The Los Angeles Angels became the first team in Major League Baseball to clinch a playoff berth by winning their fourth American League West title in five years on Wednesday. Francisco Rodriguez earned his 56th save in closing out the Angels' 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Second-place Texas lost to Seattle 8-7 about an hour later, clinching the division for Los Angeles, who have the best record in MLB at 88-57. Robb Quinlan hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth that put the Angels ahead. Rodriguez moved within one save of Bobby Thigpen's 18-year-old MLB record. He threw a called third strike past Hideki Matsui with runners at first and third for the final out. Spot starter Dustin Moseley (2-4) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings in winning for the first time since April 9. Andy Pettitte (13-13) lost for the sixth time in his last nine starts. He gave up four runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Rays 4, Red Sox 2, 14 innings: At Boston, Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer in the top of the 14th, then Tampa Bay reliever Jason Hammel escaped a major jam in the bottom of the innings to beat Boston. After playing more than five hours, the Rays increased their lead in the AL East to 2½ games over the Red Sox. Boston's wild-card lead was cut to five games by Minnesota. Tampa Bay was only 1-for-35 with runners in scoring position in this series before Pena homered. Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the 14th against closer Troy Percival. Hammel took over with a 4-1 lead and retired three straight batters for his first save since he pitched at Class A Hudson Valley in 2002. Mike Timlin (4-4) gave up Pena's 28th homer. White Sox 6, Blue Jays 5: At Chicago, Mark Buehrle outpitched Roy Halladay and Chicago stopped Toronto's 10-game winning streak. A.J. Pierzynski drove in three runs for the White Sox, who stayed one game ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central. The Blue Jays scored three runs in the ninth inning and fell one victory short of tying the longest winning streak in team history, set in 1987 and matched in 1998. Toronto lost to the White Sox for the first time in seven meetings this year. In other games it was: Twins 7, Royals 1; Indians 7, Orioles 1; Athletics 5, Tigers 2; Mariners 8, Rangers 7. Ramirez hits 2 homers In San Diego, Manny Ramirez hit two two-run homers, giving him 524 for his career, and Los Angeles beat San Diego 7-2 on Wednesday for the Dodgers' 10th win in 11 games. The Dodgers extended their lead in the National League West to a season-high 3-1/2 games over Arizona, which lost to San Francisco 4-3. Derek Lowe (13-11) allowed three hits and one run in 5 1-3 innings before leaving the game in the sixth after being hit on the right leg by a one-hopper by Kevin Kouzmanoff. Ramirez' first homer came in the fifth off starter Shawn Estes (2-2). His second was off Dirk Hayhurst in the ninth. Ramirez has 34 homers this season, 14 with the Dodgers. James Loney homered for the Dodgers, hitting his 12th to ignite a three-run second inning. Cubs 4, Cardinals 3: At St. Louis, Ted Lilly pitched eight sharp innings and Chicago capitalized on shaky fielding by injured Troy Glaus' replacement for its second win in nine games. Backup third baseman Felipe Lopez made a fielding error and throwing error on consecutive plays in the second inning, helping the Cubs score four runs. Chicago held its 4-1/2-game lead in the NL Central over Milwaukee and won for the 15th time in its last 19 road games. The Cubs improved the league's best record to 87-58. Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer off Cubs closer Kerry Wood with one out in the ninth. Wood finished for his 28th save. Elsewhere it was: Giants 4, Diamondbacks 3; Brewers 4, Reds 3; Marlins 7, Phillies 3; Mets 13, Nationals 10; Astros 7, Pirates 4; Braves 9, Rockies 5.
