AMERICAN LEAGUE

Rangers keep hope alive in AL wild-card race

ARLINGTON, Texas - Alex Rios had a tie breaking RBI single in the seventh inning, and the Texas Rangers finally gained some ground in the AL wild-card race with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

For the first time during their five-game winning streak, the Rangers moved closer in the wild-card standings.

Wild-card leader Tampa Bay lost at Toronto, dropping the Rays into a tie with Cleveland, which beat Minnesota, for the two spots. The Rangers are a game back.

With two games left in the regular season, the Rangers still have a chance to go to the postseason for the fourth year in a row.

The loss was the 82nd for the Angels, ensuring them of only their second losing record the past 10 seasons - when they were AL West champions five times.

Ian Kinsler led off the seventh with a walk off Juan Gutierrez (1-5). He took over after C.J. Wilson threw 121 pitches in six innings. Rios had his run-scoring hit after a sac bunt by Elvis Andrus, then scored on a two-out infield single by A.J. Pierzynski.

The Rangers don’t have to wait long to play again - Saturday’s game was moved up eight hours to an 11:05 a.m. start. The weather forecast called for moderate showers and thunderstorms in the area by early afternoon and increasing in intensity throughout the day and into the night, when the game was originally scheduled.

Alexi Ogando allowed three runs with four strikeouts over 5 1/3innings. Joe Nathan, the winner Thursday night when the Rangers won on rookie Jurickson Profar’s game-ending homer, worked a perfect ninth for his 42nd save in 45 chances.

After Ogando struck out Mark Trumbo to start the sixth, Jason Frasor struck out the next two batters. Neal Cotts (6-3) and Tanner Scheppers both worked perfect innings with two strikeouts.

Texas went ahead 3-1 after a wild 31-pitch third inning for Wilson, the left-hander who went to the Angels in free agency after being part of the Rangers’ only two World Series teams (2010 and 2011) .

BLUE JAYS 6, RAYS 3 R.A. Dickey slowed Tampa Bay’s stretch run, leading host Toronto to a victory that stopped the Rays’ seven-game winning streak. Tampa Bay dropped into a tie with Cleveland for the two AL wild cards, one game ahead of Texas. The Rays’ magic number for clinching remained at two over Texas. It was an ugly night for the Rays, who wasted a 2-0 lead and committed a season-high three errors, including a pair by two-time Gold Glove third baseman Evan Longoria. Dickey (14-13) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings, retiring 13of 14 during one stretch. Tampa Bay, which had won seven of its previous nine against Toronto, went ahead on home runs by Ben Zobrist in the first and Delmon Young in the second, his second in two games and the 100th of his career. Dickey allowed 35 homers, one behind the major league-high total of Oakland’s A.J. Griffin (36). Dickey recovered from the shaky opening and allowed just one hit after the third.

INDIANS 12, TWINS 6 Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera both had two doubles and Jason Kipnis was a home run short of the cycle as visiting Cleveland had 17 hits in a victory over Minnesota. With the win and Tampa Bay’s loss at Toronto, the Indians moved into a tie with the Rays for the top wild card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Texas, which beat Los Angeles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 4, REDS 1 The Pirates are one win away from hosting a playoff game. Marlon Byrd had three hits and Pedro Alvarez hit a two run home run high off the batter’s eye on Friday night, leading visiting Pittsburgh over Cincinnati in a series that will decide which one hosts the NL wild-card game.

Friday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Milwaukee 4, N.Y. Mets 2 Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 1 Atlanta 1, Philadelphia 0 St. Louis 7, Chicago Cubs 0 Washington at Arizona, (n) Colorado at LA Dodgers, (n) San Diego at San Francisco, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 12, Baltimore 3 Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 3 Texas 5, L.A. Angels 3 Cleveland 12, Minnesota 6 Kansas City 6, Chicago White Sox 1 NY Yankees 3, Houston 2 Oakland at Seattle, (n) INTERLEAGUE Miami 3, Detroit 2

Sports, Pages 22 on 09/28/2013

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