Mitch Moreland raced home from first base with the winning run after a wild pitch and a throwing error on a strikeout with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting AL West champions Texas to a 6-5 victory over last-place Seattle on Wednesday.
Moreland reached on a two-out walk in the ninth off Dan Cortes (0-1). Pinch-hitter Nelson Cruz struck out, but reached on a wild pitch that bounced past catcher Guillermo Quiroz.
Quiroz retrieved the ball, but threw wildly into right field trying to get Cruz at first. Moreland never stopped running and beat the throw home by right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.
Neftali Feliz (4-3), the third Rangers reliever, struck out one in a perfect ninth.
The Rangers scored three runs in the eighth to level the game at 5-all, scoring on a bases-loaded walk and another wild pitch by Cortes.
Angels 2, Athletics 1, 11 innings
In Anaheim, California, Torii Hunter’s two-out single drove home Jeff Mathis in the 11th inning and Los Angeles swept Oakland.
Los Angeles failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in both the ninth and 10th innings. Mathis and Howie Kendrick singled in the 11th against Brad Ziegler (3-7). Hunter lined a hit to center, ending a disappointing season at Angel Stadium with a fireworks celebration for the dethroned AL West champions.
Kendrick had three hits for the Angels, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2006. Their three-year reign atop the division officially ended last weekend when the Texas Rangers clinched the title in Oakland.
Bobby Cassevah (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn his first major league victory.
Blue Jays 8, Yankees 4
In Toronto, Aaron Hill hit a three-run homer, John Buck and Travis Snider added solo drives and Toronto gave retiring manager Cito Gaston a winning send-off in his home finale.
The Yankees remained a half-game behind Tampa Bay in the AL East race. The Rays lost 2-0 to Baltimore.
Alex Rodriguez homered for the Yankees, giving him 13 straight years with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.
Toronto leads baseball with 247 home runs, the fifth-highest season total in major league history. Seattle hit a record 264 in 1997.
Hill drove in four runs as the Blue Jays won for the sixth time in seven games. The Yankees, already assured a playoff spot, saw Javier Vazquez (10-10) get tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in four-and-two-third innings.
Orioles 2, Rays 0
In St Petersburg, Florida, Kevin Millwood allowed two hits over seven innings and Felix Pie hit a two-run triple for Baltimore before a capacity crowd of 36,973.
The Rays gave away 20,000 tickets for the regular-season home finale.
Tampa Bay clinched its second playoff berth in three years before 17,891 on Tuesday night. Monday night’s potential clincher drew 12,446, a number that moved stars Evan Longoria and David Price to complain about a lack of fan support.
Millwood (4-16) struck out seven and walked three. Jim Johnson gave up a single during the eighth before Koji Uehara completed a three-hitter and picked up his 11th save.
The Rays kept a half-game lead over second-place New York in the AL East. The Yankees lost 8-4 in Toronto.
Pie drove in two runs for a 2-0 lead with a triple off Jeff Niemann (11-8) in the seventh. Pie’s hit stopped a stretch of 17 consecutive scoreless innings for the Orioles, who took two of three from Tampa Bay.
Indians 4, Tigers 0, 1st game
Indians 4, Tigers 3, 2nd game
In Cleveland, Ohio, Mitch Talbot and Josh Tomlin both finished their rookie seasons with wins as Cleveland swept a doubleheader.
Tomlin (6-4) went five innings to beat Tigers ace Justin Verlander (18-9) after Talbot (10-13) pitched seven innings for only his third win in his last 13 starts to beat Max Scherzer (12-11) in the opener.
Cleveland tied its season-high six-game winning streak and beat the Tigers for the eighth straight time at home.
A suicide squeeze bunt by Trevor Crowe gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning against Verlander.
Chris Perez got the final four outs of the second game for his 23rd save in 27 chances and 10th in a row.
Tomlin gave up three runs and nine hits over five innings to win for the third time in his final four starts.
Travis Hafner and Choo hit two-run homers to help Talbot win the opener.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ White Sox 5, Red Sox 2
‧ Twins 4, Royals 2
AP, SAN FRANCISCO
Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer as the first-place San Francisco Giants remained two games ahead of San Diego in the NL West with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
The Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 at home. San Francisco lowered its magic number to three to clinch the club’s first division title and playoff spot since 2003. The Giants and Padres close the season with a three-game series at AT&T Park starting tonight.
With the Giants trailing 1-0, Burrell connected in the fourth with a drive into the left-field seats off Ian Kennedy (9-10).
Tim Lincecum (16-10) struck out 11 in seven innings, the 26th time in his career he’s reached double digits for strikeouts. It was the seventh time this year, which matches Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo for most in the NL.
Braves 5, Marlins 1
In Atlanta, Georgia, the Braves moved closer to their first playoff berth since 2005, completing a three-game sweep of Florida behind Derek Lowe’s fifth win of last month and Brooks Conrad’s three-run homer.
Atlanta (90-69) reached 90 wins for the 15th time in 25 years under the 69-year-old Cox, who is retiring after the season. The Braves won 14 straight division titles under Cox, but have missed out on the playoffs for four straight seasons.
Atlanta closes at home against NL East champion Philadelphia with a three-game series starting tonight.
Pitching on three days’ rest, Lowe (16-12) gave up one run and seven hits in five-and-two-third innings and struck out nine. He is 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA this month with 29 strikeouts and three walks in 30-and-two-third innings, and his 16 wins matched Tim Hudson for the team high.
Padres 3, Cubs 0
In San Diego, Chris Young (2-0) and four relievers combined on a four-hitter and the San Diego Padres showed some life in the waning days of the playoff race to remain one-and-a-half games behind Atlanta in the NL wild-card race.
San Diego remained two games behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West.
The Padres won for just the 12th time in 33 games since Aug. 25, when they had a six-and-a-half game lead over the Giants.
Dodgers 7, Rockies 6
In Denver, Colorado, Matt Kemp hit a grand slam as Los Angeles edged Colorado to complete a three-game sweep.
A day after eliminating the Rockies from postseason contention, Los Angeles sent them to their fourth straight loss.
Colorado went 1-5 on its final homestand, part of a stretch in which it lost nine of 10 overall. The Rockies finished 52-29 at Coors Field this season, but faded in the races for the NL West and wild card.
Kemp’s slam capped a five-run third inning against Jhoulys Chacin (9-11).
Brewers 8, Mets 7, Game 1
Brewers 3, Mets 1, Game 2
In New York, Dave Bush pitched three-hit ball into the seventh -inning and hit RBI single, Ryan Braun hit a two-run double as the Milwaukee Brewers held on to complete a doubleheader sweep.
Prince Fielder’s RBI single and Carlos Gomez’s hustle in the eighth inning of the first game rallied the Brewers after they squandered a six-run lead.
Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth inning of the second game for his first save since notching No. 600 on Sept. 7.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Cardinals 4, Pirates 1
‧ Astros 2, Reds 0
‧ Phillies 7, Nationals 1
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