NEW YORK — CC Sabathia
pitched a four-hitter and the New York Yankees once again came out on
the right side of a disputed home run call against the Orioles in
October, beating Baltimore 3-1 Friday in the deciding Game 5 to reach
the AL championship series against Detroit.
Nate McLouth's bid for a tying
homer in the sixth inning was ruled foul by the slimmest of margins.
Sabathia hung on in the late innings for his first postseason complete
game and defeated the Orioles for the second time in this division
series.
The ALCS opens Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Raul Ibanez hit a go-ahead single in the fifth off Jason Hammel and Ichiro Suzuki added an RBI double in the sixth.
Curtis Granderson boosted it to
3-0 with a second-deck solo homer in the seventh. The Yankees advanced
following their decision to bench slumping third baseman Alex Rodriguez,
their $275 million man.