Pirates Win Wild Card Game, To Face Cardinals; MLB Notes

Oct 2, 2013 7:52 AM

>>Pirates Upend Reds, Move To NLDS

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- Russell Martin hit a pair of solo homers and the Pirates went on to a 6-2 win over the Reds in the NL Wild Card Game at PNC Park. Marlon Byrd also homered and drove in two while Andrew McCutchen finished 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run. Francisco Liriano tossed seven innings of one-run ball to grab the win for Pittsburgh, which will face the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series starting Thursday. Johnny Cueto [[ KWAY-toe ]] allowed four runs in three-and-a-third innings to take the loss for Cincinnati. Shin-Soo Choo hit a solo homer and Ryan Ludwick went 3-for-4 in the loss, which ends the Reds' season.

>>Rays Meet Indians In AL Wild Card Game Tonight

(Cleveland, OH) -- The Tampa Bay Rays are in a must-win situation once again as they meet the Cleveland Indians in the AL Wild Card game tonight at Progressive Field. Alex Cobb will get the ball for Tampa. Cleveland will counter with Danny Salazar. The Rays knocked off the Texas Rangers 5-2 in the tiebreaker game on Monday. Tampa won four of the six meetings with Cleveland this season. The winner of tonight's game will face the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS starting Friday.

>>Yankees MLB's Least Cost Effective Team

(Undated) -- The New York Yankees are this season's least cost-effective team. "Forbes" says the Bronx Bombers paid nearly 2.7-million dollars for every one of their 85 wins this season. "Business Insider's" figures put that cost per win at just past three-million dollars. The LA Dodgers were the second-least cost-effective team in the regular season with around 2.5-million per win, but at least they made the playoffs. "Forbes" says the next three least cost-effective teams are Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston. "Business Insider's" next three are the Phillies, the White Sox and San Francisco. The Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics are the most cost-effective playoff teams. Each team paid around 600-thousand dollars per win.

>>Yankees To Meet With Girardi's Agent

(New York, NY) -- The Yankees are getting set to talk contract with manager Joe Girardi. General Manager Brian Cashman is scheduled to meet with Girardi's agent over lunch on Wednesday. Girardi's contract expires at the end of the month and Cashman says they are interested in keeping him. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are expected to ask permission to speak to Girardi after firing manager Dale Sveum [[ Swame ]] earlier this week. Despite injuries to numerous star players, Girardi had the Yankees in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season. He has been manager of the Bronx Bombers since 2008.