American LeagueVladimir Guerrero homered twice and drove in five runs while going 4-for-5 Tuesday as the Anaheim Angels tied Oakland for the American League West lead with an 8-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
The Angels (89-68) never trailed in their fourth straight win after Guerrero's two-out solo homer in the first. It was 8-0 after his 36th homer, a three-run shot in the sixth.
The Athletics (89-68) lost to Seattle 7-2. The Rangers (86-71) dropped to three games back with five left.
"This thing can change momentum in a heartbeat. There's no reason to put too much stock in where we are," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The challenge is in front of us, and the opportunity is in front of us also."
Kelvim Escobar (11-12) allowed just two runs on three hits over six innings to win for the first time in four starts against Texas this season.
Park Chan-ho (3-7) gave up four runs on six hits over 4 2-3 innings. He walked four.
"Chan Ho wasn't sharp enough to be facing a team like this," Texas manager Buck Showalter said.
Mariners 7, Athletics 2
In Oakland, California, Ichiro Suzuki had two hits to move within three of tying the single-season record, and Oakland fell into a first-place tie with Anaheim in the AL West.
Oakland dropped out of sole possession of first place for the first time in 54 days, since the team was a half-game behind Texas on Aug. 5.
Suzuki led off the game with a double to right-center, then singled to start the fifth. He finished 2-for-5 and needs four hits in Seattle's final five games to break George Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257 hits in a season.
Bret Boone hit a two-run homer off Tim Hudson (12-6) and Jeremy Reed had a double among his three hits and drove in a run.
Gil Meche (7-6) won his third straight decision to beat the A's for the first time in nine career starts.
Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 8
In St. Petersburg Florida, Boston crept closer to the New York Yankees in the AL East, beating Tampa Bay on Kevin Millar's two-out, two-run homer in the 11th inning.
Boston, which clinched a playoff spot Monday night, moved within 2 1/2 games of the Yankees in the division. New York was rained out and will make up its scheduled game with Minnesota as part of a doubleheader Wednesday.
The Red Sox matched their win total for last season and have won 95 in consecutive seasons for just the third time in franchise history.
Boston also climbed 33 games over .500 for the first time since Oct. 1, 1986.
David Ortiz doubled off Danys Baez (4-4) with two outs in the 11th. Millar followed with his 18th homer on a 1-1 pitch.
Ramiro Mendoza (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Keith Foulke got three outs for his 31st save.
Tigers 6, White Sox 4
In Detroit, Eric Munson hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning to lead Detroit.
Bobby Higginson reached base in all five plate appearances with a homer, double and three walks, and Omar Infante also homered for the Tigers.
With the Tigers trailing 4-3 in the seventh, Carlos Pena and Craig Monroe hit one-out singles off Neal Cotts (4-4). Munson followed by lining a three-run shot just inside the right-field foul pole.
Franklyn German (1-0) got the win in relief with two perfect innings, and Esteban Yan pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez left the game in the third with a tight right hamstring. The injury occurred when he was running out a single.
Paul Konerko hit his 41st homer, placing him in a tie for fourth on Chicago's single-season list.
National League
Jeff Bagwell drove in two runs and Brandon Backe pitched five solid innings to help the Houston Astros gain ground in the NL wild-card race with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
The Astros moved within a half-game of the Chicago Cubs (88-69) and San Francisco Giants (88-69), who tied Chicago for the wild-card lead with a 7-5 victory over San Diego. The Cubs lost to Cincinnati 8-3 at Wrigley Field.
"After a game like tonight," Backe said, "you can't help but think we're on fire and things are going our way."
St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen went 0-for-3 in his return after missing 16 games with a strained upper left calf.
Houston has won five of its last six and tied a franchise record with its 14th straight home win, equaling a mark set in 1980.
Backe (4-3) allowed five hits, struck out three and walked three. Dan Haren (3-3) took the loss.
Reds 8, Cubs 3
In Chicago, Adam Dunn reached 100 RBIs for the first time with his 44th home run to help hand Chicago a costly loss in the wild-card race.
Chicago's lead over Houston dropped to a half-game. The Cubs began the day a game ahead of San Francisco.
D'Angelo Jimenez and Darren Bragg also connected off Greg Maddux (15-11), who lost his second straight start to the Reds.
Josh Hancock (5-2) gave up two earned runs and seven hits over eight innings, striking out three and walking two.
Corey Patterson drove in a pair of runs with a triple, but the Cubs managed only six other hits.
Diamondbacks 9, Brewers 8
In Phoenix, Alan Zinter hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to give Arizona the victory over Milwaukee.
Zinter, just 6-for-32 on the season, followed Alex Cintron's single with a 391-foot drive into the right-field grandstand. Zinter had entered at first base in the top of the inning.
Brooks Kieschnick (1-1) blew Milwaukee's second save of the game after Lyle Overbay put the Brewers ahead in the top of the 11th with an RBI single.
Giants 7, Padres 5
In San Diego, Edgardo Alfonzo's two-run double capped a six-run rally in the fourth inning, and San Francisco tied Chicago for the wild-card lead.
The Giants remained three games behind the NL West leading Dodgers, who beat the Rockies 5-4. The Cubs lost 8-3 at Cincinnati.
The loss pushed the Padres closer to elimination. They remain three games out in the wild-card race with five to play and dropped six games behind Los Angeles in the West.
San Francisco had 17 hits, nine off Padres starter Brian Lawrence (15-14). Ray Durham had a career-high five hits, Marquis Grissom had three and Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with two intentional walks.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 4
In Los Angeles, Steve Finley's two-run single capped a five-run rally in the ninth inning that gave Los Angeles a win over Colorado.
The Dodgers lowered their magic number for winning the NL West championship to three. They lead San Francisco by three games with five remaining.
With the Rockies leading 4-0, Shawn Chacon struck out Olmedo Saenz to start the ninth, but walked Alex Cora, pinch-hitters Robin Ventura and Jose Hernandez, and Cesar Izturis to force in a run.
Tim Harikkala (6-6) relieved and gave up a two-run double to Jayson Werth and Finley's single, a grounder between first and second.
Milton Bradley was thrown out of the game after a fan threw a plastic bottle at him following his two-out error and subsequent RBI single by Brad Hawpe that capped a three-run, eighth-inning rally by the Rockies.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Astacio and New York Yankees pitcher Brad Halsey were each suspended Tuesday for three games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball after being ejected from Boston's 11-4 win over the weekend.
In the top of the eighth Sunday, Astacio was ejected for throwing behind Kenny Lofton and both teams were warned by plate umpire Jim Wolf.
In the bottom half of the inning, Halsey and manager Joe Torre were ejected after Halsey threw a pitch high and tight to Dave Roberts, causing the benches and bullpens to clear. Players were kept apart.
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