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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, September 24, 2006

Angels beat division-leader A's

Associated Press

Minnesota Twins' Luis Castillo and Torii Hunter celebrate their 8-5 win over the host Baltimore Orioles.

GAIL BURTON | Associated Press

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Three souvenir bottles of bubbly belonging to Frank Thomas from Chicago's World Series championship last year remained corked on the floor beside a box of his bats.

The Oakland Athletics must wait at least another day to celebrate an AL West title.

Juan Rivera hit a go-ahead, three-run double in the sixth, John Lackey pitched seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Angels prevented Oakland from clinching the division yesterday with a 6-2 victory over the A's.

"No party today," Oakland manager Ken Macha said.

Oakland's magic number to clinch its first AL West title since 2003 remained at two, so the A's could still do it at home with a win in today's series finale. They lead Los Angeles by seven games with eight to go, including the final four of the season against the Angels in Anaheim.

"We've just got to figure out a way to win tomorrow," Thomas said. "It's not going to be easy. They're here to win."

The A's, who won Friday's opener 5-4 in the 12th inning, had their four-game winning streak snapped with only their second loss in 10 games. They still hope to celebrate on their home field after watching the Angels do so at the Coliseum the past two seasons.

"I think there's a pretty healthy respect for what the Angels have the ability to do and what they've done in the past," A's general manager Billy Beane said before the game. "Nothing's over till it's over. ... I don't think it's being viewed as payback."

Dan Haren takes the ball for the A's today against fellow 14-game winner Ervin Santana.

"You don't need to get hit with a brick in the head to know that it's a must-win," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "These guys won't melt."

Lackey (12-11) allowed two runs and four hits to beat Joe Blanton (16-12). Lackey struck out five and ended a two-start losing skid.

Twins 8, Orioles 5: Torii Hunter hit his 29th homer and Rondell White had four hits as Minnesota defeated host Baltimore. Justin Morneau got his 126th RBI and Matt Guerrier (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn his first win in 89 career appearances. The outcome enabled the Twins to reduce their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three. Any combination of Minnesota wins and Chicago White Sox losses totaling three will ensure the Twins no worse than a wild-card berth.

Tigers 15, Royals 4: Left-hander Kenny Rogers (17-6) held the Royals to five hits and one run over eight innings, and Curtis Granderson homered, tripled and drove in three runs in a 10-run first inning to help Detroit rout host Kansas City. The Tigers reduced their magic number to one for clinching their first playoff berth since 1987. Detroit, which lost an AL-record 119 games in 2003, maintained its 1 1/2-game lead in the AL Central over Minnesota.

White Sox 11, Mariners 7: Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead homer in a five-run eighth inning and host Chicago rallied after a long rain delay to beat Seattle. Konerko hit the third pitch from reliever Joel Pineiro (8-13) for a two-run homer, his 33rd, to put the White Sox ahead 8-7 after Jim Thome drew a leadoff walk against George Sherrill.

Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3: Lyle Overbay and Troy Glaus hit consecutive homers, and A.J. Burnett (9-8) allowed two runs in seven innings to lead host Toronto over Boston, which was eliminated from playoff contention. Overbay extended his hitting streak to 13 games with his career-high 20th home run, a solo shot off Devern Hansack (0-1) in the fourth.

Devil Rays 8, Yankees 0: Ty Wigginton and B.J. Upton homered, and J.P. Howell (1-3) allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings for his first major league victory since last Sept. 26, as host Tampa Bay beat New York. Rocco Baldelli doubled to drive in two runs against Randy Johnson (17-11) in the third and Wigginton hit his 22nd homer for a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Upton hit his two-run shot in the sixth.

Indians 6, Rangers 3: Jhonny Peralta homered and drove in three runs to help Cleveland beat host Texas. Victor Martinez keyed a four-run third with a two-run double for the Indians, who won for only the sixth time in their last 20 games. Carlos Lee homered and Mark Teixeira had four hits for the Rangers.