Sabathia delivers gem
Brewers tie Mets in wild-card race
CC Sabathia sizzled on short rest, and the Milwaukee Brewers pulled even with the New York Mets in the wild-card race.
Sabathia gave up four hits over seven innings while striking out a season-high 11 and the Brewers rallied past the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee won its 11th straight over Pittsburgh in its desperate quest to make the postseason for the first time since 1982.
Sabathia (10-2) retired 13 of his final 14 batters after giving up a two-out RBI single to Jason Michaels in the third inning.
Other N.L. highlights
Braves 10, Phillies 4: Chipper Jones hit his second career pinch-hit homer and visiting Atlanta beat East-leading Philadelphia. The Phillies remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Mets.
Cubs 9, Mets 6 (10): Derrek Lee blooped a go-ahead double in the 10th inning off Luis Ayala, Aramis Ramirez followed with a two-run homer and visiting Chicago rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat New York. The Mets failed to win after taking a four-run lead for the eighth time this season.
Dodgers 12, Padres 4: Nomar Garciaparra homered for the second straight night and added a go-ahead double in the fifth, and Manny Ramirez added a two-run shot as Los Angeles beat visiting San Diego to lower its magic number for clinching the West to one.
A.L. highlights
Rays 11, Orioles 6: Tampa Bay rallied from a six-run deficit to beat host Baltimore and lowered its magic number to clinching its first East Division pennant to one.
Twins 3, White Sox 2: Nick Blackburn fought through five innings and the maligned Minnesota bullpen didn’t flinch, pitching the Twins past visiting Chicago to pull within a half-game of Chicago in the Central.
Clearing the bases
The Dodgers activated shortstop Rafael Furcal from the 60-day disabled list and placed right-hander Brad Penny on the 60-day DL. … The Brewers, with their starting rotation in tatters, will start Yovani Gallardo tonight against the Pirates. Gallardo hasn’t pitched since May 1. … New York Yankees starter Andy Pettitte will not pitch again this season because of a sore left shoulder. … Detroit reliever Todd Jones is retiring, he announced in his column in the Sporting News. He went on the DL in late July with an injured right shoulder. … Colorado Rockies center fielder Willy Taveras is done for the season because of a stress fracture in his right lower leg. … Rockies first baseman Todd Helton will have back surgery to alleviate a disk problem. … Top draft picks Pedro Alvarez (Pirates) and Eric Hosmer (Kansas City) are free to start working out with their new teams after Major League Baseball and the players’ union reached agreement on their status.