Monday’s games
American League
Angles 4, Athletics 3: In Oakland, Calif., Steve Finley hit a two-run homer, John Lackey pitched six strong innings, and Los Angeles moved within one victory of clinching their second straight division title with a win over Oakland. The Angels opened a five-game lead and lowered their magic number to two. They will send 10-game winner Ervin Santana to the mound against lefty Joe Kennedy to try to finish off the A’s tonight.
Tigers 4, White Sox 3: In Detroit, Curtis Granderson’s lead-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Detroit over Chicago. Chicago’s lead in the A.L. Central dropped to two games over idle Cleveland and its magic number remained at five to clinch the division. The White Sox had a 15-game lead on Aug. 1.
Yankees 11, Orioles 3: In Baltimore, after enduring two rain delays totaling nearly 2 hours, New York regained sole possession of first place in the A.L. East with a rout of Baltimore. Randy Johnson pitched six innings of shutout ball, Jason Giambi homered to cap a six-run fourth and New York got 12 hits in handing the free-falling Orioles their season-high ninth straight defeat.
Royals 5, Twins 0: In Minneapolis, rookie J.P. Howell pitched five hitless innings before he was pulled and Angel Berroa homered to lead Kansas City past Minnesota.
Blue Jays at Red Sox, ppd: In Boston, the scheduled game between Boston and Toronto was postponed by rain, forcing the Red Sox to play a day-night doubleheader. The game will be made up today at 1:05 p.m., and the teams will play again at 7:05 as scheduled.
National League
Giants 3, Padres 2: In San Diego, Randy Winn hit a tying, two-out triple off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, and J.T. Snow hit a go-ahead single two batters later as San Francisco beat San Diego to pull within three games of the Padres in the N.L. West.
Mets 6, Phillies 5: In Philadelphia, bad defense and a shaky bullpen cost the Phillies a crucial game as New York rallied for four runs in the eighth inning for a win over the Phillies. The Phillies fell to 1 1/2 games behind Houston in the N.L. wild-card race.
Rockies 6, Braves 5: In Atlanta, Todd Greene hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and Colorado rallied for a win over Atlanta.
Brewers 12, Reds 9: In Milwaukee, Carlos Lee drove in two runs to match his career high with 113 RBIs as Milwaukee defeated Cincinnati.
Nationals 4, Marlins 0: In Miami, Cristian Guzman had three hits and three RBIs, Hector Carrasco pitched six strong innings as Washington beat Florida.
Dodgers 9, Pirates 4: In Los Angeles, rookie Jason Repko drove in four runs with a pair of triples and Jose Cruz Jr. homered, leading Los Angeles past Pittsburgh.