NEWS » efence is shaping as the cornerstone of their premie

NEW YORK -- Buck Showalter was standing in his office at Yankee Stadium when Baltimore reliever Tommy Hunter popped in and grabbed the managers arm, nudging him toward the thumping party in the clubhouse across the hall.And when Showalter emerged through the protective plastic sheets hanging above the entryway, his players roared and doused him in bubbly.Thanks to a victory in their regular-season finale, the power-hitting Orioles are on to the playoffs.Matt Wieters homered from both sides of the plate, Kevin Gausman gave Baltimore a clutch pitching performance and Baltimore snagged an AL wild card by beating the New York Yankees 5-2 Sunday.It never really got away from us, Showalter said. You go through periods when youre like, youve got a chance to win a division, youve got a chance to be a wild card, then youve got a chance to not even be in it. And you dont overcome that without having a real strong mentality.Baltimore will play Tuesday night at AL East rival Toronto for a chance to face AL West champion Texas in a best-of-five Division Series.All we asked for is an opportunity, and right now, we have an opportunity. So, lets celebrate and enjoy this and get back to work, outfielder Adam Jones said.Zach Britton got five outs and finished perfect in 48 save chances this year with a 0.54 ERA. Wieters had four RBIs and Gausman (9-12) was charged with two runs in 7 1/3 innings as the Orioles -- who led the majors by a wide margin with 253 home runs -- closed with their seventh victory in nine games to reach the postseason for the third time in five years.Theyre looking for their first World Series championship since 1983.You just roll the dice and see if you can knock on the door and break through this time, said Dan Duquette, executive vice president of baseball operations.Baltimore (89-73) barely celebrated on the field after Britton struck out Brett Gardner to end it. Several players hugged each other behind the mound, but others simply walked out of the dugout and formed the customary handshake line.Back in their raucous clubhouse, however, the Orioles let loose. They sprayed beer and champagne, joining the AL East champion Red Sox as opponents who celebrated in the visitors clubhouse at Yankee Stadium within the past five days.I think its even more fun to do it here, Gausman said. They beat us up a lot over the years, way past before my time, so its good to celebrate here.In his final game before retiring, New York slugger Mark Teixeira went 0 for 3 and showed off his Gold Glove form with a couple of slick plays at first base. Honored during a 12-minute ceremony and feted with several gifts before the game, he was removed with one out in the top of the seventh inning so he could soak up the cheers while he walked off the field, fully composed as he hugged his teammates one at a time.Mentally and emotionally, I kind of prepared for it, Teixeira said. It wasnt as weird as I thought it would be.Baltimore squandered a three-run lead Saturday in a 7-3 loss to the Yankees that made its playoff prospects more complicated. But the Orioles got help that night when Detroit and Seattle were beaten, so they knew when they arrived at Yankee Stadium on Sunday that all they needed was a win to get in.When I woke up, I was ready to go, Gausman said. I wanted the game to start at 12 oclock. I was pacing back and forth in here a long time and I wanted the ball today.Jonathan Schoop, who started every game this season, reached on a pop-fly double leading off the third and put Baltimore ahead when he scored on J.J. Hardys sacrifice fly.In the fourth, Wieters was batting left-handed when he hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right field on a 3-0 pitch from Luis Cessa (4-4). That came one batter after Mark Trumbo reached on an infield single when Teixeira failed to scoop third baseman Ronald Torreyes short-hop throw.Manny Machado singled in the sixth and Wieters, batting right-handed, greeted lefty reliever Tommy Layne with another two-run drive just inside the left-field foul pole.Brian McCann went deep for the fourth-place Yankees (84-78), reaching 20 homers for the ninth consecutive season and 10th time overall.Didi Gregorius had an RBI single off Britton with two outs in the eighth before first baseman Chris Davis grabbed Aaron Hicks sharp grounder with two on to end the inning.LOOKING AHEADThe Orioles went 9-10 against the Blue Jays (89-73) this season. They were 4-5 in Toronto, but took two of three crucial games there just last week. We won five straight series on the road at the end of the year. That is a very, very hard thing to do, Jones said.DOUBLE TROUBLEWieters became the first Orioles player to homer from both sides since Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar against Cleveland on July 25, 1996. ... Wieters has seven career multihomer games, three this season.YANKEE DOODLE DANDYGausman was 3-1 with a 1.10 ERA in six starts against the Yankees this year.LET THE RECORD SHOWTeixeira finished with the same amount of hits as games played (1,862). He batted .268 with 409 home runs and 1,298 RBIs.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA) figures to start the wild-card game, but Showalter did not announce his plans.Yankees: Play their season opener next year April 2 at Tampa Bay.Fake Air Max 95 Online . PETERSBURG, Fla. Fake Air Max 95 .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. http://www.fakeairmax95.com/ .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Fake Nike Shoes . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Fake Air Max 95 Outlet . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said.Forget the Big Two, Cameron Smith says Melbournes charge towards a third NRL title boils down to the form of the clubs perpetually underrated big boppers.The Storm look set to finish inside the top two, and clinch an important home semi-final, after grinding out an 18-6 win over premiers North Queensland at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday night.While the result was largely attibuted to the absence of Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston, Melbourne skipper Smith laid praise at the feet of his sides forwards and their ability to lock down Matt Scott, James Tamou and Jason Taumalolo.The Cowboys all-international middle forwards were well held by the Storm with Scott (82m), Tamou (78m) and Taumalolo (135m) lacking their usual impact.Smith said they went into the clash knowing that while Thurstons absence was going to blunt their attack, it would count for naught if they didnt also win the yardage game against North Queenslands much-vaunted big men.They dont get any smaller and they dont run slower because JT isnt there, Smith said.But our ruck has been fantastic all year.Maybe because were way down south in Melbourne they dont get too many raps or the raps they should get but I think theyve been exceptional.All year theyve given Cooper (Cronk) and Blake Green and Cameron Munster opportuniities to do their thing out wide.ddddddddddddObviously Jesse (Bromwich) is having a good season again but guys like Tim Glasby, who was back tonight, Dale Finucane, Kenny Bromwich - theyre all playing really good football and thats what Ive been really pleased with.The Storms defence is shaping as the cornerstone of their premiership charge and after provisionally moving into top spot, Smith revealed the playing group resolved to improve their standards after being challenged by coach Craig Bellamy in the pre-season.Bellamys accusation that the side had lost their defensive steel has fired the group to top the league in most defensive stats this year.Going into round 21, they had conceded the least points, tries and linebreaks, missed the least tackles, as well as boasting the best completion rate and making the least errors, according to Fox Sports Stats.In the last two seasons I think weve fallen away from our standards in defence, Smith said.We always pride ourselves on defence.The coaches challenged us during our season review to make that better. Thats been a goal of ours this year and I think Craig would agree that so far, were achieving that goal. ' ' '