Yankees edge Red Sox 4-3 in a thriller

St Louis Cardinals players Ryan Jackson (left), Jon Jay (centre), and Shane Robinson celebrate their victory in their National League MLB baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in St Louis, Missourion Sunday. (Reuters)

AFP/New York

In a crazy ending to a crazy series, Ichiro Suzuki scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the New York Yankees overcame Mariano Rivera’s blown save and salvaged the finale of their series against the Boston Red Sox with a 4-3 victory at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

The Yankees recorded their seventh walk-off win of the season and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was their first on a wild pitch since Thurman Munson scored on one by Cleveland’s Jim Bibby on Sept 27, 1977.

Rivera’s two blown saves were prominent among things considered unbelievable during this series. The Red Sox won the first three games by blowing a five-run lead before winning Thursday. They rallied from a five-run deficit Friday and on Saturday nearly blew a nine-run deficit.

Elsewhere, twenty-two-year-old rookie Michael Wacha, making the sixth start of his career, worked seven scoreless innings in pitching the St Louis Cardinals to a 9-2 victory and a sweep of their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cardinals came into the series a half-game behind the Pirates in the National League Central and finished it with a 1 ½ game lead, thanks mainly to the performances of their three starting pitchers.

The Pirates came into the series needing just one win for their 82nd victory of the season, and their first winning year since 1992, but could not get that win in St Louis as their losing streak reached four games, tying their longest streak of the season.

Cole Hamels tossed eight innings of two-hit ball as the Philadelphia Phillies swept the Atlanta Braves with a 3-2 home win.

Hamels made just two mistakes - both resulting in long home runs by Evan Gattis - but Hamels was aided by Darin Ruf’s tie-breaking home run.

The Braves lost all three games of the series by one run, and have lost four in a row overall, but still have a large 12 game lead in the National League East.

Alex Rios drove in two runs with a home run and double to lead the Texas Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.

The Rangers trailed 3-2 going into the seventh inning and were in danger of being swept and falling farther behind the Oakland A’s in the American League West, but they rallied for two runs.