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Twins beat White Sox on home turf

American League

Torii Hunter and Corey Koskie each hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and the Twins clinched their third straight division crown on their main rivals' home turf, beating the Chicago White Sox 8-2 on Monday night.

Henry Blanco and Luis Rivas also homered. When Timo Perez popped out to shortstop Cristian Guzman for the final out, the Twins rushed onto the field for hugs and handshakes at second base.

The scoreboard flashed congratulations to the Twins. It's the first time Minnesota has reached the playoffs for three straight seasons in its 44-year history.

Carlos Silva (13-8) allowed two runs and seven hits over seven innings to win his third straight start.

Mark Buehrle (14-10) allowed seven runs, six off homers, and 10 hits in eight-plus innings.

Orioles 9, Red Sox 6

In Boston, B.J. Surhoff hit a grand slam, and the Baltimore Orioles capitalized on the third straight poor start by a Boston pitcher.

The Red Sox failed to take advantage of the Yankees' 6-3 loss to Toronto and remained 4 1/2 games behind AL East-leading New York. Boston lost in New York 11-1 and 14-4 on Saturday and Sunday.

Tim Wakefield (11-10) lost his control after three strong innings and fell to 0-3 in four starts.

The Red Sox lost their third straight, their first such streak since dropping four in a row from June 29 to July 2.

Jason Grimsley (5-6) got the win after starter Matt Riley was replaced with two outs in the fifth and runners at second and third. Todd Williams replaced Riley, but pitched poorly and Grimsley was given the win by the official scorer.

Jorge Julio pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 3

In New York, Gustavo Chacin became the first lefty starter to win his major league debut against the Yankees in the Joe Torre era.

Chacin (1-0) held the AL East leaders to a mere four hits before leaving in the eighth inning.

Javier Vazquez (14-10) took the loss, just the Yankees' fourth defeat in 15 games. He allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Russ Adams had a homer and three RBIs for Toronto.

Royals 6, Devil Rays 3

In St. Petersburg, Calvin Pickering hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning.

Brian Anderson (5-11) allowed three runs and seven hits over 7 2-3 innings to win his third straight decision. Jeremy Affeldt pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 15 opportunities.

Aubrey Huff and Carl Crawford homered for Tampa Bay, which has lost 17 of 21.

Jorge Sosa (4-5) took the loss.

Tigers 3, Indians 1

In Detroit, Mike Maroth pitched splendidly into the seventh, and Dmitri Young and Brandon Inge homered for Detroit.

Maroth (11-11) pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits while striking out three.

Scott Elarton (3-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Angels 5, Mariners 2

In Anaheim, Dallas McPherson had three hits and an RBI in his first major league start Monday night, helping the Angels gain ground in the playoff race with a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

The Angels closed within 2 1/2 games of idle Oakland in the AL West and 4 1/2 of Boston in the wild-card chase despite playing most of the night without star right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, who was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning.

X-rays at a hospital were normal, and Guerrero returned to the dugout during the game.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with a walk. His two singles gave him 238 hits this season, 19 short of George Sisler's major league record set in 1920.

Winning pitcher John Lackey (13-12) gave up two runs and 10 hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking none. Troy Percival pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save in 34 chances.

National League

Cardinals 7, Brewers 4

Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 on Monday night for their major league-leading 98th victory.

St. Louis ensured its third division title in five seasons on Saturday when the Cardinals beat Arizona 7-0, and San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs both lost.

But manager Tony La Russa refused to acknowledge that his team had already won the crown, both before and after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Arizona.

St. Louis capitalized on Luis Vizcaino's wildness to tie it at 4 in the eighth, then went ahead with three runs in the ninth for their 44th comeback win.

Dan Kolb (0-4) took the loss. Julian Tavarez (7-4) got the final out in the eighth for the win.

Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect ninth for his 43rd save in 50 chances.

Cubs 5, Marlins 1; Marlins 5, Cubs 2

In Miami, David Weathers made sure the Chicago Cubs' stay on top of the National League wild-card standings was brief.

The journeyman right-hander, making his first start in six years, limited Chicago to two hits and one run in five innings, and the Florida Marlins won 5-2 for a split of their doubleheader Monday.

Mark Prior allowed just five hits in 7 2-3 innings and outpitched Carl Pavano (17-7) in the opener to help the Cubs win 5-1.

With the victory in Game 1, Chicago climbed one percentage point ahead of San Francisco in the wild-card race. But the Cubs ended the day where they started: a half-game behind the idle Giants.

The Marlins remained four-and-a-half games behind San Francisco.

In the first game, Corey Patterson's two-run double put the Cubs ahead to stay.
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