Ken Griffey Jr. thrilled his fans one last time, taking a curtain call after singling in his final at-bat. He wiped away tears that fell from behind sunglasses he had put on in a futile attempt to hide his emotions. He looked like a bellhop, tipping his cap so many times to so many people during this joyous season finale.
If Randy Johnson's career is over, he finished it with a strikeout. The Big Unit and Pablo Sandoval each provided some final memories for a San Francisco Giants team that stayed in the wild-card chase until the last week of the season. Johnson made what could be the last appearance of his brilliant, 22-year big league career, pitching one adventuresome inning of relief in the Giants' 4-3,…
The St. Louis Cardinals are scuffling to the postseason, going 1-6 after clinching the NL Central. It's hardly a crisis of confidence. "Yeah, we made some mistakes this whole series," Albert Pujols said after the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep with a 9-7, 10-inning victory on Sunday.
Philadelphia's big sluggers had the day off to rest for the playoffs. The Phillies didn't miss them in their final postseason tuneup. With Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley all out of the lineup, Paul Hoover hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning and the defending World Series champions prepared for their title defense with a 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday.
Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run homer on his first swing of the season and smacked a grand slam on his last. The New York Yankees slugger was pretty impressive in between, too. Setting what he hopes will be the tone for a successful playoff run, Rodriguez homered twice and drove in an AL-record seven runs in a 10-run sixth inning Sunday, helping the AL East champions finish the regular season with a…
The Detroit Tigers did their part Sunday, then found cozy spots in their clubhouse, cafeteria or manager's office to root for Kansas City to beat Minnesota. No such luck. Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth inning in the Tigers' 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, but the Twins routed the Royals to force a tiebreaker for the AL Central title Tuesday at the Metrodome.
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez will be evaluated at the end of the season, leaving the winningest manager in team history with no guarantee he'll return for 2010. Marlins president David Samson also said Sunday he was not aware of any talks between Florida and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine.
Clay Buchholz has one week to think about his next start. Or, even better, not to think about it. Manager Terry Francona said Buchholz was still in line to follow Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the rotation for the first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels, even after the Red Sox right-hander lasted just three innings in a 12-7 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.
Lockers were being cleaned out and boxes were being filled with belongings as the Chicago Cubs hurried to get out of town at the end of a disappointing season. "It's a little weird to be packing up and heading home, because the last couple of years we've been still playing," said Ryan Dempster, the losing pitcher Sunday as the Arizona ended the year with a 5-2 victory."…
Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha will be back for a second season in 2010. General manager Doug Melvin announced before Sunday's season finale that Macha was being retained for the second season of the two-year contract he signed last October. The club holds an option for 2011. "I'm fine with what happened," Macha said.
