Thursday’s games

American League

White Sox 4, Tigers 2: At Detroit, Paul Konerko homered to back Freddy Garcia (14-8) and Chicago defeated Detroit to capture its first Central title since 2000. Former Rathdrum, Idaho, resident Bobby Jenks worked the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his fourth save.

Yankees 8, Orioles 4: At Baltimore, Aaron Small (10-0) took a one-hitter into the seventh, Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui homered, and New York defeated Baltimore to move closer to its eighth consecutive East title. The Yankees, leading Boston by one game, play their final three games at Boston, beginning tonight.

Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 4: At Boston, David Ortiz tied the game in the eighth with his 47th homer, then singled home the winning run in the ninth as Boston rallied from a 4-1 deficit for a critical win over Toronto. Boston remained tied with Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Indians 6, Devil Rays 0: At Cleveland, C.C. Sabathia (15-10) pitched eight shutout innings, Travis Hafner homered and Cleveland stayed atop the wild-card standings by rolling to a win over Tampa Bay.

Angels 7, Athletics 1: At Oakland, Calif., Bartolo Colon (21-8) became the Angels’ winningest pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1974, leading Los Angeles over Oakland. Jose Molina homered and had three RBIs for the West champs.

Royals 10, Twins 6: At Minneapolis, Mike Sweeney went 3 for 4 with a homer and five RBIs, helping Kansas City beat Minnesota and avoid setting the club record for losses in a season (105).

National League

Cubs 3, Astros 2: At Houston, Charles Gipson was cut down at home plate for the final out following Luke Scott’s double into the right-center gap, and Chicago beat Houston to cut the Astros’ lead over Philadelphia in the wild-card race to two games.

Brewers 2, Reds 0: At Milwaukee, Gary Glover allowed two hits over seven innings and struck out a career-high 10 in leading Milwaukee over Cincinnati.

Mets 11, Rockies 0: At New York, Mike Piazza hit a 450-foot home run, and Tom Glavine (13-13) pitched a two-hitter as New York defeated Colorado.

Padres 1, Giants 0 (11): At San Diego, Brian Lawrence allowed three hits over nine innings and Damian Jackson had an RBI single in the 11th to defeat San Francisco.

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2: At Los Angeles, Alex Cintron drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, and Dustin Nippert allowed one hit over five innings for his first major league win as Arizona defeated Los Angeles.