ANAHEIM, Calif. ? Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, Michael Young added an eighth-inning RBI single, and the Texas Rangers eliminated the Los Angeles Angels from the playoff race with a 4-3 victory Monday night.
Elvis Andrus had four hits for the AL West champion Rangers (94-66), who have won eight of nine. Texas also stayed one game ahead of Detroit (93-67) for the league's second-best record and homefield advantage in this weekend's division series.
Peter Bourjos had a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Angels, who began the night three games behind the wild card-leading Red Sox with three to play. Although Boston's woes provided an opportunity, Los Angeles has fallen apart with seven losses in 11 games.
Neftali Feliz struck out All-Star Howie Kendrick to finish his 31st save.
Dan Haren (16-10) yielded nine hits over eight innings in his first home loss since June 7 for the Angels, who will miss the playoffs for the second straight year. Los Angeles had made six of the previous eight postseasons, starting with the Angels' only World Series triumph in 2002.
The Angels had an abundance of chances to stay in this race, too. A day after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning of a gut-wrenching home loss to lowly Oakland, the Angels couldn't capitalize on a deliberately short start by Texas' C.J. Wilson, with five Texas relievers outpitching Haren.
Wilson, a 16-game winner, yielded two hits and two walks while working two innings for the Rangers, tuning up before starting Texas' AL division series opener Friday. Rookie Mark Hamburger (1-0) relieved him with 3 2-3 effective innings, earning his first major-league victory.
The Rangers have won four straight late in their stellar September, but must still must keep pushing to hold off AL Central champion Detroit, which beat Cleveland 14-0 and holds the tiebreaker over Texas after winning the clubs' season series.
The Rangers removed any divisional tension from this season-ending series against their liveliest rivals by winning 16 of their first 22 games this month, clinching the AL West last week and taking a season-high-tying seven-game lead last weekend.
Texas has won two straight AL West titles after Los Angeles won the four-team division in five of the previous six seasons. The Rangers' victory also clinched the season series against the Angels for the third straight year.
Haren had eight strikeouts while reaching a new career high with 238 1-3 innings pitched, giving the Angels three starters with more than 220 innings apiece for the first time in 20 years.
Haren gave up an unearned run in the first inning when Ian Kinsler led off with a single and scored on catcher Jeff Mathis' passed ball and throwing error. Beltre connected off Haren for his 31st homer in the fourth inning, giving him 27 RBIs in September.
Hamburger gave up just two hits in the right-hander's fifth career appearance, but Los Angeles finally got rolling in the sixth inning when Torii Hunter doubled and scored on Mike Trout's single off former Angels reliever Darren Oliver.
Bobby Abreu then drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk as a pinch-hitter to trim Texas' lead to 3-2, but Koji Uehara induced an inning-ending popup from Maicer Izturis.
Young padded the Rangers' lead in the eighth with his first hit in four plate appearances against Haren. He'll probably lose the AL batting title to Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, who went 3 for 5 against Cleveland.
Los Angeles will finish the season without slugging rookie Mark Trumbo, who has a stress fracture in his right foot. Trumbo left the Angels' previous two games in the late innings with pain in his foot, which didn't prevent him from leading the club with 29 homers and 87 RBIs.
NOTES: Andrus tied his career high with four hits. ... When Mike Trout and Erick Aybar executed a double-steal in the second inning, Aybar became the first Angels shortstop to steal 30 bases in a season. ... Colby Lewis pitches for Texas on Tuesday night against Ervin Santana, who will attempt to finish with a .500 record in an up-and-down season that included a no-hitter. ... In addition to his fielding blunders, Mathis went 0 for 2 after entering the game batting .176.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.