(Best E Casino) - The
Toronto Blue Jays could drive the final nail into the
New York Yankees' coffin tonight when the two American League East Division also-rans open a three-game series at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
New York, which, of course, has played in the last 13 postseasons, will be eliminated from AL Wild Card contention with one loss - or one Boston Red Sox win - in the final week of the season.
The Yankees stayed alive for one more day when the Red Sox lost Monday to Cleveland.
Veteran Mike Mussina, who is 18-9 with a 3.57 ERA, takes the mound, as he continues his pursuit of winning 20 games for the first time in his 17-year major-league career.
The 39-year-old right-hander reached 19 victories in both 1995 and 1996 with the Baltimore Orioles and got as high as 18 in 1992, 1999 and 2002. He'll pitch once more on the season's final weekend.
Mussina won his last start, on September 18 against the Chicago White Sox, after dropping two straight to Seattle and Tampa Bay.
The Pennsylvania native held Chicago to five hits and one run over six innings of a 9-2 Yankees win.
He is 24-12 in 43 career starts against Toronto and is 7-2 on the road in 2008 with a 3.53 earned run average.
For the Blue Jays, 23-year-old righty Jesse Litsch seeks a fourth straight win.
The South Florida Community College product was 9-8 after a loss at Tampa Bay on August 28, but is 3-0 with a no-decision in four starts this month while giving up 19 hits and seven runs in 27 1/3 innings.
Litsch dropped a 9-4 verdict to the Yankees on July 12 after he was tagged for seven hits and eight runs - three earned - in just 2 2/3 innings.
Lifetime against New York, he is 1-3 in five starts with a 6.75 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.
On Sunday in New York, New York closed out its residence at iconic Yankee Stadium with one final victory, a 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Andy Pettitte (14-14) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits in five-plus innings to get the win, his 95th at the stadium. Johnny Damon hit a three-run homer, while Jose Molina hit the final home run at Yankee Stadium, a two-run shot.
Derek Jeter went 0-for-5 in the game, but will go down as the all-time hits leader at Yankee Stadium with 1,274. Mariano Rivera, the stadium's all-time saves leader with 230, entered for one final inning to preserve the win.
In Toronto, David Ortiz belted a two-run homer and Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched seven shutout innings, as the Red Sox earned a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays in the finale of a three-game set from the Rogers Centre.
Vernon Wells had two hits for the Blue Jays, who lost for the second time in five games.
Scott Richmond (0-3), in his fourth major league start for Toronto and first since August 10, took the loss. He was charged with three runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in five innings.
Toronto has won eight of its 15 meetings with the Yankees this season.
