A’s, Yankees win divisions
Nationals claims National League’s top seed
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| The Chicago Cubs' Starlin Castro (right) and teammates mob Bryan LaHair after LaHair hit the game-winning single off Houston Astros pitcher Hector Ambriz during the ninth inning Wednesday in Chicago. (AP) |
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By The Associated Press
Dan Johnson hit his first three homers of the season, and the White Sox added two more in the game in a 9-0 rout of the Indians on Wednesday in Cleveland.
Johnson hit two two-run homers off David Huff (3-1). His 424-foot shot in the second inning was his first in more than a year. His second made it 7-0 in the fifth, two batters after Paul Konerko hit his 26th of the season.
Yankees 14, Red Sox 2: Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson each hit a pair of homers, powering the Yankees past the Red Sox in New York for their 13th AL East title in 17 years.
A’s 12, Rangers 5: Oakland won the AL West title with another improbable rally in a season full of them, coming back from four runs down and a 13-game division deficit to stun two-time defending league champion Texas 12-5 in Oakland, Calif.
Rays 4, Orioles 1: Evan Longoria homered three times, and the Rays beat Baltimore in St. Petersburg, Fla., ending the Orioles’ bid to force a one-game tiebreaker for the AL East title.
The loss left the Orioles as a wild-card team. They’ll play Friday at Texas, with the winner advancing to the division series.
National League
Cubs 5, Astros 4: Houston ended its National League tenure with a result that’s become familiar: a loss in Chicago.
Bryan LaHair homered and hit a game-winning single in the ninth inning for Chicago.
It was the first series between 100-game losers in the major leagues since 1962.
Cardinals 1, Reds 0: Rookie right-hander Shelby Miller took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his first career start, Matt Carpenter had a run-scoring single, and the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds in St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who won 12 of their final 16 regular-season games, clinched the second NL wild card spot Tuesday and will face the Braves in Atlanta on Friday.
Nationals 5, Phillies 1: The NL East champion Nationals secured home-field advantage throughout the postseason by beating Philadelphia in Washington for their major league-high 98th victory.
Nationals manager Davey Johnson missed the end of the game after feeling numbness in his left leg, leaving the dugout to get X-rays and treatment from a team doctor.
