Baseball, Mlb | featured news

Sorry, "X Factor" fans. You'll have to wait until Thursday night to see part 1 of the Judges' Homes round, Fox has announced.

Victor Martinez slowed his home run trot to barely a jog, stepping gingerly around the bases after hurting himself with a big swing. The banged-up Detroit Tigers are teetering but still standing, thanks to Martinez, Miguel Cabrera and another pivotal performance on the mound by Doug Fister.

Nelson Cruz hit the first game-ending grand slam in postseason history, lifting the defending American League champions over the Detroit Tigers 7-3 in 11 innings Monday for a 2-0 series lead.

Leave "Beast Mode" to the guys on the other team. Albert Pujols was just a monster. The St. Louis slugger had one of the biggest postseason nights of his career in Game 2 of the NL championship series, going 4 for 5 with a home run, three doubles and five RBIs to lead the Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers 12-3 on Monday.

The Cardinals, who led the National League in runs scored, won the fifth game of their division series on Friday because their own ace, Chris Carpenter, beat the Phillies at their own game.

David Freese homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals tagged playoff nemesis Roy Oswalt and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Wednesday night, forcing a deciding fifth game in their NL division series.

Curtis Granderson made two spectacular catches against his former team and A.J. Burnett came through when the Yankees needed him most, leading New York past the Detroit Tigers 10-1 Tuesday night to send their AL playoff series back to the Bronx for a decisive Game 5.

Justin Verlander was dominant enough for the Tigers while C.C. Sabathia struggled in the matchup of aces that was washed out in Game 1. Game 4 of the best-of-five division series is Tuesday.

Back on the road in the playoffs, the Texas Rangers won again. Colby Lewis outpitched All-Star David Price, Mike Napoli hit a go-ahead two-run homer and the defending AL champions survived a shaky night from the bullpen to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Monday night in Game 3 of their postseason series.

"American Idol" champ Scotty McCreery is getting a dream gig: Not only is the avid baseball fan going to this year's World Series, he'll sing the national anthem.