For Dustin Pedroia, the decision to play the final two games of the season with an avulsion fracture in his left ring finger was multidimensional.

James Shields was masterful while allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high 15, which set a new Rays record, but he allowed a fourth-inning homer to Chris Davis that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 loss to the Orioles at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.

Chris Davis struck again Tuesday night, hitting the biggest home run of his career to give the Orioles a 1-0 win over the Rays that helped the club remain one game behind the American League East-leading Yankees with one game to play.

There is still plenty to be decided in terms of division races and seeding in this year’s postseason, which will begin Friday with a pair of Wild Card games.

Manager Joe Girardi is avoiding thinking ahead to a multitude of playoff scenarios, but should the Yankees clinch the American League East title Tuesday against the Red Sox, he still plans to field his everyday lineup in Wednesday’s regular-season finale in an effort to secure the No. 1 seed in the AL.

The Reds have a rotation set for their Division Series, which begins Saturday against the Giants in San Francisco. Not surprising is that Johnny Cueto will start Game 1, followed by Bronson Arroyo in Game 2 and Mat Latos in Game 3.

Each day, MLB.com selects one player from each game whose performance stands out.

Martin Maldonado hit a grand slam, Tyler Thornburg pitched four promising innings and the Brewers held on to beat the Padres, 4-3, on Tuesday at Miller Park.

Rockies rookie infielder Jordan Pacheco went into Tuesday night’s next-to-last game of the season clinging to the ninth-highest batting average in the National League at .304.

Aaron Hill’s ninth-inning walk-off home run led the D-backs to a 5-3 win over the Rockies on Tuesday night at Chase Field.

No Albert Pujols. No Tony La Russa. No Dave Duncan. No Chris Carpenter until very recently. Very little Lance Berkman. But for the St. Louis Cardinals, no catastrophe.

Chad Jenkins allowed two runs in five-plus innings to earn his first Major League victory as the Blue Jays topped the Twins, 4-3, in part thanks to Kelly Johnson’s two-run homer.

When Ben Sheets takes the mound in Wednesday afternoon’s regular-season finale against the Pirates, he will be doing more than filling just a few innings for the Braves. The veteran pitcher will be making the final start of his injury-plagued career without any regrets.

Facing a Cardinals club trying to clinch a Wild Card spot, the Reds took a 3-1 win on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium that kept them alive for the top seed in the National League postseason heading into Game 162.

Following a 3-1 loss to the Reds on Tuesday, manager Mike Matheny instructed his players to go home. They had a game to prepare for, he reminded them. A game that, at the time, looked like it could be quite critical. Turns out, no one listened. Nor will Game 162 matter.

On Tuesday, a day after winning the National League East title, the Nationals were trying to get the best record in baseball. Manager Davey Johnson rested most of his starters, and it paid off, as the Nationals beat the Phillies, 4-2, at Nationals Park.

Gio Gonzalez had been mentally preparing for his Tuesday start until the moment he found out, late on Monday night, that he’d be scratched. Now he has the rest of the week to focus on a more important outing.