Red Sox win AL East title despite defeat

NEW YORK: Even though they let a win get away on Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox locked up something more important. And as far as they were concerned, an American League East title was certainly worth celebrating.

Boston clinched the division championship despite wasting a three-run lead in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Yankees. David Ortiz and the Red Sox, who last weekend secured at least a wild-card spot in the play-offs, were assured the crown when Baltimore rallied for a 3-2 win at second-place Toronto nearly 30 minutes before New York completed their comeback against Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly.

The result in Toronto knocked defending World Series champions Kansas City Royals out of contention despite their 5-2 win over Minnesota.

The Red Sox, after winning their eighth AL East title, will open their postseason schedule Oct 6 seeking a second World Series championship in four years. The team’s first opponents have not been determined yet.

Mark Teixeira’s two-out grand slam off Kelly won it for the Yankees, costing Clay Buchholz a win after he allowed just an infield single in six shut-out innings.

That only stunned the Red Sox for a short time, though. Once they returned to their clubhouse, they regrouped and let loose, dousing each other with beer and bubbly in a typical celebration.

This title tasted sweet, especially after the Red Sox completed a worst-to-first turnaround for the second time in five seasons. After winning the 2013 World Series, Boston finished last twice in a row.

Hyun Soo-Kim secured a win for Orioles, hitting a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth inning off Roberto Osuna to help his team move within one game of the AL wildcard-leading Blue Jays.

Detroit Tigers kept pace with the Orioles with a 6-3 win over Cleveland in five innings. Miguel Cabrera hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the fifth inning, moments before the game was halted for good, as the Tigers came away with a rainshortened victory that kept them one game behind the Orioles.

Seattle beat Houston 12-4 to keep pressure on the other AL wild-card contenders.

Texas had an 8-5 win over Milwaukee, with Carlos Gomez hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Rangers move closer to home-field advantage with a 1½-game lead over Boston for the best record in the American League.

San Francisco dropped to 1½ games behind the Mets for the top wild card in the National League after a 2-0 loss to the Rockies but remained a game up on St Louis for the second spot after the Cardinals lost to Cincinnati.

In Pittsburgh, John Jaso hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in Pittsburgh’s 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Jaso tripled off reliever Pedro Strop in the seventh inning for the first cycle in the history of PNC Park and the first for the Pirates since 2004.

The last Pirate to hit for the cycle was Daryle Ward on May 26, 2004, in St Louis.