day break

Three American League games with postseason implications are in the books today, and Mississippians played a notable role in the outcome of two of them. At Tampa Bay, Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to beat Texas 5-4, and at Cleveland, Pascagoula’s Tony Sipp surrendered a seventh-inning grand slam to Detroit’s Victor Martinez that propelled the Tigers to an 8-6 victory. Meanwhile, New York lost to Baltimore 5-4 in 11 innings; Mississippi State alumnus Craig Tatum started behind the plate for the Orioles and went 0-for-2. … Jennings’ homer was his ninth since his late July call-up, and he is hitting .302. Tampa Bay, clinging to faint wild-card hopes, moved within 7 1/2 games of Boston in that race. The Red Sox play at Toronto tonight. … The loss for Texas reduced its lead to 3 games over Los Angeles, which plays tonight at home against Seattle. … Sipp’s blown save was his first of the season; he has been an effective lefty out of the pen. Cleveland, hanging on by a thread in the AL Central, lost all three games of its series with first-place Detroit and now trails by 9 1/2 games. Chicago, down 8 1/2 games to the Tigers, is at Minnesota tonight.