BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees left it late to dampen the Baltimore Orioles' first post-season appearance in 15 years with a 7-2 victory in the rain-delayed opener of their American League Division Series Sunday. New York erupted for five runs in the ninth inning, snapping a tense 2-2 tie and spoiling the party for the 47,841 orange-clad fans on a chilly night at a sold-out Camden Yards. Russell Martin opened the inning by knocking a 91 mph (146.45 km) belt-high, fast ball from Orioles' All-Star reliever Jim Johnson into the left field seats. “We've always thought he's a very good hitter and we saw him get off to a really tough start, and he has really turned it around,” New York manager Joe Girardi told reporters of Martin. “He was huge in the month of September for us. Huge hit tonight. He's got a lot of power. He packs a lot of power... and he's capable of doing it.” Martin's tie-breaking homer was followed by an RBI single by Ichiro Suzuki, a two-run double by Robinson Cano and a sacrifice fly by Nick Swisher. Southpaw CC Sabathia got the win for New York, pitching 8 2/3 innings, before giving way to reliever David Robinson for the final out of a game that started two-and-a-half hours later than scheduled due to intermittent rain. “I pitch to my strength, attacking in, and just going off my fastball command, and it was working today,” Sabathia said. Johnson, whose 51 saves led the majors, took the loss after giving up five runs while getting only one batter out. “It's just tough going, period,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter lamented. “There's not much margin for error. Jimmy has been great for us all year and will be again. Tonight just wasn't his night. Gave up really one hard-hit ball.” Game Two of the best-of-five series is also in Baltimore Monday.Tigers edge AthleticsDon Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to right-field in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Detroit Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics also Sunday and a commanding 2-0 lead in their American League Division Series playoff series. Kelly's drive off A's closer Grant Balfour scored Omar Infante to cap a wild finish in which both teams scored late, game-tying runs on wild pitches after Detroit took a seventh-inning lead on a two-run error. Detroit reliever Al Alburquerque, who retired Yoenis Cespedes on a grounder with men on first and third in the ninth for the only batter he faced, took the win. The Australian Balfour got the loss. Detroit moved within one win of advancing to the American League Championship Series, with the best-of-five AL Division Series shifting to Oakland Tuesday. “They (Detroit) got big hits and did good things at the right moments,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “Both teams made some mistakes that got the other team in the game.”— Agencies
