The American League roundup …
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hit long home runs and Craig Gentry had an inside-the-park homer for AL West-leading Texas in a 5-3 victory over Seattle on Friday night that cut the Rangers’ magic number to one.
When the Rangers (91-66) finished their game, the chasing Los Angeles Angels were playing Oakland. A loss by the Angels would clinch the second consecutive division title for Texas.
A postgame fireworks show was previously planned. Fans were invited to then stick around and follow the Angels’ game on the videoboard.
Matt Harrison (14-9) worked six innings for the Rangers, who then waited and watched together to see if they would have their second consecutive division title before the end of the night. Texas went to its first World Series last year after its fourth AL West title.
Rookie Anthony Vasquez (1-5) gave up three homers and seven hits over 3 1-3 innings.
1:Blue Jays 5, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) ó Brandon Morrow pitched seven scoreless innings and the Toronto Blue Jays further dampened Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes, beating David Price and the Rays.
The Rays have lost four of five and dropped 21/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race. The Red Sox were rained out at New York.
A night after pounding out 17 hits in a 15-8 road romp at Yankee Stadium, the Rays were limited to Matt Joyce’s second-inning infield single until Casey Kotchman singled with one out in the seventh off Morrow (11-11).
Morrow allowed two hits, walked four and struck out nine.
Kelly Johnson had a RBI single in the third and a solo homer in the sixth, both off Price (12-13).
1:Indians 6, Twins 5
CLEVELAND (AP) ó Jim Thome gave Cleveland fans one more memory, and so did Carlos Santana, whose pinch-hit homer leading off the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Indians over the Minnesota Twins.
Thome went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer, the 604th of his career, on a night he was honored in pregame ceremonies.
Santana, batting for Lou Marson, drove the first pitch from Matt Capps (4-7) over the wall in right center for his 26th homer.
Chris Perez (4-7) pitched one perfect inning as Cleveland pulled out a dramatic win for Thome, who has said he will wait until the offseason to announce whether or not he wants to return for a 22nd season in 2012.
1:Tigers 4, Orioles 3, 11 innings
DETROIT (AP) ó Victor Martinez’s run-scoring double in the 11th inning sent the Detroit Tigers past the Baltimore Orioles.
Brandon Inge drew a leadoff walk from Willie Eyre (2-2) and Miguel Cabrera, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning, hit a one-out single. Rookie Zach Phillips came on to face Martinez and gave up the game-ending double on his third pitch.
Alfredo Simon pitched the first eight innings for Baltimore, allowing three runs and six hits.
Rick Porcello allowed three runs, nine hits and a walk in seven innings. Ryan Perry (1-0) got the win with a scoreless 11th.
1:Royals 11, White Sox 1
CHICAGO (AP) ó Bruce Chen allowed two hits in eight innings and the Kansas Royals backed him with four home runs in a romp over the Chicago White Sox.
Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar and Jeff Francoeur connected for the Royals. Kansas City has won nine of 11 overall in a late-season surge.
Chen (12-8) finished 3-1 this season against the White Sox, with all three of the wins at U.S. Cellular Field.
With manager Ozzie Guillen’s future unclear, Chicago has lost 10 of 13. All of the Royals’ homers came off Zach Stewart (2-6), who gave up 12 hits and nine runs and also committed two errors in four-plus innings.