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Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Karl Klug stripped the ball from Geno Smith and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
NASHVILLE — All that is new and supposedly improved about the Jets this season — the starting quarterback, the offensive philosophy, Rex Ryan's coaching staff — was viewed at LP Field on Sunday with a fair amount of skepticism: the theme music to "The Benny Hill Show" accompanied their pregame stampede out of the tunnel.
Alterraun Verner accounted for three of the Jets' four turnovers, snaring both of Geno Smith's interceptions and scooping up Smith's second-quarter fumble. Smith and the Jets' receivers thrived last week against Buffalo's cornerbacks, but they could not handle the Titans' physical secondary.
That is how many rushing yards gained on 31 attempts by the Titans, who ranked among the N.F.L. leaders in attempts, but it was nothing but a Pyrrhic victory for the Jets. Jake Locker shredded the Jets for three touchdowns on 18 of 24 passing, and even his backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, added a 77-yard scoring pass to Nate Washington.
The Jets finished September at 2-2, which was a reasonable projection when the season started. Now that they enter a demanding phase of their schedule, will they be able to duplicate — or exceed — that performance and keep pace in the A.F.C.?
Titans quarterback Jake Locker left the game with a hip injury but not before he threw for three touchdowns, including a damaging 16-yard pass to Darrin Walls with 2 seconds left in the first half.
That is how fans here remember the Jets — a bumbling, blundering outfit whose dysfunction and ineptitude converged in a blooper-filled debacle last December — and, to be fair, their perception is not without merit.
Instead of summoning a victory that would establish their credibility and validate their early-season optimism, the Jets stumbled to a 38-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a defeat that, like last year's, was defined by the struggles of their quarterback.
It was Geno Smith, not Mark Sanchez, who committed turnover after turnover, four in all, three in the first half and none that could be justified by a reasonable explanation. There were two fumbles and two interceptions, and the Titans scored a touchdown after every one. The Jets trailed by 10 points after the first quarter, 18 at halftime and 25, the final margin, for much of the fourth.
"I never expected for the game to turn out like this," Ryan said, and his wrath afterward spared no one.
Not a defense that conceded four passing touchdowns and a 56 percent success rate on third down. Not an offensive line that buckled under pressure that players swore they knew was coming, yielding five sacks. Not the cornerbacks, who Ryan said must learn to compete better when the ball is in the air. And certainly not Smith, who drew perhaps the harshest criticism of all.
A few times, Ryan has alluded to lessons he learned from his handling four years ago of Sanchez, and one of them might be his willingness to overlook Smith's rookie status and deliver sharp, public rebukes of his performance.
It happened in training camp, when Ryan described Smith's play during one error-laden practice as brutal, and it happened again Sunday, when he rejected the notion that Smith's penchant for turnovers — 10 in four games — was a normal, if hardly desired, aspect of the development of a first-year quarterback.
"How many times do we have to make that excuse, though?" Ryan said. "One of these days, we're going to learn from them. It better be soon."
Soon is a nebulous ultimatum — by next week? Two weeks? Three? Smith is in no imminent danger of losing his job, but he does recognize the importance of taking responsibility for his actions. He spoke to several players afterward and, according to linebacker Antwan Barnes, told them, "It won't happen again."
"All I can do is put my trust in him," Barnes said, adding, "He said he's got to do better, so I believe in him."
This was considered a game the Jets could win — or at least a game they had to win to prove their bona fides. All season they have teetered between agony and ecstasy, with their first three games decided by all of 11 points. Sometimes, luck and explosive plays can offset penalties and turnovers, as they did last Sunday against Buffalo, but it cannot occur every week.
There were no long gains to balance Smith's lack of awareness, and there were no defensive stands to compensate for the Jets' offensive ineffectiveness. They spoke of enhanced focus, confidence and discipline after outlasting the Bills in a 20-penalty fiasco, and yet all evidence suggested the contrary. They committed 10 more penalties Sunday, with some stalling drives or negating third-down conversions, and they also failed to force a turnover for the third straight week.
The Jets are, in many ways, fortunate to have a record as good as 2-2 with a minus-10 turnover margin. Smith, who completed 23 of 34 passes for 289 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to Jeff Cumberland, said he forced the throw on his first interception, which came on his first pass of the game. He called his first fumble "reckless." His second fumble could be considered an adaptation of Sanchez's infamous butt-fumble here that, staying true to the original, produced the same deflating result.
Dennis Eckersley earned his Hall of Fame credentials as a pitcher capable of dominating both the start and finish of games.
Eckersley is one of only two pitchers in major league history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season. For his career, he had 197 wins and 390 saves pitching for the Oakland Athletics, the Boston Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a member of the Athletics in 1992, Eckersley became the ninth pitcher in history to win the Cy Young and most Most Valuable Player awards in the same season. He helped the Athletics win four American League West titles, three A.L. pennants and the 1989 World Series. Eckersley was named the A.L. Championship Series most valuable player in 1988. He threw a no-hitter against the California Angels in 1977. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
Eckersley, 58, is a baseball analyst for TBS. The network will televise the A.L. wild-card tiebreaker, the National League and A.L. wild-card games, up to 20 N.L. and A.L. division series games and the N.L. championship series.
What teams will meet in the World Series and who is your choice to win it?
Dodgers versus the Red Sox. I pick the Red Sox.
What player do you think will have a big postseason?
Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. I think his dominance will continue in the postseason.
Do you consider Mariano Rivera the greatest closer ever? Goose Gossage (link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/sports/baseball/07seconds.html) has said Rivera is the best modern-day closer although he didn't pitch multiple innings as many relievers did in the past.
Yes, I think he's the greatest of all time. No one has or ever will have his dominance and consistency. He never had a bad year. What also puts him over the top is his postseason success. That will never be duplicated, ever.
Would you advise Matt Harvey to have Tommy John surgery or try to rehab instead?
He should have the surgery. He should fix it once and for all. You don't want to have a lingering problem and risk losing or wasting more time.
Should players who used performance-enhancing drugs make the Hall of Fame?
No, but the larger jury of baseball writers will make the ultimate conclusion.
Do you like the expanded use of replay?
I like the expanded use of replays. You'd be surprised at the amount of plays that would have been changed. Let's get it right.
You started and closed. The Reds have thought about making Aroldis Chapman, their star closer, a starter. What are your thoughts?
Don't mess with success. His velocity may go down as a starter and make starting more difficult. Stick with closing.
Who do think is a pitcher that will have a big year in 2014?
Jose Fernandez with the Miami Marlins. He already had a great coming-out year, and I expect an even greater year next year.
Game on the line, what hitter did you not want to face?
George Brett. He was the greatest gap-to-gap hitter I ever faced.
Your favorite memory?
Catching the ball in my glove for the last out of the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series. It was extra special because it was my only World Series win. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, growing up a San Francisco Giants fan and then had the best years of my career with the Oakland A's.
Any regrets?
Yes. Does the pitch to Kirk Gibson give you any hints of my regrets?
If you were not a baseball player, what career would you have chosen?
Hollywood (laughs).
In a hearing room before the arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, lawyers for Rodriguez will argue why the 211-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball on Aug. 5 should be overturned.
"Obviously, this is going to be a grueling process all the way through," Rodriguez said. "This has been a burden. It's been a big burden. So let's get it on."
Rodriguez, a three-time American League most valuable player, is fourth on the career home run list with 654. The Major League Baseball Players Association says the penalty imposed by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is excessive. Unless there is a settlement, no decision is expected until the winter.
A veteran of baseball salary arbitration, the 64-year-old Horowitz took over as the sport's grievance arbitrator in June 2012 from Shyam Das, fired a month earlier by management after almost 13 years. Das had overturned a 50-game suspension of Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun in February 2012 after the players' association argued that Braun's urine sample was not handled properly.
In Horowitz's only decision thus far, he upheld a 100-game suspension imposed last year on San Francisco reliever Guillermo Mota for a second positive test. Horowitz has initially set aside Monday through Friday for the hearing, where each side can introduce evidence, present witnesses and cross-examine them.
After the hearing days conclude, the sides will be given several weeks to submit final briefs. Horowitz will then take time to make his decision. While technically chairman of a three-person panel, Horowitz is the independent member joined by one representative of each side.
Rodriguez was suspended for his involvement with the now-closed Biogenesis of America clinic in Coral Gables, Fla. The 13 other players penalized accepted their suspensions, which included a 65-game ban for Braun and 50-game penalties for the others.
M.L.B. said Rodriguez was suspended under baseball's joint drug agreement "based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years." He also was disciplined under the collective bargaining agreement "for attempting to cover up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
Rodriguez is being treated as a first offender under the drug program, which means no suspension starts unless upheld by an arbitrator.
After hip surgery in January and a leg injury sustained during a minor league rehabilitation assignment in July, Rodriguez, 38, returned to the Yankees on the day he was suspended. He hit .244 with 7 homers and 19 runs batted in over 44 games.
"I'm really looking forward to at least one full off-season of hard-core training," he said. "I haven't had that in quite a long time — then come back in tremendous shape and help this team win. This team has a lot of things to do over the winter. Obviously, my situation is going to play a big part in it."
Rodriguez and the Yankees squawked at each other in the summer, with Rodriguez maintaining that the Yankees were trying to keep him from returning. The team denied the accusation.
He is owed $86 million by the Yankees over the last four seasons of his record 10-year, $275 million contract. If he is suspended for the bulk of next season, the team has a chance to get under the luxury tax threshold of $189 million.
But the length of any suspension will be decided by either Horowitz or in an agreement among Rodriguez, M.L.B. and the union.
"I will be there every day," Rodriguez said. "I'm fighting for my life and my whole legacy."
HOUSTON — Along with Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and a host of other Yankees, Alex Rodriguez said he is done for 2013.
Rodriguez cited the lingering soreness in his strained right calf and the fact the Yankees are no longer playing for a playoff spot for the early end to his season. But the question remains when he will play another game.
On Monday, Rodriguez and his team of lawyers will begin their challenge of Major League Baseball's record 211-game suspension for allegations that Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs, a proceeding that could last a week or more.
Rodriguez said before Saturday's 2-1 victory over the Astros that he was eager for the chance to defend himself, and that he planned to attend the hearings in Manhattan.
"Let's get it on," Rodriguez said. "This has been a burden. I'm excited for the chance to clear my name. I'm fighting for my life and for my legacy."
Rodriguez, who did not make his season debut until Aug. 5 after a series of leg injuries, finished the year with a .244 batting average, 7 home runs, 7 doubles and 23 walks for a .348 on-base percentage.
"It's been a rough year for everyone," he said. "Regardless of everything else, the goal was to get to the World Series, and it didn't happen."
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The Tampa Bay Rays dropped into a tie with Texas for the second American League wild-card spot, losing to the Blue Jays, 7-2, in Toronto on Saturday. Ryan Goins and Kevin Pillar hit two-run homers for the Blue Jays, and J. A. Happ won for the first time in four starts.
Rays starter Chris Archer lasted just two and a third innings, allowing one run and five hits. The Blue Jays continued to make life tough for the Rays (90-71), who lost their second straight after a seven-game winning streak and saw their playoff hopes go down to the final day of the regular season. The Rays fell a game behind the other A.L. wild-card contender, the Cleveland Indians (91-70), who won in Minnesota.
RANGERS 7, ANGELS 4 Craig Gentry doubled, scored and bunted in a run, helping host Texas beat Los Angeles and reach the final day of the regular season with a chance to make the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Texas (90-71) won its sixth straight.
Three batters into the game, the Rangers were behind, 1-0. But the Angels made five errors in the game, the first time they had done so since Sept. 16, 2006.
MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 5 Brad Miller hit two home runs, including his first grand slam, to lead Seattle to a win at home. The Boston Red Sox clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason with Oakland's loss.
PIRATES 8, REDS 3 Neil Walker hit two of Pittsburgh's six home runs — its biggest power surge in six years — and the Pirates clinched home-field advantage for the National League wild-card game by beating host Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh will host the Reds on Tuesday in the Pirates' first playoff appearance in 21 years.
HOUSTON — Along with Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and a host of other Yankees, Alex Rodriguez said he is done for 2013.
Rodriguez cited the lingering soreness in his strained right calf and the fact the Yankees are no longer playing for a playoff spot for the early end to his season. But the question remains when he will play another game.
On Monday, Rodriguez and his team of lawyers will begin their challenge of Major League Baseball's record 211-game suspension for allegations that Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs, a proceeding that could last a week or more.
Rodriguez said before Saturday's 2-1 victory over the Astros that he was eager for the chance to defend himself, and that he planned to attend the hearings in Manhattan.
"Let's get it on," Rodriguez said. "This has been a burden. I'm excited for the chance to clear my name. I'm fighting for my life and for my legacy."
Rodriguez, who did not make his season debut until Aug. 5 after a series of leg injuries, finished the year with a .244 batting average, 7 home runs, 7 doubles and 23 walks for a .348 on-base percentage.
"It's been a rough year for everyone," he said. "Regardless of everything else, the goal was to get to the World Series, and it didn't happen."
HOUSTON — They had a secret signal worked out. If Andy Pettitte, 41 years old and aching in almost every joint in his body, could not go any longer, if he needed to be rescued by a reliever, he would go to the rosin bag at the back of the mound. It would be his sign he was ready to leave baseball for good.
His manager had told him that the decision on when to come out of the last game of his career was Pettitte's alone. But through the seventh inning and 92 pitches, Pettitte had not gone anywhere near the bag. After eight innings, he had thrown more than 100 pitches, but he still did not touch it.
So finally, with two outs in the ninth, a runner on first base and a complete game now tantalizingly close, Manager Joe Girardi walked out of the dugout — accompanied by a round of booing from the fans — and told Pettitte it was still up to him.
Pettitte flashed back to all those times that his former manager, Joe Torre, had taken him out after eight innings because Torre had Mariano Rivera, the best closer in baseball, to turn to. By Saturday night, Rivera had already announced he would never play again, so that was not an option. Pettitte told Girardi, "I want to finish."
He did, and with a flourish befitting his marvelous career.
In his 438th start for the Yankees, which tied him with Whitey Ford for the most by a pitcher with the team, Pettitte matched Rivera's magical moment from Thursday night with magic of his own. He threw his first complete game in seven years, a 116-pitch gem, to beat the Houston Astros, his former team, 2-1, and put a bow on his life as a baseball player.
"I couldn't have dreamed of this to make it work out the way it did," he said.
For most of the last 90 years, the Yankees have made winning into an art form. They were not able to win enough this year to make the playoffs, but they have shown the world how to say goodbye.
On Thursday at Yankee Stadium, Rivera was removed by Pettitte and Derek Jeter and responded by weeping on Pettitte's shoulder. So before Pettitte's final start Saturday, in front of his hometown fans, there was some debate about how he would be removed from the game.
Would Rivera return the favor? Would Girardi do it?
No one did.
"Classic Andy," Girardi said. "I'm going to find a way to fight through it."
It was the last of 521 career starts, but Pettitte looked every bit like the dependable young left-hander he was when he helped the Yankees to the first of his five World Series titles, in 1996.
Now with his hair almost as gray as it is black and the years etched in the lines on his face, he summoned the talent and strength of his youth, pitching with a rookie's enthusiasm and a veteran's determination. When he got Jonathan Villar to ground out in the eighth to complete a 1-2-3 inning, he pounded his glove with his left hand and walked stoically off the mound.
Between innings throughout the game, he spent time in the tunnel with C. C. Sabathia, who agreed with Girardi that this game had all the feel of a playoff game for the Yankees — the team wanted a win for Pettitte that much.
"I was so nervous, my palms were sweating," Sabathia said. "He just gutted it out. That's a champion, right there."
Pettitte jogged back to the mound as most of the fans in the announced crowd of 37,199 stood and cheered, and then he went about attacking the Astros' hitters. After two quick outs, the fans rose to their feet again, but Chris Carter singled, the last of five hits against Pettitte.
Now in the stretch, he gave his signature stare over his glove one last time and induced a ground ball to third base on his 116th pitch. Eduardo Nunez made the play, and Pettitte slapped his hands together, spun around with a huge smile and hugged catcher Chris Stewart.
"It's just another day that I'll never forget," Pettitte said.
After he hugged each of his teammates, players on both teams came out of the dugouts and applauded as Pettitte waved to the crowd and then to them. He had evened his record to 11-11 and become the only pitcher with at least 15 seasons never to have a losing one, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He improved his career record to 256-153, including 219-127 with the Yankees, and he earned his 275th win, including playoff games.
Despite his overwhelming success, Pettitte was not thought of as pitcher with overwhelming tools, and he often had to battle his way through outings. But battle he did.
"I played this game as hard as I could," he said. "I feel like I milked every ounce of talent out of this body that God gave me. I was never a hard thrower; I never felt that I had great stuff. I wasn't able to strike out a lot of guys. I just felt like I gritted and willed myself through games."
That is what he did Saturday, with his family and dozens of friends and relatives on hand to watch, along with an entire stadium that was rooting for him, no matter what uniform he wore.
And as with Rivera, there were tears. After the game, as he recounted the events of the day, Pettitte said he started flashing back over his career during his familiar drive to the stadium. He recalled his days in the minor leagues. He remembered Girardi catching him from 1996 to 1999; he remembered five championships, and much more.
Then, with his family standing nearby, he was asked about his final moments on the field, waving to the crowd — his Houston neighbors — and to the Astros, who stayed behind and cheered him along with the Yankees. It was more than he could bear, and he broke down.
"I felt I wasn't even worthy of that happening to me," he said.
But he was. After 18 years in the major leagues, Pettitte, like Rivera, was worthy of deciding his own exit. He never went to the rosin bag.
Tyler Evert/Associated Press
Ishmael Banks of West Virginia vaulting over Oklahoma State quarterback J. W. Walsh to score on a 58-yard interception return in a 30-21 victory.
SHANE CARDEN The East Carolina quarterback, right, threw for 376 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for three scores in a 55-31 win at North Carolina.
ANTONIO ANDREWS The Western Kentucky back ran for 182 yards and 2 scores in a 19-7 win over Navy, which was held to 107 yards rushing, 292 yards below its average.
BRANDON CONNETTE The Duke quarterback threw for 324 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for two scores to lead Duke to a 38-31 victory over Troy.
J. D. ROUSSEL His three interceptions were among the seven turnovers Sacred Heart forced in a 16-0 win over Bucknell.
JERRY LOVELOCK The Prairie View A&M quarterback threw for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for three scores in a 56-48 win over Stephen F. Austin.
400 YARDS? AVERAGE
Sean Mannion passed for 414 yards and a team-record 6 touchdowns, helping host Oregon State win its fourth consecutive game, 44-17 over Colorado.
Mannion, a junior, completed 27 of 52 passes amid gusts. He leads the country with 2,018 passing yards, almost 405 a game. He has thrown 21 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. He entered the season with 31 career passing touchdowns and 31 interceptions.
"He better be in the Heisman talk after this game," said receiver Brandin Cooks, who caught nine passes for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Beavers (4-1, 2-0 Pacific-12).
LONG TIME COMING
Buffalo beat Connecticut for the first time since 2001 with a 41-12 victory.
UConn turned the ball over five times and remains winless through four games. The Huskies struggled to find any offense behind quarterback Chandler Whitmer, increasing the pressure on the third-year coach Paul Pasqualoni.
"I wish there was something I could've done to help them," Pasqualoni said.
Quarterback Joe Licata passed for a career-high three touchdowns for the Bulls (2-2). It was Buffalo's first victory over a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference since the Bulls gained a victory over Rutgers in September 2002.
HURT QUARTERBACK
South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said he was hopeful the starting quarterback Connor Shaw would be back on the field in two weeks after being knocked out of the Gamecocks' 28-25 win at Central Florida with a sprained right shoulder.
Shaw left the game during the Gamecocks' opening series after he landed awkwardly on his shoulder during a run with 6 minutes 34 seconds left in the first quarter. Shaw was dragged to the ground by linebacker Terrance Plummer and fumbled. The Knights recovered the ball, and Shaw came up holding his shoulder.
He was taken to the locker room and replaced by the backup Dylan Thompson on the next series.
HOUSTON — Mariano Rivera came to realize what all his fans understood Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. His ending there, amid tears of sadness and joy, was too perfect an ending to mess with. He revealed before Saturday's game that there would be no encore to his dramatic farewell.
"I'm done," he said. "I gave everything that I had."
Rivera said he was simply too drained, both physically and emotionally, and too sore to play again, and that includes pitching and playing center field.
Although Joe Girard would have allowed it, Rivera said he did not think his surgically repaired knee could have held up in the field, and he did not want to embarrass himself. Rivera also indicated that he had been pitching through forearm pain for a long time.
On Thursday night on the mound, Andy Pettitte took the ball out of his hand and Rivera broke down in his embrace. It was an emotional goodbye to the fans in New York and such a fitting ending, he said, that he knew it was best to leave it as his final moment on the field.
"I know it was the perfect moment to end it," he said. "I respect the Houston organization and the fans here in Houston, but unfortunately I won't be able to play. Too bad. It is something I would never expect to be like that. But at the same time, Thursday was the day that the Lord allowed me to enjoy and give my best."
Also on Saturday, Rivera conducted his 21st and final meeting with long-serving team employees and season-ticket holders. As he sat in a room with 18 men and women, he absent-mindedly rubbed his forearm while listening to the questions from the group, an indication that his arm still bothered him.
"Thursday was the day that I left everything on the field," he said. "I was pitching with a tremendous soreness in my arm, but at the same time I was giving everything. I left it there. From now I am just going to enjoy what I have left in the season and enjoy my family."
Rivera's final statistics this season include 44 saves and a 2.11 earned run average.
His career numbers are the stuff of legend, with 652 saves and 952 games finished, both records. He also had 42 saves, matching his uniform number, and a 0.70 earned run average in 141 innings in the postseason. In all, he pitched in 1,211 games and logged 1,4242/3 innings, which helped explain his immediate plans for his postplaying days.
"Rest, rest, rest," he said, "and rest and rest, and more rest."
The Tampa Bay Rays won an 18-inning game against Baltimore last Friday and did not look back, winning six more games in a row and, in the process, building a small lead in the battle for the two American League wild-card spots.
But that run ended Friday night in Toronto, where the Rays lost, 6-3. They also forfeited the one-game margin they had held over the Cleveland Indians, who continued their streak of the last two weeks, in which they have won every game they have played against a losing team.
And this one was over early, sort of. Playing in Minneapolis, the Indians jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Twins in the second inning, withstood some pushback and came away with a 12-6 victory. As a result, the Indians and the Rays are now tied for the wild-card lead, with the Texas Rangers just a game behind.
The Rangers won their fifth in a row, all at home, beating the Los Angeles Angels, 5-3. Texas took a 3-1 lead, let the Angels tie it when the former Rangers star Josh Hamilton hit a two-run single but then went back ahead with a two-run rally in the seventh.
So with two games to go for each of the wild-card contenders, and only Texas playing at home, the chances of a three-way tie at the end of the regular season on Sunday are seeming more likely.
That has never happened before, but then again, the two-wild-card-spots-in-each-league format started only a year ago. If there is a three-way tie, Tampa Bay will play at Cleveland on Monday, with the winner earning one of the two wild-card spots and the loser playing Tuesday at Texas. The winner of that game would earn the second wild-card berth.
The two wild-card teams would then play Wednesday, with the winner advancing (staggering?) into a first-round, five-game series against the A.L. division winner with the best win-loss record from the regular season.
Meanwhile, there are two games to go. Here is a breakdown of the three teams now taking this race to the wire.
TAMPA BAY, 90-70 The Rays are normally a solid defensive team, but their three errors on Friday night — two by Evan Longoria — helped end their seven-game winning streak. The bad fielding may have been a sign of weariness, but the Rays are still in a good position to make it to October.
CLEVELAND, 90-70 Who, before the season began, could have pictured the Indians winning 90 games? That's exactly where they are, though, modest roster or not. They banged out 17 hits on Friday night and look relentless, at least against teams under .500.
TEXAS, 89-71 One game behind, with two games to go. Last year, the Rangers lost the wild-card playoff game to Baltimore. Will they get another shot?
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HOUSTON — A loud wave of boos accompanied David Robertson to the mound in the ninth inning Friday night. It wasn't so much what Robertson had done or not done. It was just who he wasn't.
He wasn't Mariano Rivera.
There were many Yankee fans among the 29,486 in attendance at Minute Maid Park for the Yankees' 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros in a game that meant nothing. Many of them, and many more Astros fans, had come in the hopes of seeing Rivera, the career saves leader who bade an emotional goodbye to Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
Robertson said he understood the booing. "Either way, they weren't happy to see me coming into the game," he said. "But it's O.K. with me. It's just part of the gig."
Robertson said he didn't necessarily see any symbolism in him locking down the save — his third — in a 1-2-3 inning just one day after Rivera's farewell to Yankee fans. Manager Joe Girardi said he spoke to Rivera before the game and Rivera told him he wasn't available, which was fine with Girardi.
"Last night was such an emotional night and I didn't know what to expect," Robertson said. "I caught myself holding back tears because it was sad. It's his last time to pitch in Yankee Stadium. But I don't feel like any passing of the torch has been done because I don't know what's going to happen next year. I just closed out tonight's game, but that's tonight. I don't know what's going to happen next year."
Ben Margot/Associated Press
Matt Cassel, right, playing for Minnesota in a preseason game. He will see his first regular-season action for the team Sunday.
Matt Cassel will get a chance to steer Minnesota to its first win of the season — and maybe put himself in position for a more regular role.
Cassel will replace the injured starter Christian Ponder at quarterback in the Vikings' game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London. The Vikings (0-3) ruled out Ponder on Friday because of the rib he fractured in last weekend's loss to Cleveland.
"We worked with Matt in the mind-set that this was a possibility, so I think we're prepared in that way," Vikings Coach Leslie Frazier said. "He's been in this role before. His veteran presence — you can feel it."
Cassel, who signed a two-year contract with the Vikings in March, has not played a down this season. A former backup to Tom Brady with New England, he played in nine games last season for Kansas City.
If Cassel shines, Frazier could be left with a decision on whom to start against Carolina on Oct. 13, after a bye week. Ponder, a third-year pro, has struggled.
BURLESON ACCEPTS BLAME Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson acknowledged that his penchant for multitasking while driving nearly killed him earlier this week. "For me, a bad habit could've cost me my life," he said.
Burleson lost control of his car early Tuesday on a suburban Detroit highway and hit a center median wall. Burleson, who broke his left arm in the one-car accident, said he was trying to do too much: he had just plugged in his phone and was trying to prevent two pizza boxes from sliding off the front passenger's seat.
"I usually multitask a lot when I'm driving," he said. "And I've heard it all before: 'Don't do it.' Yeah, that'll be the last time."
This week, Lions Coach Jim Schwartz said that he had "cured" himself of sending text messages while driving but that he still needed to fix his habit of eating and driving.
"That's stuff we all need to learn from," Schwartz said.
Burleson, who had surgery Wednesday, said he would be back on the field "sooner than a lot of people expect."
BENGALS' JONES PAYS FINE Cincinnati cornerback Adam Jones has paid a fine for disorderly conduct after the police accused him of making offensive comments, the latest in a series of legal problems for him.
Jones paid $130 for the fine and court costs Thursday, an official in the Hamilton County Municipal Court clerk's office in Cincinnati said Friday. Jones was to have been arraigned on the citation Friday.
Jones was arrested at about 2:30 a.m. Monday after the driver of the vehicle he was in was pulled over for going 60 miles per hour in a 45 m.p.h. zone, the authorities said.
The driver was charged with drunken driving, and Jones was charged with disorderly conduct. Both charges are misdemeanors.
CHARGERS' TE'O TO PLAY Manti Te'o is poised to make his regular-season debut when San Diego hosts Dallas on Sunday.
Te'o, the Chargers' second-round pick in April's draft, has been out with an injured right foot since Aug. 8.
"I'm excited, anxious and the nerves are going to be flying around," Te'o said.
A top University of Texas booster who arranged a telephone conversation with Alabama Coach Nick Saban's agent said the talk lasted 45 minutes. The booster, Tom Hicks, a former University of Texas System regent, told The Austin American-Statesman this week that he and the regent Wallace Hall Jr. questioned the agent Jimmy Sexton on whether Saban would be interested in the Longhorns' coaching job.
HOUSTON — No sooner had the glow of Mariano Rivera's emotional send-off in the Bronx faded than the Yankees found themselves in Texas. Thursday night seemed the perfect sentimental ending to a sad season at Yankee Stadium, but the schedule summoned the Yankees to unfamiliar territory for a bizarre conclusion to the year.
A three-game series against the Astros was expected to include Andy Pettitte's final major league appearance, the possible debut of Rivera as a center fielder, Alex Rodriguez's last game before a Monday meeting with an arbitrator that will decide his immediate future, and a reunion with Roger Clemens that could be awkward, at least for Pettitte.
This is the Yankees' second trip to Houston and first since the Astros joined the American League this season.
The Yankees topped the Astros, 3-2, on Friday to extend Houston's losing streak to 13, the team's longest skid in its history. Pettitte received a standing ovation in the fifth inning at Minute Maid Park, where he pitched from 2004 to 2006. The Astros honored Pettitte, who helped lead Houston to a World Series appearance in 2005, with a framed No. 21 jersey, and both teams came out of the dugout to applaud him. The Astros planned to honor Rivera before Sunday's finale.
Yankees Manager Joe Girardi described playing the Astros in the American League as "kind of strange."
"For most of us, we're used to seeing the Houston Astros as a National League team, and you expect your pitcher to hit," he said. "But that's not going to happen, unless it's Mo."
Girardi said before Friday's game that he was leaving the last three games of Rivera's career in Rivera's hands. If Rivera wants to pitch, he can. If he wants to play center field, he can do that, too. Girardi said Rivera could play for as long as he wanted and could hit if he so desired.
"If he wants to play the whole game, I guess I'd let him play the whole game," Girardi said.
One issue that concerns Rivera, though, is the health of his surgically repaired knee, which he injured while catching fly balls during batting practice in Kansas City in May 2012.
Girardi said he did not know if or when Rivera could play the field — or even pitch, for that matter. Perhaps it would be best to make Thursday's touching farewell his final moment in baseball.
"There's that," Girardi said. "I'm going to talk to him and see what he wants to do and, when he tells me what he wants to do, let him do it."
On Sunday, Clemens will be on the field as part of the festivities honoring Rivera. Clemens played for the Yankees from 1999 to 2003. He came out of retirement to pitch for the Astros from 2004 to 2006 and returned to the Yankees in 2007. From 1999 to 2007, he played alongside Pettitte, who on Friday cited Clemens as one of his many mentors, along with Jimmy Key, Kenny Rogers, John Wetteland and Scott Brosius.
Indeed, Pettitte and Clemens were once close, but their relationship became tangled after the 2007 Mitchell report linked both of them to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Pettitte quickly admitted he had used such drugs; Clemens adamantly denied doing so.
Their conflicting stances set in motion a chain of events that ultimately placed Pettitte in the uncomfortable position of being a potentially damaging witness against Clemens when the latter stood trial in 2012 on charges he had lied to Congress about his drug use.
In the end, Pettitte's testimony was not particularly damaging and Clemens was acquitted. But even that wasn't the end of it. Earlier this week, Pettitte had to give a deposition in a defamation lawsuit that Brian McNamee, a former trainer for Clemens and Petttite, has filed against Clemens in connection with Clemens's drug denials.
Still, Pettitte insisted on Friday it would not be awkward for Clemens to participate in his and Rivera's final moments in baseball.
"It's fine," Pettitte said. "I believe I heard that he's going to be presenting something to Mo on Sunday. If I see him, it's fine; it will be great to see him."
Like Clemens, Pettitte, who is scheduled to make his 521st start, grew up in Houston and still lives here year-round. So although it may have seemed odd for many of the Yankees to be here, it is almost fitting for him.
"It was great," Pettitte said. "It was a chance for me to come here when it didn't work out as far as the Yankees bringing me back, and I had an opportunity to go to several other teams for a lot more money. But if I wasn't going to go back to the Yankees, I wanted to come home and maybe do something special here."
Pettitte retired once before, after the 2010 season, but did not make that decision until the off-season. He did not get a chance to say goodbye on the field.
Pettitte's and Rivera's careers have been inextricably linked: from their debuts in 1995 to the five championships they won together to Pettitte's starting on Mariano Rivera Day last Sunday. Pettitte, along with Derek Jeter, also took Rivera out of Thursday's game.
"It's completely different this time," Pettitte said of his latest retirement. "Having all the guys around me, doing it with Mo. This has been absolutely amazing. It's been so cool."
Once the series is over, the team will disperse. Rodriguez will fly to New York for a hearing in which he will challenge Major League Baseball's 211-game suspension for allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. On Friday, Rodriguez said his focus was still strictly on the field.
"As I've said before, it's baseball, baseball, baseball," he said. "We're all frustrated we didn't make the playoffs, but we just had an amazing night with Mo last night, and there are still three games remaining."
Three meaningless games in Houston, that is. For the Yankees, it is an odd way to end the season.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 28, 2013
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Andy Pettitte had been asked to testify in the recent trial of Brian McNamee's defamation lawsuit against Roger Clemens. Pettitte has given a deposition in the case, but no trial has been held.
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Pat Haden, Southern California's athletic director, said he had spoken with the N.C.A.A. president Mark Emmert about possible relief from the penalties that have weighed on the program since 2010.
He said after the N.C.A.A.'s recent decision to lessen the scholarship reductions that Penn State was hit with last year after the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Southern California felt compelled to discuss its sanctions. The N.C.A.A. punished U.S.C. after it was found that the former star Reggie Bush received improper benefits.
The Mets could not have imagined a scarier sight: a pitch thrown up and in, hurtling toward David Wright's head. In the third inning Thursday night, in the first game of the last series of the season, Wright was plunked in the helmet with a changeup.
He appeared to try to duck out of the way, as the ball, thrown by Milwaukee starter Johnny Hellweg, came toward him. Wright got up and walked off under his own power, but he was removed from the game as a precaution.
After the Mets lost to the Brewers, 4-2, and after Wright was said to have passed a concussion test, he stood at his locker and said, "I'm feeling fine."
He said the team wanted to see how he felt in the morning and then run him through some more tests, presumably before letting him play again. But Wright also jammed his right thumb as he fell, which concerned his manager, Terry Collins.
In August 2009, the Giants' Matt Cain hit Wright with a fastball in the side of his helmet, near the ear. Wright went down immediately and stayed on the ground for several minutes, until he walked off under his own power. He was later found to have sustained a concussion.
"I felt a lot different this time than last time," Wright said.
He said he was more clearheaded this time, and the results were a lot less painful. He said he did not lose consciousness, and he did not experience memory loss or ringing in his ears. He said his head felt fine, considering he had just been hit with a baseball.
Dillon Gee, who allowed four runs in six innings in losing the game to the Brewers, said it was fortunate Wright had been hit with an 86-mile-per-hour changeup, and not a fastball.
Wright returned to the lineup a week earlier after rehabilitating his strained right hamstring for seven weeks. He and Collins had been peppered with questions about Wright coming back — and potentially risking further injury — when there were only 10 games left in the season.
But Wright and Collins were adamant: having him back would be good for the fans, his teammates and the organization. The Mets were desperate to finish this season on a high note, and Wright said he was hoping to deliver, for everyone. Then he was plunked in the head Thursday night.
INDIANS 6, TWINS 5 Joe Smith struck out the pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia to end a ninth-inning rally and Cleveland won its seventh straight game, holding off Minnesota to keep pace in the American League wild-card race. The host Twins scored four runs in the ninth and had runners on first and second before Smith got the final out. (AP)
RANGERS 6, ANGELS 5 The pinch-hitter Jurickson Profar homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning and Texas overcame a four-error inning to beat Los Angeles and stay in the playoff chase. The Rangers are a game behind Cleveland for the second A.L. wild-card spot. (AP)
BRAVES 7, PHILLIES 1 Jason Heyward had a career-high five hits, including a leadoff home run, and Atlanta rode a five-run first inning to victory. The win pulled the host Braves even with idle St. Louis at 94-65 for the best record in the National League. (AP)
Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown passes, Frank Gore had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, and San Francisco routed host St. Louis, 35-11, on Thursday night.
Anquan Boldin made five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, and Gore had 153 yards on 20 carries for the 49ers (2-2), who were outscored by 56-10 in their previous two games. Navarro Bowman had two of the 49ers' five sacks.
The Rams (1-3) had an overtime win and a tie against San Francisco last year and took the early lead Thursday before they fell flat. Greg Zuerlein banged in a 40-yard field goal off the right upright in the first quarter, but the 49ers, who were missing cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and linebackers Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith, answered with 28 straight points.
Kaepernick, who had no touchdown passes and four interceptions in the previous two games, completed 15 of 23 passes for 167 yards. Boldin had two highlight catches in the second quarter: a 42-yarder, despite Cortland Finnegan's being flagged for holding, and a 20-yard score.
The Rams, who have trailed by double digits in every game, lost the rookie safety T. J. McDonald to a leg injury in the second half.
PRYOR LIMITED AT PRACTICE Oakland quarterback Terrelle Pryor returned to practice on a limited basis, three days after he sustained a concussion, and his status for Sunday's game remained in question.
Pryor passed a concussion test Wednesday that allowed him to return to practice, but he still must be cleared for contact before the Raiders can decide whether to play him Sunday against Washington.
JETS ROOKIE SITS OUT The rookie Jets cornerback Dee Milliner missed practice after injuring his left hamstring the day before. Milliner, the ninth overall pick in April's draft, said he was not sure if he would be able to suit up Sunday and would leave it up to the coaching staff.
Defensive end Quinton Coples (ankle) and receiver Santonio Holmes (foot) also missed practice. Running back Chris Ivory sat out with a hamstring injury. BEN SHPIGEL
AROUND THE LEAGUE San Diego inside linebackers Donald Butler (groin) and Manti Te'o (foot) practiced and appeared to be on track to start against Dallas this weekend. ... Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who missed the first three games with a sprained left foot, said he hoped to make his debut Sunday against Philadelphia but would not push it if he was not 100 percent. ... New Orleans running back Mark Ingram said he was happy to be part of the 3-0 Saints and denied a CBSSports.com report that he could request a trade, saying that the information in the report never came from him. (AP)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A preseason hockey game hardly ever generates buzz. But two N.H.L. clubs hardly ever swap head coaches, as the Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks did this off-season.
John Tortorella's Canucks defeated Alain Vigneault's Rangers, 5-0, on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin led the way with two goals, and Roberto Luongo won his goaltending duel with Henrik Lundqvist, recording his first preseason shutout.
"Start to finish, it was just a game where the puck didn't bounce our way," Lundqvist said. "Obviously, we want to have a better result, but we just have to keep working here."
He added: "It was definitely a tough game to play. I can do better reads on the deflections, maybe. It's good; it's preseason. That's the only positive thing about this game."
The news that Derek Stepan, the Rangers' leading scorer last season, had signed a two-year, $6.15 million deal to end his holdout added some excitement.
Stepan's return will provide a much-needed injection of offense for a Rangers club that has scored only eight goals in compiling a 1-4 preseason record. The absence of Stepan's regular linemates, Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin, because of off-season shoulder operations has magnified the effect of Stepan's holdout.
"I'm very happy," Vigneault said. "They've been working on this for some time now, and he's one of our top players. Like I said before, contract negotiations I have nothing to do with. So we're going to welcome him with open arms, and he should be with us on Sunday for practice."
Sedin opened the scoring on the power play at 7 minutes 39 seconds of the first period, converting a rebound past Lundqvist from a bad angle. Sedin and his twin brother, Daniel, both former N.H.L. scoring champions, were celebrating their 33rd birthdays. At 14:49, Frank Corrado gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead with a blast from the right point.
Just 1:12 into the second period, Henrik Sedin got his second goal of the game, banging a loose puck off an Alexandre Burrows tip into a gaping net. With a nifty tip on the man advantage, Ryan Kesler stretched Vancouver's lead to 4-0 at 16:34. Hunter Shinkaruk's high wrist shot made it 5-0 at 19:16.
In one of the Rangers' few displays of emotion, forward Derek Dorsett fought Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa in the third period.
The hordes of reporters at Thursday's game were focused on Vigneault and Tortorella coaching against their former teams. Vigneault was fired by the Canucks on May 21 after they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the San Jose Sharks. A two-time Presidents' Trophy winner during his seven seasons with Vancouver, Vigneault was named the coach of the Rangers on June 21.
Tortorella lost his job with the Rangers on May 29 after they were eliminated in the second round by the Boston Bruins. The Canucks hired Tortorella on June 25.
The two coaches' contrasting demeanors were evident when they addressed the news media before the game at Rogers Arena.
Tortorella was relaxed by his standards, even shaking hands with a longtime nemesis, the New York Post reporter Larry Brooks. But he was still edgy when it came to discussing his exit from New York.
"I've said right along, I loved working there," Tortorella said. "Did I want to leave? No. I was told to leave and I left. It's part of the game. I'm knee-deep in it here, trying to get this team ready to play."
Vigneault came in smiling and kibitzing with reporters about his new Upper West Side residence, his difficulties with driving in New York and navigating the subway, and his daughters' shopping habits.
"As much as this might be strange, you've got to turn the page and move on," Vigneault said. "Maybe getting this out of the way in exhibition and moving on is a good thing."
Rangers forward Brad Richards added: "It's very unique, switching places and playing against the other team this early. I'm sure they have their own thoughts and some good memories in both their respective places."
The Canucks will visit the Rangers during the regular season on Nov. 30. Vigneault's club will play its final exhibition game Friday, against the Los Angeles Kings in Las Vegas.
The Rangers will need Stepan to be a difference-maker as they begin the quest for their first Stanley Cup since 1994.
Stepan said he stayed in shape by working out in his native Minnesota over the summer and skating with the Wisconsin Badgers during the last two weeks. He will fly to New York on Friday for physicals and fitness testing and skate there Saturday. The Rangers open the regular season Oct. 3 against the Phoenix Coyotes.
On a night when Mariano Rivera created a lot of teary eyes across baseball, the three American League wild-card contenders didn't blink. Well, the Indians almost did, but we'll get to that in a moment.
In the Bronx, the Tampa Bay Rays were eager participants in saluting Rivera's final major league appearance in Yankee Stadium but otherwise took care of business, shutting down the Yankees, 4-0, behind Alex Cobb's strong seven innings to protect their one-game lead in the race for the two A.L. wild-card spots.
Over the course of three days, the Rays swept the Yankees, knocked them out of postseason contention, got any number of people in New York to note that their payroll is a whole lot less than the Yankees' and then headed off for a late-night flight to Toronto, where they will finish the season with a three-game weekend series.
The Rays are now on a seven-game winning streak, but so are the Cleveland Indians, who remain one game behind the Rays and once again took advantage of an inferior opponent. This time, they beat the Twins in Minnesota by a 6-5 score and survived a scary bottom of the ninth in which the Twins scored four times and put the tying and winning runs on base with two outs.
Meanwhile, in Arlington, Tex., Jurickson Profar hit a leadoff, game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rangers a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. It was the Rangers' fourth victory in a row, not as good as Cleveland and Tamps Bay's streak but not bad for a club that spent most of September stumbling around.
So with three games to go for all three contenders, it's Tampa in front, followed by Cleveland, followed by Texas, which trails the Indians by one game and the Rays by two.
The tightness of the race raises the obvious prospect that one or more wild-card tiebreaker games might have to be played at the start of next week before the wild-card playoff game can be played.
Meanwhile, here is a team-by-team breakdown of the three teams still in the race.
TAMPA BAY, 90-69 The Rays and the Blue Jays are the only major league teams that still play their home games on artificial turf. So it should be a level playing field in Toronto this weekend.
CLEVELAND, 89-70 The Indians make it a point never to lose to a team under .500. Four-game sweep of the White Sox, four-game sweep of Houston, another two-game sweep of the White Sox. And now, a Game 1 victory over the Twins with three more contests to come. As long as the Indians keep winning these games, they're in the postseason.
TEXAS, 88-71 The Rangers need either the Rays or the Indians to run into some trouble this weekend. Otherwise, they will run out of games, and time, without ever catching up. They are also playing the Angels, a tougher opponent than either the Blue Jays or the Twins. But stay tuned.
Max Scherzer earned his 21st win, and the Detroit Tigers clinched their third straight American League Central title, beating the Minnesota Twins, 1-0, on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. Torii Hunter's single followed a leadoff triple by Austin Jackson in the first inning, and that was all Scherzer and the Tigers needed.
INDIANS 7, WHITE SOX 2 Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer as Cleveland, in its home finale, tightened its grip on one of the A.L. wild-card spots with its 14th straight win over the Chicago White Sox.
RANGERS 7, ASTROS 3 Leonys Martin hit a three-run double, Ian Kinsler homered and host Texas kept pace in the A.L. wild-card chase, handing Houston its team-record 108th loss of the season.
ANGELS 3, ATHLETICS 1 Jered Weaver pitched seven innings of five-hit ball, Josh Hamilton drove in two runs, and the Angels did a bit more damage to the Athletics' home-field playoff hopes with a victory in Anaheim, Calif.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 2 Pittsburgh's hopes of catching up to St. Louis in the National League Central took a big hit when Darnell McDonald's three-run homer led Chicago to a win at Wrigley Field.
CARDINALS 4, NATIONALS 1 The rookie Shelby Miller won his 15th game, and Yadier Molina had the go-ahead hit for St. Louis, which wrapped up a three-game home sweep of Washington.
BREWERS 4, BRAVES 0 Kyle Lohse pitched a two-hitter, and Milwaukee overcame Carlos Gomez's ejection in the first inning to win in Atlanta.
SVEUM'S UNCERTAIN STATUS Dale Sveum does not know if he will be coming back for a third season as manager of the Cubs.
Sveum is under contract to return for 2014. But after another losing season, Theo Epstein, the team president, has said all jobs will be evaluated.
"I'm not going to sit here and lie that you're not wondering what's going to happen in four to five days from now," Sveum said. "That's just human nature."
WEDGE 'HANGING OUT THERE' Unhappy with the lack of clarity on his future, Seattle Mariners Manager Eric Wedge said he was left "hanging out there" by the organization regarding his status for 2014.
Wedge signed a three-year deal to become Seattle's manager in 2010, and he indicated there was no word given on whether he would receive a new deal.
TIGERS REINSTATING PERALTA The Tigers will reinstate shortstop Jhonny Peralta this weekend after his 50-game drug suspension in the Biogenesis investigation.
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There was a somber inevitability Wednesday night in the Bronx: from the brief pregame ceremony honoring Andy Pettitte to Tampa Bay's crushing back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to the decisive final out, which actually came more than 400 miles away in Cleveland.
The Yankees' quest to win another World Series fell terribly short as they lost, 8-3, to the Rays. But even before the Yankees and the Rays moved to the ninth inning of their game, the Yankees were officially eliminated — about 10:16 p.m., when the Indians concluded their 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, as the scoreboard in center field showed for all at Yankee Stadium to see.
With four games remaining, the Yankees have 82 wins, and the Indians have 88.
"When you are out before the postseason even starts," Manager Joe Girardi said, "it's extremely disappointing."
It is only the second time in the last 19 years that the Yankees have not qualified for the postseason. Since 1995, qualifying had seemed almost automatic. Not in 2013, though, for a team with too many injuries and aging veterans.
"It's frustrating," Robinson Cano said. "We were close, but we didn't make the playoffs. At the same time, we have to be, not satisfied, but at least we got this far because we didn't have most of the guys most of the season. It was close, but there is nothing else you can do."
The Yankees, typical of their recent form, could muster little offense against the left-hander David Price, and the Rays delivered the decisive blows when Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer off reliever David Huff and David DeJesus followed with a shot to right field. The fans at Yankee Stadium, perhaps numbed by the inevitable, watched in near silence.
The Yankees last failed to make the playoffs in 2008. In 2009, they rebounded with a flourish, spending lavishly in the off-season and winning the World Series. There is little to suggest that pattern will hold this year, with the Yankees professing a new frugality. But many changes are probable.
Some players could leave through free agency, others are aging and facing an uncertain future, two are retiring, and Alex Rodriguez is facing a season-long suspension for allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
Rodriguez, who is also dealing with fragile legs, was removed in the eighth inning.
"He told me his legs weren't great, and he said he was going to go take care of them," Girardi said. "And I said, 'O.K., go take care of them.' "
Both Pettitte and Mariano Rivera have announced they will retire after the season. Pettitte was scheduled to start Friday in Houston, near his hometown, against the Astros, his former team, and Rivera will probably pitch Thursday in his last game at Yankee Stadium. But it is not the way Rivera wanted to end his career.
"To say goodbye to the fans, but it doesn't mean anything," he said. "I'm not used to pitching for something that doesn't mean anything. I want to pitch in something that means something. But the fans to me are special, and I'll be there tomorrow."
Several other key players, like Cano, Curtis Granderson, Hiroki Kuroda, Boone Logan and Phil Hughes, are eligible for free agency and may end their Yankees careers in unusual fashion — playing in meaningless games.
Hughes in particular was a disappointment. Pitching Wednesday in what was probably his last game as a Yankee, he had a performance characteristic of his dreadful season. Hughes, who is 4-14 with a 5.19 earned run average, gave up three runs and seven hits in two-plus innings.
He allowed three runs in the first inning and was removed in the third with the bases loaded, a sour expression on his face as he made what could have been his final walk to the Yankees' dugout.
"In a game we absolutely had to win, it's tough to leave that way," he said.
This season was a challenging season for the entire team, starting in spring training, when Derek Jeter and Rodriguez were sidelined with serious leg injuries. Jeter, who broke his ankle in the playoffs last year, played only 17 games in a season he described as "a nightmare." He sustained two other muscle injuries and was shut down for good with pain in his injured ankle.
Rodriguez returned from hip surgery on Aug. 5 and hit seven home runs, including a grand slam last week. But his batting average declined over the last two weeks, and on Wednesday, the booing he faced earlier this season returned.
Mark Teixeira and Granderson were injured in spring training, only to return and be injured again. Kevin Youkilis, Brett Gardner, Travis Hafner, Francisco Cervelli and Jayson Nix were also victims of injuries.
"It's been a frustrating year, and we fought hard," Gardner said. "It's not from a lack of trying, guys not playing hard, guys not wanting it. It was just that some teams are better than us, we didn't play well, and we got beat."
The Yankees did remain viable until the final week of the season. But in the end they could not compete with teams like the Rays, teams that still have hopes of making the playoffs and even the World Series. For the Yankees, now, that is but a distant dream.
"It's extremely disappointing," Girardi said. "And it's back to the drawing board."
Tampa Bay benched quarterback Josh Freeman on Wednesday and replaced him with the rookie Mike Glennon.
On Monday, Buccaneers Coach Greg Schiano insisted Freeman would remain the starter because, he said, Freeman gave the team the best chance to win. Schiano said he changed his mind after meeting Tuesday with General Manager Mark Dominik and later discussing the switch with the team's ownership, which signed off on the move.
"This is a performance-based decision," Schiano said Wednesday. "We're not getting the job done on the field."
Glennon was picked in the third round of April's draft out of North Carolina State, where he spent part of his college career as a backup to Russell Wilson. He will make his first start Sunday at home against Arizona.
ANOTHER START FOR HOYER Cleveland quarterback Brian Hoyer will make his second straight start this weekend against Cincinnati.
Filling in for an injured Brandon Weeden, Hoyer led the Browns to a 31-27 win Sunday at Minnesota. Coach Rob Chudzinski said that he expected Weeden, who has not completely recovered from a sprained right thumb, to throw this week and that he would evaluate the quarterback situation on a "week-to-week basis."
COWBOY'S SEASON IS OVER Dallas placed defensive end Anthony Spencer on season-ending injured reserve. On Tuesday, Spencer's agent said he would have an operation on his left knee.
BUSH ON THE MEND Detroit running back Reggie Bush made it through practice and said he would play against Chicago on Sunday, a week after he missed a game with a knee injury.
PONDER EXPECTS TO PLAY Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder, who sustained a rib injury early in Sunday's loss to Cleveland, said he expected to start against Pittsburgh in London. Matt Cassel, Ponder's backup, also took snaps in practice. A decision was expected by Friday.
PRYOR SITS OUT Oakland quarterback Terrelle Pryor did not practice, two days after he sustained a concussion late in a loss to Denver. Matt Flynn, Pryor's backup, worked with the first-team offense in practice as the Raiders prepared to play Washington. Pryor is not able to practice until he is cleared by doctors.
PASS RUSHER PRACTICES Miami defensive end Cameron Wake, who sat out much of Sunday's victory against Atlanta after hurting his knee, practiced on a limited basis and said he hoped to play Monday at New Orleans. Wake has not missed an entire game because of an injury in his five N.F.L. seasons.
CARDINALS LOSE ROOKIE Arizona placed the rookie linebacker Alex Okafor on injured reserve with a torn bicep.
In Sunday's loss at New Orleans, Arizona also lost the starting outside linebackers Sam Acho (broken leg) and Lorenzo Alexander (foot injury), who were placed on injured reserve Monday.
BRITT PLAYING THROUGH PAIN Tennessee receiver Kenny Britt said he had a small crack in one of his ribs that would not stop him from playing against the Jets on Sunday. Britt said Wednesday that his struggles were a matter of focus and ensuring he had the ball before starting to run.
TWO ARE FINED Dallas receiver Dez Bryant was fined $7,875 by the N.F.L. for a throat-slashing gesture that resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the Cowboys' game against St. Louis on Sunday.
Houston outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus said he had been fined $15,000 for a play in which his helmet hit the chin of Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco. Mercilus, who was given a penalty for roughing the passer on the play, said he planned to appeal the fine.
SENTENCE IS CUT The former N.F.L. linebacker Nate Webster will have to serve only 10 years of his 12-year prison sentence for having sex with the underage daughter of a former assistant coach. The Ohio First District Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors did not prove one of the four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor on which Webster was convicted last year. It upheld his other convictions.
FORMER PLAYER DENIES CHARGES The Connecticut police said the former player Hugh Douglas had denied charges that he assaulted his girlfriend. Douglas, 42, a former defensive end with the Jets, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, was charged with strangulation and assault early Sunday at a Hartford hotel.
EX-PLAYER COMMITS SUICIDE A medical examiner near Atlanta said the former San Diego safety Paul Oliver had committed suicide.
Cobb County investigators said Oliver, 29, was found dead Tuesday night at his home in Marietta, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. The police said Oliver died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Oliver played for the Chargers from 2007 to 2011.
The 2012 first-round draft pick Stefan Matteau was among eight players sent to the Albany River Rats of the A.H.L. by the N.H.L. Devils, eight days before the season opener at Pittsburgh.
President and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the moves on Wednesday.
Matteau was the Devils' top pick in 2012 and was on the final roster to start last season. He played in 17 games for New Jersey and had a goal and two assists.
Also assigned to Albany were: goaltender Scott Wedgewood; defensemen Brandon Burlon, Eric Gelinas and Jon Merrill; and forwards Rod Pelley, Tim Sestito and Mike Sislo. Defenseman Damon Severson was returned to Kelowna of the W.H.L.
The Devils have 28 players on their roster.
One day after the Baltimore Orioles exited the complicated wild-card race in the American League, the Yankees followed right behind.
The Yankees were eliminated emphatically Wednesday night, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx while the Indians were beating the White Sox in Cleveland.
Either result would have been enough to leave the Yankees out of the postseason for only the second time in the last two decades; instead, both happened nearly simultaneously.
That left three teams vying for the two A.L. wild-card spots, with the Kansas City Royals being eliminated after losing, 6-0, to the Seattle Mariners.
But while teams were dropping out of the race, none of those who were left had clinched anything. The Rays remain one game ahead of the Indians, and two ahead of the Texas Rangers, who once again beat up on the hapless Houston Astros. With four games left for all three of those teams, any outcome was still possible.
The Rays have won six games in a row, as have the Indians. The Rangers, after a damaging September slide, have won three straight against the Astros but now have a tougher opponent for the rest of the season in the Los Angeles Angels.
Meanwhile, the Yankees move on to play the Astros. That would have been great for the Yankees' chances a week ago, but now it doesn't matter.
Here is a breakdown of the four teams still in the A.L. wild-card race, with the result of Kansas City's Wednesday night game in Seattle still pending.
TAMPA BAY, 89-69 One more game in the Bronx, and then it's off to Toronto for the final weekend of the regular season. The Rays, the team without a real fan base, are once again closing in on a playoff spot.
CLEVELAND, 88-70 The ex-Yankee Jason Giambi hit a huge home run for the Indians on Tuesday night. The ex-Yankee Nick Swisher hit a big one on Wednesday. That snickering you hear is coming from all those people who root against the team in the Bronx.
TEXAS, 87-71 Houston was just what the Rangers needed to create a nice little winning streak. They will try to keep that streak going and hope that the Indians lose one or more games to the Twins in Minnesota in their final series of the season.
KANSAS CITY, 83-75 Eliminated from playoff race.
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Seizing an opportunity, Venus Williams struck while her opponent was hot, beating a feverish Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Tuesday night. Azarenka is ranked No. 2.
The victory was Williams's first over a No. 1- or No. 2-ranked player since Wimbledon 2009, when she routed the top-ranked Dinara Safina, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals.
Before Tuesday, Williams, 33, who is ranked 63rd, had lost six consecutive matches against top two opponents.
The match was Azarenka's first since losing in the United States Open final to Serena Williams. Azarenka, of Belarus, appeared uncomfortable and feverish, and never found any semblance of rhythm.
"Victoria is always difficult to beat — I don't think she was feeling her best today," Williams said in her on-court interview after her victory. "And it was actually very difficult to concentrate against her, because, you know, I felt bad. But, still, she's a difficult opponent, and I still had to play well."
Azarenka's visible discomfort was apparent from the first game of the match. She double-faulted on the first 2 points of the opening game, then double-faulted a third time to give Williams an opening break.
Azarenka's overheating appeared to reach a boiling point once Williams broke again to lead, 5-2, in the first set. Despite nighttime temperatures in the mid-60s, she requested "a fan or something" from the chair umpire.
An fan was installed behind her seat between sets, and Azarenka turned to face it fully, absorbing as much of the breeze as she could. She did the same during the next changeover as well, this time additionally wiping her face with tissues.
Perhaps more telling than the visible signs of Azarenka's struggles were the audible ones: she played the entire match without her signature hooting grunt.
Azarenka said after the match that she had not been able to practice for the last three days, or get any sleep the night before.
"You can't play at 20 percent against one of the top players," she said. "I've been feeling bad for a couple of days and it just got worse today."
Azarenka finished the match with 12 winners and 23 unforced errors, compared with 24 winners and 17 unforced errors from Williams.
The loss was Azarenka's third on her preferred hardcourts this year, dropping her 2013 record on the surface to 31-3.
"Hopefully, she'll be feeling better and ready for Beijing," Williams said of Azarenka in a television interview. "And Lord knows I know what it's like not to feel great. Other than that, I've just been playing this game for so long that, yes, it feels good to have a top win, but it's not the end of the tournament. The tournament really just started, so I have to continue playing."
Williams, who has struggled with the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome as well as back injuries, said the win was not necessarily more significant because of what she has gone through.
"Like I said, I'm an old hat at this. I've been around a little bit over forever," she said with a laugh. "So I know I can play well. I just have run up on a ton of bad luck. But I'm working through that. And if any good luck comes my way I'll be on it. So I had a little better luck today, I guess."
The consecutive wins for Williams in Tokyo were her first since April.
"I feel like I'm playing well," she said. "My serve is coming back to me. It was very challenging with no serve, with my back injury. Just getting a chance to play matches is awesome. Just even having the opportunity to play three matches in a row, I haven't even had that chance. So this feels great for me, just to get more rhythm."
Williams next faces No. 13 seed Simona Halep, 21, of Romania, who is in the middle of a breakout season. Halep's four titles this year (Nurnberg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Budapest and New Haven) are second only to the nine won by No. 1 Serena Williams, and she has improved her ranking by 40 places since the beginning of June.
"She's a great competitor, a great year," Williams said of Halep. "A young person doing well. I love to see young people doing positive things. But of course I want to do more positive against her than she does against me, so I'll try to get the win there, and it will be great to be out there."
The two other American women in action Tuesday in Tokyo were Madison Keys, who defeated Peng Shuai, 7-5, 6-2, and ninth-seeded Sloane Stephens, who fell in three sets to Genie Bouchard of Canada, 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
St. Louis won at home as the rookie Michael Wacha (4-1) pitched eight and two-thirds innings of no-hit ball against the Nationals before giving up an infield single to Ryan Zimmerman. Shane Robinson and Yadier Molina drove in runs for the Cardinals.
Zimmerman hit a chopper just over Wacha's glove — the pitcher said he thought it nicked his mitt — and the ball bounced slowly toward shortstop. A charging Pete Kozma grabbed it with his bare hand and whipped a throw to first that was a little wide, pulling Matt Adams off the bag as Zimmerman arrived.
PIRATES 8, CUBS 2 Gerrit Cole (10-7) gave up two runs in six innings and Pedro Alvarez had three R.B.I. to lead visiting Pittsburgh to a win that kept them two games behind St. Louis in the N.L. Central.
BRAVES 3, BREWERS 2 Andrelton Simmons's single to the gap in right-center drove in Justin Upton with two outs in the ninth inning to give Atlanta a win at home. Craig Kimbrel (4-3) struck out the side in the ninth.
INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 4 Pinch-hitter Jason Giambi belted a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a stunning win at home that kept them in the second American League wild-card spot.
Giambi drove a 1-1 pitch from Addison Reed (5-4) deep into the lower deck in right field. The drive bailed out Indians closer Chris Perez, who gave up two homers in the top of the ninth.
BLUE JAYS 3, ORIOLES 2 Two clutch R.B.I. singles by Mark DeRosa led visiting Toronto to a 10-inning victory that eliminated Baltimore from the A.L. playoff race.
Baltimore suffered its sixth straight loss. DeRosa singled in the tying run in the eighth inning and put the Blue Jays ahead in the 10th.
NO SURGERY FOR MACHADO Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has a torn ligament in his left knee, but he could be running in six to eight weeks because his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments are fine. The team said Tuesday that it hopes he can recover without having surgery.
Machado was injured while running out a single in Monday's game at Tampa Bay.
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Oracle Team USA, once way behind, has tied the series to force a winner-take-all race on Wednesday.
SAN FRANCISCO — The America's Cup has produced no shortage of strange scenes in its 162 years. There have been capsizings, shattered masts and shattered spirits, but it has never produced a reversal of fortune quite like this year.
A week ago, the defender of the trophy, Oracle Team USA, bankrolled by the American billionaire Larry Ellison, trailed by eight races to one and was just one defeat from losing the most prestigious prize in yachting to the challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand.
But by winning seven races in succession, including two on Tuesday, Oracle has tied the series at 8-8. Winds permitting, the rivals from different hemispheres will contest one final race Wednesday, winner take all.
Perhaps Ellison, one of the world's richest men, should have had the event won from the start. As the owner of the defending champion, he got to select where the race would be and what type of boats would be used. He designed a boat so technically advanced and expensive that only three other teams signed up to challenge it, a low figure attributed to the global economic downturn.
Despite those advantages, Oracle Team USA got off to a stunningly poor start. An event that had been billed as a potential economic boost for this city and a source of international fanfare felt more like a punch line.
But that was last week. After making changes to its boat that have improved upwind speed and after making a change to its lineup, replacing the tactician John Kostecki with the star British sailor Ben Ainslie, Oracle has mounted such a remarkable comeback that it begs for a dry-land comparison, like the Boston Red Sox winning four consecutive games to overcome the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
"It's not over; that's the key point here — we've got to finish it off," said Jimmy Spithill, Oracle's skipper, helmsman and cheerleader in chief. He added: "There's this huge wave of momentum now that we've been riding for the past few days and it just builds and it builds and it builds. And we're going to carry that into tomorrow."
The gripping endgame represents quite a change in tone for an event that was widely viewed as a fiasco in its preliminary phases. America's Cups have traditionally been contested in monohull yachts, but this one was staged in fast, fragile 72-foot catamarans capable of hitting speeds over 50 miles an hour and sailing — no, flying — on hydrofoils after a design breakthrough by Team New Zealand that forced other teams to follow suit.
But a series of accidents raised questions about the concept. Oracle capsized during a training maneuver on San Francisco Bay last October and did major damage to the first of its two boats. In May, the British sailor Andrew Simpson died after the Swedish challenger Artemis Racing capsized its AC72 during training.
The accident led to a series of rule changes designed to increase safety, along with a major reduction in wind limits for racing, which meant that a regatta initially designed to be contested in a wide range of weather conditions became much more susceptible to delays.
That has proved problematic in this America's Cup, now the longest in history at 19 days, in part because of numerous postponements. That has chopped up the drama and forced organizers to scramble, with the regatta stretching well past its last scheduled finishing date. Bleachers on Marina Green were being dismantled Tuesday with the winner still in doubt.
But the bottom line has been suspense.
The America's Cup is the most famous yachting race, both for its long history and for the powerful personalities and tycoons it has attracted, from the British tea merchant and graceful loser Thomas Lipton to the brash media mogul Ted Turner to Ellison, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars chasing the Cup with a series of challenges and has spent hundreds of millions more staging it and defending it in San Francisco.
Yet despite its high profile, the America's Cup has rarely been a close yachting race. Most of the matches between challenger and defender have been lopsided affairs short on close finishes and telegenic appeal. But this Cup match is now the closest in 30 years. In September 1983, Australia II and Liberty faced off in another winner-take-all race off Newport, R.I., and the Australians came from behind to end the 132-year American winning streak.
