American LeagueNomar Garciaparra homered and drove in four runs and Derek Lowe tossed a two-hitter over six innings to give Boston a 14-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, clinching the American League wild card for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox return to the post-season for the first time since 1999. Their last World Series title came in 1918.
Boston will meet AL West champion Oakland in the Divisional Series which starts next week, while the East winner New York Yankees faces the Central Division champion Minnesota Twins.
Playing before a sell-out crowd for the 64th consecutive game, the Red Sox charged into a 12-0 lead after four innings.
Kevin Millar and Jason Varitek homered and drove in three runs for the Red Sox while Damian Jackson had two hits and two RBI.
Lowe (17-7) gave up two runs while walking four batters and striking out one. Three relievers combined to complete the four-hitter.
Omar Daal (4-11) was roughed up for seven runs on seven hits over 1 2/3 innings to take the loss.
Tampa Bay 8, Blue Jays 10
Carlos Delgado hit four home runs on Thursday night, becoming the 15th player in major league history to accomplish the feat in leading the Toronto Blue Jays over Tampa Bay.
Delgado connected in four straight at-bats. His first homer of the game was the 300th of his career. His fourth came off Lance Carter (7-5).
"I can't think of any other way to explain it, it just kind of happened," he said. "It seems like everything you hit goes into the air and goes out. I wish I could do it more often."
Delgado was the first player to homer four times in a game since Shawn Green did it for Los Angeles on May 23, 2002, against Milwaukee.
The Toronto slugger was the fifth AL player to do it, the first since Mike Cameron for Seattle on May 2 last year, against the Chicago White Sox.
Tigers 5, Twins 4, 11 innings
In Detroit, Shane Halter hit a two-out, solo home run in the 11th inning as Detroit snapped Minnesota's 11-game winning streak.
With their third straight win, the Tigers would have to lose their final three games of the season to break the post-1900 record of 120 defeats by the 1962 New York Mets.
Detroit (41-118) set the AL record for losses on Monday night with its 10th consecutive setback. Since then, the Tigers have not lost. Detroit has won three straight for the first time since sweeping a three-game series against Cleveland from Sept. 2-4.
Chris Mears (1-3) earned his first major league victory after pitching two innings of scoreless relief. Brad Thomas (0-1) took the loss.
Royals 7, White Sox 3
In Kansas City, Missouri, Carlos Beltran's two-run homer off Dan Wright (1-7), combined with a sacrifice fly, gave the 26-year-old switch-hitter 99 RBIs as Kansas City beat Chicago.
With 101 runs scored and 41 stolen bases, Beltran is on the verge of becoming only the sixth player since 1900 to record 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 30 steals in a season.
Brian Anderson (14-11) took a no-hit bid into the fifth and beat the White Sox for the fifth time in six decisions. He went eight innings, gave up seven hits and three runs, with two walks and a strikeout.
National League
Phillies 4, Marlins 8
Juan Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs as the Florida Marlins clinched a tie for the National League wild-card berth with victory over Philadelphia on Thursday that eliminated the Phillies from postseason contention.
Florida completed a three-game sweep and stretched its winning streak to four.
The Marlins would clinch the playoff spot outright with either one win in their final three games or one loss by either Chicago and Houston, the NL Central co-leaders.
Brad Penny (14-10) allowed four runs and seven hits in eight innings for Florida, looking for its first playoff berth since it won the 1997 World Series.
"We're not ready to celebrate," said Marlins manager Jack McKeon, 72, who has never managed in the postseason. "We haven't completed our job."
Philadelphia led the wild-card race Saturday but has lost five straight. Randy Wolf (16-10) lasted just four innings, his second-shortest outing this season.
"There are no excuses," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "The Marlins beat us. They beat us all year, and that's the difference between where we are and where they're going."
In other NL games: Astros 6, Brewers 1; Reds 9, Cubs 7; Pirates 3, Mets 1; Padres 6, Dodgers 1
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