Bengie Molina hit a solo home run and Ervin Santana pitched 6 2-3 strong innings to help Los Angeles clinch the American League West title with a 4-3 victory over Oakland on Tuesday.
Los Angeles won Monday's opener 4-3, then came back from an early one-run deficit Tuesday to eliminate the A's from postseason contention.
Santana (11-8) allowed seven hits and struck out seven in winning his third straight start as the Angels reached the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history.
Juan Rivera added an RBI double, Robb Quinlan singled in a run and Chone Figgins had an RBI single as the Angels won the fifth division title in club history with their 10th win in 11 games.
Francisco Rodriguez allowed a leadoff homer to Marco Scutaro in the ninth but earned his 16th straight save and 43rd overall.
Joe Kennedy (3-5) lasted only 3 2-3 innings.
Orioles 17, Yankees 9
At Baltimore, Jay Gibbons and Javy Lopez homered to help Baltimore end a nine-game losing streak and keep New York and Boston tied for first place in the AL East.
Gary Sheffield hit two homers and six-RBIs for New York in the game that lasted 4 hours, 16 minutes.
New York's third loss in 16 games, combined with Boston's split of a day-night doubleheader with Toronto, left them tied with five games left, including a three-game series at Fenway Park to close the regular season.
The Red Sox and Yankees are tied at 92-65 with Cleveland in the wild-card standings.
The Yankees trailed 5-1 before Sheffield hit a two-run homer in the third inning. He put New York ahead 7-5 in the fourth with his 11th career grand slam.
Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 1, Game 1
Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5, Game 2
At Boston, Russ Adams hit a sacrifice fly to break an eighth-inning tie as Toronto rallied to win the second game of the doubleheader with Toronto.
Tim Wakefield (16-11) pitched seven strong innings to give Boston a 3-1 victory in the day game. But the loss in the nightcap kept the Red Sox tied for first in the AL East with New York.
Frank Catalanotto had four hits, and Adams had two hits to go with sacrifice flies in the eighth and ninth innings to snap Boston's four-game winning streak. Jason Frasor (3-5) struck out two in 1 1-3 innings as five relievers combined for 5 2-3 innings of scoreless relief. Miguel Batista got two outs for his 31st save.
Boston led 3-0 and 5-2 before the Blue Jays tied it in the seventh.
Curt Schilling allowed five runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings for his third consecutive no-decision. Edgar Renteria had five hits on the day, and David Ortiz had three RBIs to bring his major league-leading total to 143.
Devil Rays 5, Indians 4
At Cleveland, Scott Kazmir held Cleveland to one run in six innings and Julio Lugo hit a three-run homer to lead Tampa Bay and prevent Cleveland from gaining ground on Chicago in the AL Central.
Former Indians pitcher Danys Baez got his 40th save by getting Ronnie Belliard to hit into a game-ending double play with the tying run on third, handing Cleveland consecutive losses for the first time since Sept. 3-4.
The loss kept the Indians two games behind the first-place White Sox, who lost their second straight to Detroit. Cleveland is tied with Boston and New York for the wild-card lead.
Tigers 3, White Sox 2
At Detroit, Omar Infante and Craig Monroe homered and Detroit beat first-place Chicago.
The White Sox began the day with a two-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central, but have lost 12 of 19. Chicago had won three straight before dropping the first two games of its four-game series in Detroit.
The Tigers have won four straight.
Nate Robertson (7-15) ended a five-start losing streak, allowing one run and five hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out five in his first win since Aug. 23.
Brandon McCarthy (2-2) lost for the first time in six starts, dating to May 27. He gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Twins 3, Royals 1
At Minneapolis, Johan Santana allowed six hits over seven innings and Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak.
Santana (15-7), last year's AL Cy Young pitching award winner, gave up four hits in the first two innings, but didn't allow another hit until Matthew Diaz's solo homer in the seventh. He struck out six, running his major league-leading total to 229. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 40th save.
Runelvys Hernandez (5-13) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Marcus Giles hit two homers and the Atlanta Braves wrapped up their 14th straight division championship, beating Colorado 12-3. The Braves officially clinched the National League East midway through their game when second-place Philadelphia lost to New York.
Atlanta became the second team to clinch a title, following the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Tim Hudson (14-9) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings.
The Braves took control with a four-run fifth. Jeff Francoeur beat out a bases-loaded dribbler to third, driving in one run and fellow rookies Ryan Langerhans and Brian McCann followed with bases-loaded walks to make it 7-1.
Aaron Cook (6-2) gave up eight hits and six earned runs in 4 2-3 innings.
Padres 9, Giants 6
At San Diego, Ramon Hernandez hit a go-ahead grand slam and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead San Diego and reduce its magic number to two for clinching the NL West.
The Padres, who overcame Barry Bonds' 708th homer -- a three-run shot -- can wrap up their fourth division championship by winning one of the two remaining games in this four-game series with the second-place Giants. San Diego has a four-game lead with five to play.
With San Diego trailing 6-5 with two outs and two on in the fourth, pinch-hitter Eric Young hit a check-swing grounder between first and second that bounced off the heel of J.T. Snow's glove. Hernandez homered off Jeff Fassero (4-7) for a 9-6 lead.
In the third, Hernandez had a two-run triple to tie the score at 5.
Astros 3, Cardinals 1
At St. Louis, Roy Oswalt won for the fourth time this month, helping Houston extend its wild-card lead to 2 1/2 games over Philadelphia.
Jason Lane hit a two-run homer and Craig Biggio hit his career-high 25th. Biggio returned to the team after spending Monday in Houston for his mother's open heart surgery.
Oswalt (19-12) allowed one run and eight hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. He is 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in September. Brad Lidge worked two scoreless innings for his 39th save.
The Astros (86-71) matched a season high at 15 games above .500 and snapped a six-game skid in St. Louis, winning for the fourth time in 15 tries overall against the Cardinals. Houston has five games remaining, four at home against the Cubs.
Mets 3, Phillies 2
At Philadelphia, Jose Reyes was 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits to lead New York, which was eliminated from playoff contention with Houston's victory over St. Louis.
Jimmy Rollins extended his hitting streak to a team-record 32 games with a single in the seventh for Philadelphia, which fell 2 1/2 games behind Houston in the wild-card race.
Juan Padilla (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to get the win. Aaron Heilman finished with two scoreless innings for his fourth save.
Reyes singled, doubled twice, tripled and scored two runs. Carlos Beltran drove in two runs as the Mets snapped Jon Lieber's four-game winning streak.
Pirates 5, Cubs 3
At Chicago, Jason Bay's three-run homer lifted Pittsburgh to the victory and put Chicago's Greg Maddux in jeopardy of finishing with a losing record for the first time in 18 years.
Maddux, scheduled to start the season finale Oct. 2 at Houston, has not finished below .500 since 1987, when he was 6-14 for the Cubs. Maddux (13-14) pitched a complete game, allowing five runs and eight hits, but lost for the third time in four starts.
Bay, whose homer in the fifth gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead, had two hits. Freddy Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double and a single.
Rookie Zach Duke (7-2) allowed three runs -- one earned -- in eight innings and snapped a two-game losing streak since returning from the disabled list with a sprained ankle.
Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 0
At Los Angeles, Brandon Webb allowed two hits over seven innings and Chad Tracy hit a two-run homer in the eighth for Arizona.
Tracy's career-high 25th homer, which followed a two-out double by Luis Gonzalez, helped the Diamondbacks to their sixth straight victory over Los Angeles.
Webb (14-11), who allowed three baserunners, is 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in his last four starts.
Tim Worrell pitched the eighth and Jose Valverde got three outs for his 12th save to complete the two-hitter.
Jeff Weaver (14-11) allowed two runs and five hits over eight innings.
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