OAKLAND, Calif. — Dog-pile celebrations and whipped cream pies became a regular occurrence this season for the Oakland Athletics.

Perhaps none was as improbable or memorable as this last one, which made sure a season filled with dramatic endings wouldn't end just yet.

Seth Smith hit a game-tying, two-run double off closer Jose Valverde in the ninth inning, Coco Crisp capped Oakland's rally with a two-out RBI single, and 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.

“This club, we've been battling the whole year, giving 100 percent, and these walkoffs have been our MO this year,” Crisp said.

The A's rode a major league-leading 14 walkoff wins in the regular season to an improbable AL West title. Those paled in comparison to No. 15, which set up a win-or-go-home Game 5 against Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

Josh Reddick led off the ninth with a single just under the glove of diving second baseman Omar Infante. Josh Donaldson followed with a double off the wall in left-center and both runners scored on Smith's double. Two outs later, Crisp lined a single and Smith scored easily when right fielder Avisail Garcia couldn't handle the ball.

That set off a raucous celebration near first base as the A's poured out of the dugout to mob Crisp, who was the recipient of a whipped cream pie that became a custom in this remarkable season in Oakland. This marked the second time the A's erased a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to win a postseason game, the other coming in Game 5 of the 1929 World Series.

The A's, who have the lowest payroll in baseball, need just one more surprising result to win their second postseason series since 1990. Rookie Jarrod Parker will take the mound in Game 5 on Thursday night against Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young winner and MVP.

“That's why this is the greatest game of all,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “It looked like we were going to get it. We didn't do it. We didn't quite get the 27 outs, that's part of the game. You get tested all the time in this game. And this is a good test.”

NEW YORK — 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.The slumping Rodriguez offered no complaint, telling Girardi: “Joe, you gotta do exactly what you gotta do.”Injured saves leader Mariano Rivera went to Rodriguez in the dugout after seeing Ibanez head for the on-deck circle.“I told Alex not to worry, that Raul was going to hit a home run,” Rivera said.And Rivera was right next to A-Rod when Ibanez lined Jim Johnson's 1-0 pitch into the right field stands. Rodriguez threw his arms into the air and then exchanged high-fives with Rivera. When Ibanez returned to the bench, Rodriguez was the first player to greet him.“There was no one happier than me, one of the best performances I have ever seen,” Rodriguez said.