Red Sox clinch playoff berth

At St. Petersburg, Fla., the Boston Red Sox clinched their second straight trip to the playoffs, rallying past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-3 Monday night behind Manny Ramirez’s AL-leading 43rd home run.

Johnny Damon hit his career-high 19th homer for the Red Sox, who are assured of no worse than the A..L. wild-card berth. Boston closed within three games of the A.L. East-leading New York Yankees.

The Red Sox, held hitless for four innings, went ahead on Damon’s three-run homer and Ramirez’s 458-foot, two-run drive.

Angels 5, Rangers 3: At Arlington, Texas, Chone Figgins had an RBI triple and then scored the go-ahead run on an infield grounder in the eighth inning, leading Anaheim over Texas in the opener of the key West Division series.

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 1: At Baltimore, Gregg Zaun homered and Orlando Hudson had three hits and an RBI, leading Toronto past Baltimore.

Tigers 5, White Sox 2: At Detroit, Dmitri Young hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Detroit made the most of three hits to stop a five-game losing streak.

Indians 6, Royals 1: At Kansas City, Mo., Casey Blake drove in three runs and Jake Westbrook pitched seven strong innings to lead Cleveland over Kansas City.