American LeagueBernie Williams hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees clinched their seventh straight AL East title, beating the Minnesota Twins 6-4 Thursday night for their 100th victory of the season.
With the crowd standing and hollering, Williams connected with one out to set off an enthusiastic celebration.
PHOTO: EPA
Williams raised his right arm in triumph as he rounded first base, and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were the first players to greet him at home. The Yankees enjoyed the moment, gathering for a group hug near the plate.
PHOTO: AP
Williams' homer was the Yankees' major-league leading 241st of the season, and they broke the franchise record set in 1961. Hideki Matsui and John Olerud also homered for New York.
New York became just the fourth team to post three straight 100-win seasons, joining Atlanta (1997-1999), Baltimore (1969-1971) and the Philadelphia Athletics (1929-1931).
The Yankees swept the three-game series from the AL Central champs, yet their first-round playoff pairing is still not set -- they could wind up facing the Twins, Anaheim or Oakland starting Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, where they had the best home record in the majors.
Manager Joe Torre said he hoped to clinch the crown in New York's final home game, rather than wait to party in Toronto during the weekend. He got his wish in front of a crowd of 48,454 that boosted the Yankees' season attendance to a team-record 3,775,292.
The Yankees won this one as they did so many others, featuring the recurring themes of home runs, strong bullpen work and comebacks. The victory relegated the Boston Red Sox to their seventh straight second place, although they again captured the wild-card spot.
Tom Gordon (9-4) pitched one inning for the win. Aaron Fultz (3-3) took the loss in a game the Twins led on three separate occasions.
Brad Radke tuned up for his playoff start by going five innings for the Twins. Expected to pitch Game 2 behind ace Johan Santana, Radke gave up two runs and six hits.
The Yankees wanted to see a good outing for Javier Vazquez, who began the night with a 7.06 ERA since the All-Star break. He did OK, allowing four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau hit solo home runs for Minnesota. Hunter hit his 23rd for an early 2-0 lead, and Morneau connected in the sixth for a 3-2 edge.
After Olerud homered in the sixth, the Twins retook the lead in the seventh on an RBI double by Henry Blanco that landed on the chalk line barely beyond third base.
Matsui hit his 31st home run, a solo drive in the seventh that made it 4-all.
Matsui drew a leadoff walk from Radke in the fourth. Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Olerud all followed with ground singles through the right side, producing two runs.
Augie Ojeda, subbing for shortstop Cristian Guzman, hit an RBI single that put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the second. Guzman was a late scratch because of a stiff neck.
Athletics 3, Mariners 2
Ichiro Suzuki got his 256th hit to move within one of George Sisler's record, but Bobby Crosby homered in the ninth inning to give the Oakland Athletics a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
The A's (90-69) moved back into a tie with the Anaheim Angels atop the AL West, and there won't be a one-game playoff, either. The division champion will be determined in a season-ending three-game series at the Coliseum.
Suzuki had a run-scoring single in the third inning, pulling him within one hit of tying Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257. Suzuki went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
"I want to finish the season strong in Seattle and have no regrets," said Suzuki, who didn't want to talk directly about the record.
Octavio Dotel (6-2) pitched the ninth for the victory, striking out Suzuki with a 3-2 fastball.
"I just wanted to show him my best pitches," Dotel said. "He's a great hitter, so I wanted to match up best on best with him."
With one out in the ninth, Crosby pounded a pitch from Scott Atchison (2-3) over the high fence in left for his 22nd homer, raising his fist as he rounded the bases. Jermaine Dye also homered for the A's, who fell out of first place Wednesday night for the first time since Aug. 5.
National League
Javier Valentin doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 12th inning and the Cincinnati Reds played spoiler again, sending the Chicago Cubs to a crushing 2-1 defeat on Thursday.
Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games, including back-to-back 12-inning heartbreakers to the Reds, and fell one game behind idle Houston for the National League wild card with three games left. The Cubs also wasted a stellar outing by Mark Prior, who struck out 16 in nine innings.
"It's not from a lack of preparation. It's not from a lack of trying. It just hasn't worked out. I don't have a philosophical quote about it. We lost," Prior said.
Adam Dunn, who earlier broke Bobby Bonds' major league record for strikeouts in a single season when he fanned in his first two at-bats, singled in the 12th off Mike Remlinger (1-2). Dunn stole second and moved to third on a grounder before Valentin doubled to right off Kyle Farnsworth.
Chicago loaded the bases for the third time in the 11th, but Juan Padilla (1-0) escaped by striking out Michael Barrett.
"It's tough to lose two 12-inning games in a row, especially when we had opportunities to win the game," a dejected Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
Prior allowed just three hits and a run and matched his career high for strikeouts.
Dunn struck out three times, giving him a major league single-season record of 191 whiffs, two more than Bonds in 1970.
Phillies 7, Marlins 4
In Philadelphia, Pat Burrell went 4-for-4, including a tiebreaking two-run single in a six-run seventh inning as Philadelphia downed Florida.
The Phillies (84-75) moved two games ahead of the defending World Series champion Marlins for second place in the NL East as both teams finish out their disappointing seasons.
Todd Jones (11-5) pitched a scoreless seventh, and Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 21st save.
Jimmy Rollins hit the second pitch by Guillermo Mota (9-8) deep to right-center field for a two-run triple, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Polanco followed with a tying RBI single off Mota's glove. Polanco stole second, Bobby Abreu walked and both advanced on David Bell's sacrifice bunt. Mota struck out Jason Michaels, but Burrell lined a two-run single to center to give the Phillies a 6-4 lead.
Giants 4, Padres 1
In San Diego, Jerome Williams pitched seven strong innings in his first start in two months as San Francisco tied idle Houston in the wild-card race.
The Giants entered the night three games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. San Francisco and Los Angeles end the season with three games this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
The Padres, playing their home finale, fall three games back in the wild-card race with three to play.
Ray Durham homered off Adam Eaton (11-14) leading off the four-run fourth. The Padres committed two errors that inning, leading to three unearned runs.
Williams (10-7) allowed one run and four hits, struck out three and walked one.
Dodgers 4, Rockies 2
In Los Angeles, David Ross hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 11th inning as Los Angeles beat Colorado to clinch no worse than a tie for a playoff spot.
Ross, batting .169, hit a 2-1 pitch from Steve Reed over the left-field wall after Alex Cora was hit by a pitch from Brian Fuentes (2-4). It was Ross' first at-bat of the game and his fifth homer of the year.
The Dodgers, who had rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the 10th inning, mobbed Ross at the plate before a cheering, sellout crowd of 53,438.
Los Angeles leads San Francisco by three games entering a season-ending, three-game series between the teams at Dodger Stadium starting Friday night.
Cincinnati Reds slugger Adam Dunn set the Major League Baseball record for strikeouts in one season with 190, when he fanned in his first two at-bats Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.
Dunn struck out against Chicago starter Mark Prior in the second and fourth innings, breaking the previous mark of 189 set by Bobby Bonds in 1970. Dunn was whiffed 560 times in four seasons.
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