo gave up one run and four hits over eight innings and matched a postseason franchise record with nine strikeouts.

“He was dialing up every single pitch he threw,” Kennedy said. “He was throwing hard and throwing really well tonight. You have to be perfect when a guy is throwing like that.”

Game 2 is today. Zack Greinke will start for Milwaukee, while Arizona will start Daniel Hudson.