Peralta’s single lifts Tribe in 9th
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Jhonny Peralta hit a game-ending RBI single Saturday night to give the Cleveland Indians a wild 9-8 win over Baltimore, extending the Orioles’ losing streak to nine games.
Luis Valbuena started the ninth with a single against Jim Johnson (4-6), Baltimore’s seventh pitcher, and moved up on Shin-Soo Choo’s groundout. Peralta then lined a 3-1 pitch to center to win it.
The Orioles, mired in their longest skid since they dropped 10 straight Sept. 17-26, 2008, fell to 6-16 in September.
Cleveland earned consecutive victories for the first time since Aug. 26-27. The Indians beat the Orioles 4-2 on Friday night to avoid tying the franchise record for consecutive losses at 12.
Dodgers 8, Pirates 4
PITTSBURGH — The Dodgers locked up their fourth playoff appearance in six years, getting a two-run single from pinch-hitter Jim Thome during a four-run eighth inning in which Pirates relievers walked four before going on to beat Pittsburgh.
Manager Joe Torre is headed to the postseason for a record-tying 14th straight time — only the Braves’ Bobby Cox has accomplished the feat — after the Dodgers assured themselves of at least a wild-card spot. They also cut their magic number to two for winning the NL West for the second consecutive season.
Any combination of Dodgers victories and Rockies losses totaling two will give Los Angeles its first back-to-back division titles since 1977-78. The Rockies lost to the Cardinals on Saturday night.
The Pirates, losers of 23 of 26 before beating the Dodgers on Friday night, trailed 3-0 before Andy LaRoche homered in the fourth against Randy Wolf. Pittsburgh took a 4-3 lead in the seventh, when Wolf and relievers Hong-Chih Kuo and George Sherrill walked three around Luis Cruz’s RBI single and Andrew McCutchen’s two-run single.
The Pirates’ bullpen, which pitched six shutout innings on Friday, couldn’t hold the lead. Manny Ramirez, who went 2 for 2 and scored twice, walked ahead of Ronnie Belliard’s single off Denny Bautista (1-1). Phil Dumatrait walked James Loney to load the bases, and Steven Jackson walked Andre Ethier and Orlando Hudson in succession to force in two runs.