The wild-card races went down to the very last day of the season. The battle between the Boston Redsox and Tampa Bay Rays was a fierce battle to the end. The Redsox took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, when Dustin Pedroia singled up the middle to score Mike Aviles. The Orioles came back in their half of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, when J. Hardy hit a two run homer in the left field seats. Boston scored one run in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-2 lead. The Redsox lead held up until the bottom of the ninth, when the Orioles scored two runs to beat the Redsox 4-3.
While the Redsox were battling the Orioles, Rays had their own challenge facing the New York Yankees. The Rays found themselves down early to the Yankees 7-0. Tampa Bay was behind 7-1, going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Tampa Bay stormed back scoring eight runs in their half of the eighth to tie the game 7-7. Tampa Bays' Evan Longoria led off the bottom of the twelfth inning with a line-drive homer down the left field line to beat the Yankees 8-7. Tampa Bays' Longoria hit the homer minutes after the Orioles defeated the Redsox. With the win the Rays clinched a spot in postseason.
2011 ALDS MATCH-UPS:
The NL Wild-Card race was dead even going into the last game of the season, like the AL Wild-Card race. The Atlanta Braves had been struggling to win baseball games down the stretch. They had the toughest challenge facing the Phillies, who have the best record in the major leagues. Atlanta had a slim lead over Philadelphia 3-2 going into the ninth inning. The Phillies tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, when the bases were loaded and Chase Utley hit a scacrifice fly to score Pete Orr. The Phillies took the lead in the top of the thirteenth inning, when Hunter Pence singled up the middle to score Brian Schneider. Atlantas' Chipper Jones strikes out, then Dan Uggla walks, and Freddie Freeman ends the game, hitting into a double-play. With the loss the Atlanta Braves found themselves left out of the postseason for the second consecutive year.
While the Braves were facing the Phillies, the Cardinals were facing the Astros, who have the worst record in the major leagues. The Cardinals immediately took charge of the game by scoring five runs in the first inning. St. Louis never looked back pounding out twelve hits, while Chris Carpenter pitched a complete game. Chris Carpenter pitched a two hit shutout. The Cardinals were dominant the whole night, beating the Astros 8-0. St. Louis found out later on that night, they were heading to the postseason. When they saw that the Phillies defeated the Braves in the thirteenth inning 4-3.
2011 NLDS MATCH-UPS:
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