NEW YORK -- His playing days dwindling, Mark Teixeira gave himself a moment to savor Wednesday night and rescued the New York Yankees in the process.Teixeira hit a game-winning grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Yankees staved off playoff elimination at the last possible instant with a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.Thats as good as it gets right there, said Teixeira, set to retire after this season.Boston clinched the AL East title nearly 30 minutes before Teixeira connected, thanks to Torontos 3-2 loss against Baltimore. But a five-run comeback by New York in the ninth prevented its longtime rival from celebrating on the Yankee Stadium field.Its an unbelievable moment, manager Joe Girardi said. Its a great moment for him, and its a great moment for us.The victory by the Orioles put the Yankees on the brink of wild-card elimination following a surprising charge late this season. New York had only one infield hit and trailed 3-0 heading into the ninth, with Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel (2-5) jogging in from the bullpen on a misty and blustery night in the Bronx.Kimbrel, however, gave up a leadoff single to Brett Gardner and issued three straight walks, the last forcing in a run.Red Sox manager John Farrell turned to Joe Kelly, who struck out Starlin Castro and retired Didi Gregorius on a foul popup. With the Yankees down to their last out, Teixeira launched a 99 mph fastball on an 0-1 count into the New York bullpen in right-center.You dont want a wall-scraper in an 8-0 game to be your last one. You want a walkoff grand slam against the Red Sox, Teixeira said. Ill still be trying the next four games, but if it happens to be my last one, it will be pretty special.Yankees relievers raised their arms in excitement, and Teixeira puffed his cheeks and spread his arms wide as he rounded first base. The 36-year-old slugger, in his 14th big league season, tossed his helmet as happy New York players poured out of the dugout to swarm him at home plate.Im going to take away a lot of memories. This will be one of the best, Teixeira said. Thats as good as I can hit a ball.New York (82-76) guaranteed its 24th consecutive winning season, the second-longest streak in major league history behind the Yankees run of 39 straight from 1926-64.It was the teams first game-ending slam since Alex Rodriguez on April 7, 2007.Meanwhile, the Red Sox walked back to their bench and quietly cleared out of the dugout, an awkward way to mark their second division crown in four years. But once they returned to their clubhouse, they let loose and celebrated with the traditional beer and bubbly.Cant let one inning deter our whole season, outfielder Mookie Betts said.James Pazos (1-0) earned his first major league win, and the Yankees remained four games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card with four to play.Though the final score in Toronto was posted on the out-of-town scoreboard, the Red Sox hardly seemed to notice as players draped their arms over the dugout railing and rooted for Kimbrel in the ninth.Red Sox executives, however, jumped out of their front-row seats next to the Boston dugout and rejoiced when the Blue Jays game ended, giving Boston its eighth AL East title.Betts snapped a scoreless tie when he chopped a two-run double over third base in the eighth inning. David Ortiz scored moments later on Gary Sanchezs passed ball.Boston, which had already secured at least a wild-card spot in the playoffs, will open its postseason schedule Oct. 6 seeking a second World Series crown since 2013. The teams first opponent has not been determined yet.You never want to see a team celebrate on your home field, or celebrate at all, so well take that as a positive tonight, Teixeira said in the clubhouse, where he was congratulated by Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: LHP Drew Pomeranz (sore forearm) is tentatively slated to throw his customary 30-35 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday. The team hopes he can make a relief appearance during its final regular-season series this weekend, but manager John Farrell said that wont be determined or planned until Pomeranz gets through his bullpen OK. ...Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (forearm) felt fine after playing catch Tuesday, but the team is unsure if hell start Saturday against Baltimore, Girardi said.UP NEXTOrtiz, also retiring after the season, says goodbye to Yankee Stadium in the series finale Thursday night. New York has planned a pregame ceremony.Red Sox LHP Henry Owens (0-1) starts in place of Pomeranz, scratched from his scheduled outing. Owens threw 80 pitches at the teams complex in Florida last week and should be comfortable going that far, Farrell said. LHP CC Sabathia (8-12) gets the ball for the Yankees. Bryan Garcia Jersey . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Bill Freehan Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Jose Iglesias Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Zimmermann Jersey . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Ralek Gracie, of the famed Gracie jiu-jitsu family, has signed a contract to compete in Bellator MMA.Gracie, 31, confirmed the signing to ESPN.com. His debut is currently targeted for a televised event on Jan. 21 in Inglewood, California, against an opponent yet to be determined. He plans to fight at middleweight.Son of iconic jiu-jitsu practitioner Rorion Gracie and nephew of UFC legend Royce Gracie, Ralek Gracie (3-0) hasnt competed in MMA since 2010. All of his pro fights occurred in Japan. His most recent was a decision win against Kazushi Sakuraba in May 2010.Im ready to get myself back out there, Gracie said. I competed in a Metamoris jiu-jitsu match [in July], and I felt like I got in amazing shape but wasnt able to focus like I wanted, because I was running my own show.Ive always fought MMA. I never really competed in jiu-jitsu. I was always attracted to more of a real fight. I think people still want to know what this original style of jiu-jitsu can do in modern MMA. Im into that, and Im into being a catalyst in that story.Gracie jiu-jitsu has served an integral role in the evolution of mixed martial arts. The sport was born in many ways at UFC 1 in November 1993, when Royce Gracie submitted three men on the same night to win the first UFC tournament.Ralek Gracies involvement in professional MMA has been limited thus far. He said injuries and the responsibilities of fatherhood contributed to his decision to step away from competition years ago.Life got in the way a little bit, Gracie said. For me, it was always the goal [to compete in MMA], but I didnt get paid for my last fight against Sakuraba. [Japanese promotion] DREAM was in a position where they were going down, and it was bad timing for me. At that time, I needed something more stable. I had kids. I needed to be more responsible for their future and think differentlly, but in the meantime, I always watched the growth of the sport.ddddddddddddIn 2014, Gracie founded Brazilian jiu-jitsu promotion Metamoris, which got off to a strong start but has since fallen under controversy.The submission-only promotion has featured the likes of several Gracie family members, decorated grapplers and MMA stars in Chael Sonnen and Rory MacDonald, among others. Along the way, however, the promotion faced accusations of false charges on stored consumer credit cards and failure to pay its competitors.Earlier this week, Flograppling.com reported Gracies brothers, Ryron and Rener, issued an internal email cautioning Gracie academies from conducting business with Ralek and Metamoris. Ralek Gracie expressed optimism about Metamoris and his relationship with his brothers, while reiterating his excitement about MMA.I really want to focus on this right now, but I definitely would say [Metamoris] is doing everything it can to move forward in the most honorable way possible, Gracie said. Its tough, man. We went through a hard time, and I think people took for granted what we were bringing to the table -- something that was revolutionary for the sport. We were really young, really green and didnt have the business experience.Its a surreal thing, to answer questions about my brothers -- and even trying to defend yourself is dishonorable in this kind of situation. Were just doing the best we can, and I think there are some stuff behind the scenes that people dont know about and shouldnt know about. I really dont like avoiding questions, but at the end of the day, I really dont think its important or relevant in this circumstance. This [Bellator signing] is very exciting and Im excited to compete. ' ' '