American LeagueKenny Rogers allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings, and Michael Ryan homered Wednesday as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2.
The win put the Twins 2 1/2 games ahead of the White Sox, who will try to avoid a sweep today at the Metrodome.
PHOTO: AP
Rogers (12-8) struck out three and walked none in his first win since Aug. 21. Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 37th save in 40 chances.
"We're finally playing like we're capable of," Rogers said.
Regardless of today's outcome, the Twins appear to have the edge over the White Sox in the race for the division crown. Chicago closes out the regular season with two series against third-place Kansas City and one against the New York Yankees, while the Twins face Cleveland and have two series against Detroit, which lost its 113th game Wednesday night.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire cautioned against getting too optimistic based on the schedule.
"When you've got this many games, anything can happen," he said.
Luis Rivas went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and scored two runs for the Twins, who won their fourth straight over the White Sox.
Pitching after a week off, Jon Garland (11-12) lasted just 4 2-3 innings. He allowed four earned runs, six hits and walked a season-high five.
Orioles 5, Yankees 3
In Baltimore, Larry Bigbie and Jay Gibbons homered, and Baltimore ruined David Wells' bid for his 200th career victory by defeating New York.
Eric DuBose (3-5) allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings for the Orioles, who took a 5-0 lead in the second inning and won for only the fifth time in their last 23 games against the Yankees.
Juan Rivera homered for New York, which maintained its 5 1/2 -game lead over Boston in the AL East. The Yankees were 10-1 in their previous 11 games.
Wells (14-7) went the distance, allowing only one hit over his final six innings, but the left-hander was undone by a poor start. It was only his second road loss of the season -- both of which have come this month.
Athletics 2, Angels 1
In Anaheim, California, Barry Zito took a shutout into the ninth inning as Oakland got RBI doubles from Scott Hatteberg and Billy McMillon to beat Anaheim.
Zito (13-12) retired the first 15 batters before walking Adam Kennedy to lead off the sixth. Rookie Alfredo Amezaga singled one out later to break up the no-hit bid.
Zito left after Garret Anderson's sacrifice fly in the ninth drove in Anaheim's first run. With closer Keith Foulke out with a sore back, Chad Bradford and Jim Mecir each got one out to finish, with Mecir earning his first save.
The A's, who came into the day with a 4 1/2-game lead over Seattle in the AL West, reduced their magic number for clinching the division to six.
Devil Rays 7, Red Sox 0
In Boston, Victor Zambrano allowed three hits in seven innings and Rocco Baldelli homered to lead Tampa Bay over Boston -- the first time the Red Sox have been shut out at Fenway Park in more than a year.
Boston's lead over Seattle in the AL wild-card race fell to 1 1/2 games.
Tampa Bay had 16 hits to win for just the second time in nine games. Marlon Anderson was 3-for-4, and Al Martin was 2-for-2 after entering as a pinch-hitter in the sixth.
Zambrano (11-9) improved to 4-0, with one save, in his last five appearances at Fenway. He walked five, struck out three and hit two batters with pitches.
Todd Walker's ninth-inning double was Boston's 608th extra-base hit of the season, breaking the major league record set by the 1996 Mariners.
Jeff Suppan (2-3) allowed five runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Mariners 5, Rangers 1
In Arlington, Texas, Jamie Moyer pitched eight strong innings and Carlos Guillen hit a solo homer as Seattle beat Texas.
Seattle ended a three-game losing streak and moved within 1 1/2 games of Boston in the AL wild-card race.
Moyer (19-7) allowed one run on four hits while striking out five and walking two in becoming the fourth AL pitcher to win at least 19 games. He improved to 12-3 in his career against Texas.
Blue Jays 6, Tigers 0
In Detroit, Roy Halladay threw a six-hitter to tie a Toronto record with his 21st win, and Vernon Wells hit his 32nd homer as the Blue Jays beat Detroit.
Detroit (38-113) has lost five straight and needs five wins in its final 11 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses set by the 1962 New York Mets.
The Tigers became just the fifth team since 1900 to lose 113 games, and the first AL team to do so since the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics. That club set the AL record with 117 losses.
Indians 9, Royals 1
In Cleveland, Jake Westbrook scattered four hits over six-plus innings, and Travis Hafner and Alex Escobar homered as Cleveland beat Kansas City to end a four-game losing streak.
Jody Gerut hit a two-run single and Jhonny Peralta also drove in two for Cleveland, which snapped Kansas City's four-game winning streak. The Royals are 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota and two games behind Chicago in the AL Central.
Westbrook (7-9) allowed one run and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings. Other than two singles, he didn't allow the Royals to hit a ball out of the infield through the sixth. He got 13 groundball outs, including a double play, through the sixth.
National League
Jason Schmidt had 11 strikeouts in his 16th win, and Andres Galarraga and Marquis Grissom each hit two-run homers as the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 8-3 Wednesday to clinch the National League West and their third playoff berth in four seasons.
See single-column story on the right side of this page for details.
Marlins 11, Phillies 4
In Philadelphia, Jeff Conine homered, drove in three runs and made two outstanding defensive plays in left field to leading Florida over Philadelphia.
The Marlins increased their NL wild-card lead to 1 1/2 games over the Phillies. The teams play again at Veterans Stadium on Thursday and have a three-game series in Florida next week.
Juan Pierre had four hits and a career-high four RBIs for the Marlins, who have won nine of their last 10 against Philadelphia.
Cubs 2, Mets 0
In Chicago, Kerry Wood struck out 11 in his fourth complete game of the year, and Doug Glanville and Aramis Ramirez homered as Chicago completed a three-game sweep of New York.
The sweep was Chicago's fourth of the season, but its first at home. The Cubs hadn't swept the Mets since taking a four-game series at Wrigley Field in August 1992.
Wood pitched a four-hitter for his 13th win, matching his total from 1998, when he won NL Rookie of the Year honors. Wood (13-11) has at least 12 victories in each of the four years he's been healthy enough to pitch the full season.
Al Leiter (14-9) allowed just four hits and one walk in seven innings, and retired his last 13 batters.
Braves 14, Expos 4
In Montreal, Mike Hampton allowed three hits in five innings and hit a home run as Atlanta beat Montreal to close in on its record 12th straight division title.
Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones also homered, and manager Bobby Cox got his 1,900th win as Atlanta reduced its magic number for winning the NL East to one.
Hampton (14-7) struck out three and walked four for the Braves.
Lopez's 41st homer was his 40th as a catcher, one behind Todd Hundley's major league record set in 1996 for the New York Mets.
Pirates 8, Reds 5
In Pittsburgh, Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer, and Jeff D'Amico won at home for the first time in more than two months as Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.
D'Amico (9-15) came in tied for the NL lead in losses, but was staked to an early lead. He gave up four runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings for his first win at PNC Park since July 6.
Brewers 7, Cardinals 6
In St. Louis, Jason Conti drove in a career-high five runs, including a go-ahead single in the ninth inning that helped Milwaukee rally past St. Louis. Pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick tied it with a two-run homer off Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen.
Rockies 7, Astros 5
In Denver, Todd Helton hit a three-run homer and pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney had a two-run single to lead Darren Oliver and Colorado over Houston.
Houston had its four-game winning streak snapped but still has won 10 of 13. Colorado ended a three-game losing skid.
Charles Johnson homered off Brad Lidge in the eighth for the Rockies, and Chris Stynes added an RBI double.
Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 0
In Los Angeles, rookie Brandon Webb and Matt Mantei combined on a three-hitter, and Luis Gonzalez homered twice as Arizona beat Los Angeles.
The Dodgers' second straight loss dropped them 3 1/2 games behind Florida in the NL wild-card race with 12 games remaining. The loss, combined with San Francisco's 8-3 win over San Diego clinched the NL West title for the Giants.
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