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July 2007 in the midst the housing market bust.
• The number of homes entering the foreclosure process, so-called foreclosure starts, fell to 87,066 in September, down 12 percent from August and 15 percent from a year earlier. It was the second-straight month of declines following three months of increases, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reported.
• Foreclosure starts since peaked in April 2009 at around 203,000. But the current level is still well above the 34,000 starts recorded in May 2005, before the collapse of the housing market.
• ___

• NEW YORK (AP) -- Down by a run in an all-even AL division series, Joe Girardi approached Alex Rodriguez and told baseball's highest-paid player he was going to pinch hit for him.
• Bold move, benching one of the game's great sluggers.
• "I just had a gut feeling," the Yankees manager said. "I just went to him and I said, 'You're scuffling a little bit right now, we have got a low-ball hitter and we've got a shorter porch in right field then left field obviously -- Raul (Ibanez) has been a good pinch hitter for us, and I'm just going to take a shot.'"
• The audacious decision worked.
• Ibanez homered in the ninth, then again in the 12th, rallying New York to a stunning 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series.
• ___

• OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- After a season filled with dramatic comebacks and memorable endings, the Oakland Athletics now expect the unexpected.
• Two runs down and three outs away from their season ending, the A's staged their most magical finish yet.
• Seth Smith hit a game-tying two-run double off closer Jose Valverde in the ninth inning and Coco Crisp capped Oakland's rally with a two-out RBI single as the A's staved off elimination for a second straight night with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 Wednesday night.

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