American League Chicago built a 15-game lead in the division on Aug. 1, then saw it dwindle to 1.5 games as Cleveland closed. The White Sox survived a shaky ninth inning to win their AL-best 96th game and will start the playoffs at home next week. "First of all, I feel proud of my players," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We went through a lot, a lot of tough times." Carl Everett's two-run triple in the first off Jason Grilli (1-1) helped the White Sox win their second straight and fifth in seven games. Garcia (14-8) allowed two runs and eight hits in seven-plus innings. Detroit's first two batters reached in the ninth before Bobby Jenks got three outs for his fourth save. Yankees 8, Orioles 4 At Baltimore, Aaron Small took a one-hitter into the seventh inning to improve to 10-0, and New York got homers from Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui to keep its lead over Boston in the AL East at one game. The longtime rivals play three times at Fenway Park this weekend, and two wins would give New York their eight straight AL East title. Alex Rodriguez had two hits and scored twice for the Yankees, who built an 8-0 lead in winning for the 15th time in 18 games. Small gave up two runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking five. Javy Lopez homered for the third time in three games and Jay Gibbons also connected for the Orioles, who have lost 11 of 12. Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 4 At Boston, David Ortiz tied the game in the eighth inning with his 47th homer, then singled home the winning run in the ninth as Boston rallied from a 4-1 deficit. The Red Sox enter their season-ending three-game series with the Yankees at Fenway Park trailing New York by one game in the AL East. Rookie Jonathan Papelbon (3-1) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings for the win, and Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the sixth that cut the deficit to 4-3. Ortiz homered off Vinnie Chulk leading off the eighth, and Miguel Batista (5-8) allowed a one-out single in the ninth to Johnny Damon, who stole second. Edgar Renteria walked, and Ortiz lined a 3-2 pitch into the shortstop hole as Damon easily scored. Indians 6, Devil Rays 0 At Cleveland, C.C. Sabathia pitched eight shutout innings, Travis Hafner homered and Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak to stay tied with Boston in the AL wild-card race. Sabathia (15-10) allowed five hits and improved to 9-1 in his last 11 starts as the Indians ended Tampa Bay's five-game winning streak at Jacobs Field. He walked two and struck out nine. Hafner and Ronnie Belliard hit two-run homers in the first off Casey Fossum (8-12) and Jhonny Peralta hit a solo shot in the third. Peralta's homer gave the Indians 50 in September, tying a club mark set in 1950 and 1997. Angels 7, Athletics 1 At Oakland, California, Bartolo Colon (21-8) gave up one run and five hits in five innings, becoming the Angels' winningest pitcher since Nolan Ryan went 22-16 in 1974. Colon pitched on three days' rest to get on schedule for starting Los Angeles' playoff opener Tuesday. Jose Molina homered and drove in three runs, and Robb Quinlan also homered for the AL West champions. Barry Zito (14-13) gave up six runs and eight hits in seven innings. Oakland has lost four of five. Mariners 4, Rangers 3 At Seattle, Richie Sexson had three hits and two RBIs for Seattle, which drew 19,781 fans -- the first crowd under 20,000 in the 5-year history of Safeco Field.
Sat, Oct 01, 2005 - Page 20 News List
White Sox secure Central
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLChicago won their AL-best 96th game along with the division championship after defeating the Tigers 4-2 while on the road in Detroit
AP , DETROIT, MICHIGAN
Japan's Tadahito Iquchi of the White Sox celebrates in the locker room after Chicago defeated the Tigers 4-2 in Detroit to clinch the AL Central on Thursday.
PHOTO: AP
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