Wieters homers twice as Orioles clinch wild card
NEW YORK -- Matt Wieters homered from both sides of the plate in consecutive at-bats and the Baltimore Orioles clinched a spot in the American League wild-card game with a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.
Wieters became the first Orioles player to homer from both sides of the plate since Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar on July 25, 1996 against Cleveland at Camden Yards.
The switch-hitting catcher recorded his seventh career multi-homer game and third this season.
Batting from the left side of the plate, he drove a 3-0 fastball from right-hander Luis Cessa into the second deck in right field with two outs in the fourth. Facing left-hander Tommy Layne, Weiters hit a 1-2 off-speed pitch into the left-field seats with two outs in the sixth from the right side.
The Orioles (89-73) clinched their third postseason in five seasons but have to await the rest of the details. Wieters' second home run occurred shortly before Devon Travis homered to give Toronto a 1-0 lead in Boston.
If the Orioles and Blue Jays are tied, the wild-card game would take place in Toronto because the Blue Jays won the season series 10-9.
J.J. Hardy added a sacrifice fly for Baltimore, which won seven of its last nine games following a four-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards Sept. 19-22.
Kevin Gausman (9-12) turned in another effective outing against New York, allowing one run and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. In six starts against the Yankees, Gausman allowed six runs in 41 innings.
Zach Britton entered in a non-save situation and gave up an RBI single to Didi Gregorius with two outs in the eighth. Britton recorded the final out as the Blue Jays were batting in the eighth in a 1-1 game.
Brian McCann also homered for the Yankees (84-78), who finished the regular season by losing a third of their last 21 games after getting within a game of the wild card on Sept. 10 and three games of first place.
Mark Teixeira ended his 14-year career by going 0-for-3 and making a diving stop on Wieters in the second inning. He tipped his cap to the crowd a few times and accepted hugs from teammates when leaving the field with one out in the top of the seventh.
Cessa (4-4) allowed four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
NOTES: Retiring 1B Mark Teixeira was honored by the Yankees in a pregame ceremony. During the ceremony, he received a thank you card signed by kids from the Harlem RBI program, a framed jersey from managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and a replica base signed by all his teammates. ... Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said he met with Dan Duquette to discuss some preliminary plans about a postseason roster. Showalter also said he has a "pretty good idea" of who would pitch in the next contest whether it's a tiebreaker or the wild-card game. ... New York Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka said he was pleased to stay healthy this season and that he is not getting any surgery in the offseason.