The Red Sox take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS with a 7 – 4 win over the Rays at Fenway Park, sparked by a pair of homers from David Ortiz.

St. Louis wins the first-ever National League Wild Card Game, defeating the Braves, 6 – 3, at Turner Field. 3B Chipper Jones, playing the last game of his career, commits a costly error for Atlanta in the 4th inning, throwing a potential double play grounder into right field, allowing St. Louis to score its first three runs that inning. The most controversial play takes place in the 8th, however, when SS Andrelton Simmons lifts a fly ball to shallow left that drops between LF Matt Holliday and SS Peter Kozma. But umpire Sam Holbrook calls the infield fly rule, and Simmons is out. A 19-minute delay ensues as fans pelt the field with debris; Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez files a protest, which is immediately dismissed by Major League Baseball Vice-President Joe Torre, allowing the game to resume. Jason Motte then records the final four outs of the game.

In the American League Wild Card Game, Baltimore defeats Texas, 5 – 1, at the Ballpark in Arlington. Joe Saunders, winless for his career in Arlington, allows only one run in 5 2/3 innings. For the O’s, it is a first win the postseason since 1997.

The Arizona Diamondbacks force their NLDS with Milwaukee to a decisive Game 5 with a 10 – 6 win at home today. The D-Backs use four home runs – a grand slam by Ryan Roberts, two long balls by Chris Young and one by Aaron Hill – to power their way to the win. They jump to a 5 – 0 lead off Randy Wolf in the 1st inning on Roberts’ slam, their second in as many games; the only other team to hit grand slams in back-to-back postseason games was the 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona never looks back after its quick start, although starter Joe Saunders struggles and is lifted after three innings; his replacement, Micah Owings, is the winner.

During the fifth turn of Game 4 of the NLDS against the Cardinals, a squirrel runs across home plate just as Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt begins to deliver a pitch to Skip Schumaker. Umpire Angel Hernandez calls the pitch a ball, much to the chagrin of the right-hander and Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who believe that “no pitch” should be called due to the distraction caused by the grey rodent, immortalized by the Redbirds fans as the “rally squirrel.”

Hanshin Tigers outfielder Matt Murton breaks Ichiro’s Japanese record for the most hits in a single season when he strokes his 211th hit of the year, a two-run single to center in a game against the Yakult Swallows. The 29 year-old former major leaguer, a 2003 first-round draft pick of the Red Sox who became part of a trade to the Cubs in a four-team deal that included Nomar Garciaparra, also played with the A’s before being released by the Rockies last season.

The Indians, with six games left on the schedule, announce they have dismissed Eric Wedge, their manager for the past seven years. The Cleveland skipper, whose firing came as no surprise, asks to remain in the dugout to manage the fifth-place Tribe for the remainder of the season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates fire manager Jim Tracy after two seasons at the helm, as part of a front office purge by new general manager Neal Huntington. Senior director of player development Brian Graham, who had been interim general manager, scouting director Ed Creech, Director of baseball operations Jon Mercurio, as well as Tracy’s entire coaching staff also lose their jobs.

Manny Ramirez hits a two-out walk-off three-run home run in the 9th inning off Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels to give Boston a 6 – 3 win and a two games to none lead in the ALDS