the Western Conference finals after knocking the Clippers

The New York Yankees continue their improbable and unlikely push toward a postseason spot on Tuesday when they resume a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Patriots Jerseys 2019 . You can catch all the action live starting at 7pm et/4pm pt on TSN 2. New York crept within four games of the final American League wild card spot on Monday, as Derek Jeter drove in three runs and Michael Pineda tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the Yankees 5-0 win. "I really believe we have to pretty much win out, but you never know," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "Strange things happen in sports, weve seen it. Its obviously tougher when youre chasing more than one team, but the teams were chasing have had their struggles, too." J.J. Hardys fifth inning single was the only hit for Baltimore in the loss, the first since August 6 for Wei-Yin Chen (16-5). The left-hander was reached for four runs -- two earned -- over six innings. "I think weve got to tip our hat to Pineda," Hardy said. "He was throwing good. Hes got good stuff. Its not like were not trying to go out there." Baltimore, of course, has already clinched the AL East and despite Tuesdays loss it was assured home-field advantage in their ALDS when Detroit lost to the White Sox. Tonight, they turn to righty Ubaldo Jimenez, who was removed from the rotation back in August. However, he threw five innings of two-run ball in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays last Tuesday to improve to 5-9 on the year to go along with a 4.90 ERA. "Hes coming off a pretty good start and it fits into our maneuverability for the next seven games to be able to find out what we need to find out and make sure everybodys getting the proper rest," said Orioles skipper Buck Showalter. New York will counter with righty Brandon McCarthy, who is 7-4 with a 2.54 ERA since being acquired by the Yankees from Arizona. McCarthy was again terrific on Wednesday against Tampa Bay, as he surrendered two runs and four hits in seven innings. "I think his sinkers been really good, and I think his curveball has been really effective," Girardi said. "I think that he gets some strikes with it, and he puts some guys away with it, and I think its been really effective." McCarthy tossed seven scoreless innings against the Os back on Sept. 12, but did not factor in the decision of his teams 2-1 loss. He is 2-1 in nine games (7 starts) against them with a 3.77 ERA. Baltimore has won 11 of 16 from the Yanks this season. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants are on the brink of clinching a playoff spot, but what is still up for debate is if they will go into the postseason as a wild card team or National League West champions. The Giants can keep the latter scenario a possibility on Tuesday night when they resume a three-game series with the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. You can catch all the action live on TSN 2 starting at 10pm et/7pm pt. The Dodgers came into this series with a magic number of three to clinch the NL West title, and that number remained the same after the Giants claimed a 5-2 victory in 13 innings in last nights opener. And for San Francisco, its magic number to secure a playoff spot is at two. The Giants are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the leagues two wild card positions, with both clubs five games up on the Milwaukee Brewers. That means the Giants can secure a playoff spot tonight with a victory and a loss by the Brewers to the Cincinnati Reds. San Francisco outlasted Los Angeles in the opener, plating three runs in the 13th frame. Andrew Susacs RBI pinch-hit single brought home Brandon Belt and Gregor Blanco added a two-run double for good measure. "I wanted to hit something hard so we could go home, I was tired," said Susac. "I saw a curveball up and got enough of it." Four Giants relievers combined to toss six no-hit innings behind starter Jake Peavy and help the club snap a three-game skid. The Dodgers came in having won three of four over the Chicago Cubs and are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Giants for first place. "We just didnt do enough to win," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Mattinglys team may struggle again tonight against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, who beat the Dodgers on Sept. 12 with seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball that featured nine strikeouts. That improved the San Francisco lefty to 3-1 with a 1.75 earned run average in four starts versus L.A. this season. The contest also marked Bumgarners fifth straight winning start before he got a no-decision against Arizona on Wednesday. He allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings, striking out six as his club won 4-2. Bumgarner avoided his first loss since Aug. 8 and is 18-9 with a 2.91 ERA on the year. His 18 victories are the most by a Giants hurler since Shawn Estes has 19 in 1997 and Bumgarner has set career highs this season with 210 innings and 214 strikeouts. The Dodgers counter with a very capable pitcher in Zack Greinke, who is unbeaten in his career against the Giants. In six lifetime encounters, he is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA, holding San Francisco to eight earned runs over 37 1/3 innings while striking out 41. Greinke started an eventual 17-0 win over the Giants on Sept. 13, with the righty logging the first six scoreless innings while scattering four hits. That gave him a three-decision win streak going into a start versus the Cubs on Thursday, but the 30-year-old lasted only five innings and gave up four runs in a no-decision. Still, Greinke has not lost since Aug. 9 and is 15-8 this year with a 2.76 ERA. The Dodgers have won five of their past seven versus the Giants, but Mondays loss dropped them to 8-9 in the season series. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . "Hopefully well get all this out of the way," he said, "and everyone will be healthy the rest of the year." Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and is expected to miss between four to six weeks. Stitched Patriots Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ .C. Lions signed cornerback Dante Marsh to a contract extension on Friay and released receiver Paris Jackson.Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - It wasnt pretty, but Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers grinded out a 93-90 win over the short- handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. Paul missed a pair of free throws that could have made it a three-point game with 13.8 seconds remaining, but he went to the ground to secure the rebound on Sebastian Telfairs miss at the other end and Griffin sank two from the stripe. It was 91-88 with 5.8 seconds left when LA fouled Nick Collison intentionally to prevent the Thunder from getting off a look from 3-point range. He hit two as well, then J.J. Redick restored the three-point margin with his pair with 2.8 seconds to play. Without any timeouts, Thunder center Steven Adams inbounded to Serge Ibaka near mid-court. Ibaka took two dribbles and lined up a deep triple, which missed short as the final buzzer sounded. Opening nights are tough. We won but we didnt play well, said Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. I didnt like our tempo. We have to play at a better pace. Griffin showed off an improved jumper on his way to 23 points and Paul tallied 22 with seven assists to edge out a Thunder unit that hardly resembled the team that took the Spurs to six games in the Western Conference finals after knocking the Clippers out of the playoffs a season ago. Reigning league MVP Kevin Durant had foot surgery and will miss the early portion of the season. The Thunder also traveled to Los Angles without guards Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Anthony Morrow and rookie big man Mitch McGary. Russell Westbrook joined the walking wounded after leaving in the second quarter with a small fracture in his righht hand. New England Patriots Store. Its unfortunate, the way it is right now but its the way it is, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. We have to figure out how to continue to improve. Instead of Durant and Westbrook, who averaged a combined 53.8 points per game last season, it was third-year forward Perry Jones totaling a career-high 32 points to keep things competitive. Ibaka added 17 points and Telfair scored 11 with seven helpers off the bench. The Thunder started 4-for-4 from the field, with four different players hitting shots to stake the visitors an early 8-0 lead. Griffin settled down the Clippers with a pair of free throws, but Ibaka scored eight straight Thunder points to keep them in front. Paul split a pair at the line later in the period to make it 22-20. Again the Thunder responded, this time with four straight Jones free throws. OKC led 28-22 after one. Jamal Crawford heated up early the second, scoring nine of LAs first 14 points in the period. His triple at 7:46 gave the Clippers their first lead. Jones scored five straight late in the period to put the Thunder back in front, but LA scored eight of the final 10 points in the half to take a 46-41 lead into halftime. Oklahoma City locked down defensively in the second half to stay in the game and give itself a chance late. Game Notes This was the first regular season game for new Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who purchased the team for a record $2 billion this offseason ... Crawford scored 16 points off the bench ... OKC won the rebounding margin, 47-33, but doubled LAs turnovers, 22-11. ' ' '