Yanks eliminate O's, advance to ALCS

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NEW YORK (AP) - 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.