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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers didn’t waste this homecoming, and Kenny Rogers made every pitch count. In a ballpark normally locked up by October, the Tigers got 7 2-3 shutout innings from Rogers and outplayed New York in a 6-0 victory, pushing Detroit within one win of shocking the Yankees into an early winter.

The 41-year-old Rogers, one of the few Detroit staffers who doesn’t fire 100 mph fastballs, used every pitch in his personal stash to blank a revamped Yankees’ lineup for his first career postseason win.

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OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 8-3 on Friday to sweep their three-game division series and book a place in the American League Championship Series.

The win before a sold-out home-town crowd marked the end of an embarrassing post-season streak for Oakland.

The A’s lost to the Twins in the AL Division Series in five games in 2002, and had 2-0 leads in the 2001 and 2003 series against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox before losing three straight in each.

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By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sure, the New York Mets are missing two experienced starters. They still have Tom Glavine, though, and his stellar pitching performance put them on the brink of a first-round sweep.

Making his 33rd postseason start – but first since joining the Mets in 2003 – Glavine tossed six shutout innings and New York scratched out enough runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Thursday night for a 2-0 lead in their NL playoff series.

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