Orioles, Cards even series

Published 1:51 am Tuesday, October 9, 2012

BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Wei-Yin Chen outpitched 40-year-old Andy Pettitte, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 3-2 Monday night to even their AL division series at one game apiece.

Chris Davis drove in two runs for the Orioles, who used the same formula that got them into the postseason for the first time in 15 years: a magnificent bullpen and an ability to win tight games. Baltimore was 29-9 in one-run decisions during the regular season and 74-0 when leading after seven innings.

Major league saves leader Jim Johnson, roughed up for five runs in a Game 1 loss, pitched a perfect ninth to close it out.

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Game 3 of the best-of-five series will be held at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

After Davis hit a two-run single to put Baltimore up 2-1 in the third inning, Matt Wieters led off the sixth with a double and scored on a single by Mark Reynolds to make it 3-1.

But New York came right back in the seventh. Eduardo Nunez got a double when Davis couldn’t catch his blooper to right and Jeter followed with an RBI single.

Chen gave up two runs, one earned, and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings.

Cardinals 12, Nationals 4

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carlos Beltran hit the last two of the Cardinals’ four homers and St. Louis chased an ineffective Jordan Zimmermann early in a 12-4 rout of the Washington Nationals on Monday that tied their NL division series at one game apiece

Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso also went deep to help the defending World Series champions build a big lead that compensated for a two-inning start from Jaime Garcia. Craig hit his fifth career postseason homer and scored three times.

Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche hit consecutive homers in the fifth for the Nationals, who head home for the remainder of the best-of-five series. But the NL East champions are without All-Star ace Stephen Strasburg, shut down for the rest of the season early last month to protect his surgically repaired arm.

Game 3 is Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park. Edwin Jackson starts for Washington against longtime Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who made only three starts during the regular season because of injury.

Beltran homered twice in the postseason for the third time in his career, connecting in the sixth off Mike Gonzalez and eighth off Sean Burnett. Jon Jay had two hits and three RBIs, plus an outstanding catch at the center-field wall to deprive Danny Espinosa of extra bases in the sixth.