American League
Vernon Wells hit a go-ahead, two-run triple off Orlando Hernandez in the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied past the New York Yankees 5-4 on Wednesday night.
New York built a 3-0 lead when Bernie Williams hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Ruben Sierra added a solo shot in the second off Ted Lilly (12-10). Williams' drive gave the Yankees six hitters with 20 or more homers for only the second time in their history, the first since 1961.
New York (95-57) would have clinched the playoff berth with either a win or an Oakland victory at Texas. But the Athletics lost 5-3 to the Rangers (84-67).
Hernandez (8-1) was trying to become the first Yankees starter to win his first nine decisions since Tommy John in 1979.
Miguel Batista pitched the ninth for his third save.
Royals 7, Devil Rays 6
In Florida, Ruben Gotay hit an RBI grounder in the 10th inning as Kansas City beat Tampa Bay.
David DeJesus homered and drove in three runs for the Royals. Tampa Bay's Matt Diaz hit his first major league homer.
Calvin Pickering opened the 10th with a double off Jorge Sosa (4-6) and pinch-runner Wilton Guerrero went to third on Desi Relaford's sacrifice bunt. After Dee Brown was hit by a pitch, Guerrero scored on Gotay's grounder to short.
Mike MacDougal (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth. Jeremy Affeldt pitched the 10th for his 13th save.
Indians 7, Tigers 6
In Detroit, Jhonny Peralta's two-run double keyed Cleveland's five-run seventh inning as Cleveland rallied to defeat the Tigers.
Josh Phelps homered for the Indians, who came back from a 3-0 deficit a night after overcoming a five-run deficit to win. Jake Westbrook (13-9) won for the first time in four September starts.
The Tigers made it close in the ninth, scoring three times against Bob Wickman. Bobby Higginson hit a solo homer with one out, and Carlos Pena had a two-run shot with two outs. Wickman had only allowed two homers in 25 previous appearances.
Wil Ledezma (4-3) replaced Tigers starter Nate Robertson to start the seventh, but couldn't hold a 3-2 lead.
Rangers 5, Athletics 3
In Arlington, Texas, Kenny Rogers matched a career high with his 17th win and Eric Young hit his first homer in more than a year, a three-run tiebreaker, moving Texas within three games of Oakland in the AL West.
Rogers (17-8) was pulled after giving up a walk and single to start the sixth, but allowed just three runs and matched the 17 wins he had for Texas in 1995.
Francisco Cordero put runners on first and second with one out in the ninth before extending his team record with his 47th save.
Young connected with two outs in the fourth off Barry Zito (11-11) for a 5-2 lead. His first Rangers home run came in his 305th at-bat -- the most this season by any player in the majors without a homer.
White Sox 7, Twins 6
In Chicago, Paul Konerko hit a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning to lead Chicago over Minnesota.
Wilson Valdez led off with a single off Joe Roa (2-3) and moved to second on Aaron Rowand's sacrifice. Roa then walked Willie Harris and Konerko followed with a single to left, giving the White Sox the win.
Neal Cotts (4-3) got one out in the ninth to earn the victory for Chicago, which got 3 2-3 scoreless innings from its bullpen.
Jacque Jones and Jason Kubel each hit two-run homers for Minnesota, who clinched the AL Central on Monday.
Red Sox 7, Orioles 6, 12 innings
In Boston, Orlando Cabrera homered leading off the bottom of the 12th inning, lifting Boston to its second straight last at-bat victory against Baltimore.
Cabrera lined a 2-2 pitch from Rick Bauer (1-1) over the Green Monster.
Curtis Leskanic (3-5) worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the inning for the win.
David Ortiz gave Boston a 6-5 lead with homer in the seventh inning, but Rafael Palmeiro belted a pinch-hit homer leading off the ninth against Boston closer Keith Foulke.
Ortiz became the 10th player in Red Sox history to hit 40 homers.
Mariners 16, Angels 6
In Anaheim, California, Raul Ibanez tied an AL record with six hits and Ichiro Suzuki had four more singles to pace Seattle's 24-hit outburst in a rout of Anaheim.
The Angels remained 2 1/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West, but dropped 6 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race. The Rangers beat the Athletics 5-3 Wednesday to pull a half-game back of Anaheim.
Ibanez went 6-for-6 with a career-high five RBIs a night after Suzuki went 5-for-5 in Seattle's 7-3 victory over the Angels, who lost their second straight three-game series.
Ibanez's six hits tied the AL record for a nine-inning game, held by many, last accomplished by Kansas City's Joe Randa on Sept. 9.
Suzuki set a Seattle record with nine hits in two games. He now has 247 hits and is 10 from tying George Sisler's 84-year-old major league record with 10 games remaining.
The Mariners set a club record with 21 singles -- six of them by Ibanez.
National Leauge
Giants 5, Astros 1
Rookie Noah Lowry won his sixth straight decision and remained unbeaten in 13 major league starts Wednesday, and Ray Durham hit a two-run double to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
Lowry limited the Astros to five hits in his second complete game, helping the Giants win for the ninth time in 10 games and remain a half-game ahead of Chicago in the National League wild-card race.
Barry Bonds hit an runs batted in triple off the fence in right-center field in the first inning, and the slugger didn't get any chances after that.
He was intentionally walked four times -- the fourth time he's been issued four free passes in a game this season, which equals his major league record.
Roy Oswalt (18-10) failed to become the first NL pitcher with 19 wins this year.
Lowry (6-0) owns the second-longest career-opening winning streak by a rookie starter in Giants franchise history.
Padres 4, Dodgers 0
In San Diego, Jake Peavy pitched eight shutout innings, and Phil Nevin hit a two-run homer to lead San Diego past Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, which has lost five of its past seven games, saw its lead drop to its smallest margin since it led the Giants by a half-game.
Peavy (13-6) allowed a leadoff single to Adrian Beltre in the second, then retired 12 of 13. Peavy struck out eight of 10 during one stretch and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts.
Akinori Otsuka pitched a perfect ninth to complete the combined three-hitter.
The Dodgers lost starting pitcher Brad Penny -- again -- when the right-hander left in the fourth inning with nerve irritation in his upper right arm.
Other results: Cubs 1, Pirates 0; Phillies 12, Marlins 4; Reds 11, Braves 8; Cardinals 3, Brewers 2; Mets 3, Expos 2; Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2
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