Associated PressTORONTO ó David Ortiz hit a two-run homer, Daisuke Matsuzaka remained unbeaten on the road and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on Sunday to clinch at least a tie for the AL wild-card.
Boston (91-64) needs one more win or a New York loss to secure its fifth playoff berth in six seasons. New York hosts Baltimore in the final regular season game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona doesn’t plan on staying up late enough to see what happens.
“There’s a pretty good chance I’ll be asleep,” Francona said before the game.
The Red Sox return to Fenway Park on Monday to close the regular season with a seven-game homestand, including four against Cleveland and three against the Yankees.
Angels 7, Rangers 3
ARLINGTON, Texas ó John Lackey gave up two hits and struck out a career-high 12 in six shutout innings, Mark Teixeira and Sean Rodriguez homered, and the Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Rangers.
Lackey (12-4) walked three and allowed only two runners to reach third as the AL West champs continued their playoff tuneup.
White Sox 3, Royals 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó John Danks and two relievers combined on a four-hitter and Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer as the AL Central-leading the White Sox beat the Royals.
The victory enabled the White Sox to remain 21/2 games in front of the Minnesota Twins, who won at 4-1 at Tampa Bay. The White Sox open a three-game series Tuesday at Minnesota that will likely determine the American League Central crown.
Brandon Duckworth, who played Class A ball in Kannapolis for the Piedmont Boll Weevils, took the loss and fell to 3-2.
Twins 4, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven innings to lead the Twins past the Rays.
Minnesota, which got a total of just 6 1-3 innings from its starters during the first three games of the series, split the four-game set with the AL East-leading Rays, who clinched at least a wild-card spot Saturday.
Liriano (6-3) rebounded from a rough start last Tuesday when the left-hander gave up eight runs over 2 2-3 innings in the Twins’ 12-9 loss to Cleveland. He scattered five hits helping Minnesota complete a long road trip with a 4-6 record.
Indians 10, Tigers 5
CLEVELAND ó Ryan Garko went 4-for-4 with five RBIs, rookie Scott Lewis won his third straight start and the Indians moved over .500 for the first time in more than four months with their sixth straight victory over the sloppy and seemingly disinterested Tigers.
Athletics 5, Mariners 3
OAKLAND, Calif. ó Jack Cust hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat Seattle to complete a three-game sweep of the last-place Mariners.