Angels win, prevent Rangers from clinching AL West

ANGELS 2, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Trout hit a leadoff triple in the ninth inning and scored on Albert Pujols’ tiebreaking single, sending the wild card-contending Los Angeles Angels to a 2-1 win over Texas that kept the Rangers from clinching the AL West title Friday night.

Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson (6-4) appeared in his fourth consecutive game. Trout hit the second pitch deep into the right-center gap, then slid headfirst into third base before emphatically pumping his right arm toward his teammates in the dugout.

Pujols followed with a soft single to left field on the next pitch.

Texas went into Friday already assured a playoff spot, but able to secure the division title with a win over the Angels or a loss by second-place Houston.

Already assured a playoff spot, Texas went into Friday needing a win over the Angels or a loss by second-place Houston to secure the division title. The Astros were playing in Arizona later Friday night, and were up 6-1 in the fourth inning when the Rangers finished their game.

Los Angeles began the day tied with Minnesota and a game behind Houston in the race for the second AL wild

card. The Twins lost at home to AL Central champion Kansas City, dropping a game behind the Angels.

The Angels have won eight of their last 10 games, but their 5-3 loss Thursday in the opener of the four-game series assured Texas a playoff spot.

Mike Morin (4-2), the fourth Angels pitcher, retired the only batter he faced when Adrian Beltre grounded out to end the eighth.

Joe Smith worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save, including a strikeout of slugger Josh Hamilton, who was traded from Los Angeles back to Texas in April. Smith had faced only batter since a foot injury Sept. 17 before taking over in the ninth.

Shin-Soo Choo matched his career high with his 22nd homer leading off the Texas fourth to tie the game at 1. Choo is batting .413 (33 of 80) over his last 21 games to raise his batting average from .253 to .276, and has reached base in 51 of his last 53 games.

There was also a nice defensive play by Choo, who caught Trout’s slicing fly to right while running into the right-field corner to start the sixth.

Erick Aybar singled on the first pitch of the game, advancing on Pujols’ single before scoring on C.J. Cron’s hit for a 1-0 lead off Rangers left-hander Martin Perez.

But Perez then retired 19 of the last 21 batters he faced, issuing a two-out walk to Trout in the third and allowing a two-out single to Aybar in the fifth. Perez’s 100th and final pitch was a groundout by Carlos Perez to end the seventh.

Aybar, the Angels shortstop, had errors on consecutive plays in the sixth to allow Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor to reach with one out. But Chris Jimenez struck out

before a flyout by Delino DeShields ended the inning.

Jered Weaver, making his 20th career start at Texas, allowed two hits over six innings. The righthander struck out two and walked

three.

ROYALS 3, TWINS 1 Ben Zobrist put a major dent in host Minnesota’s postseason bid with an RBI double in the eighth inning against struggling All-Star Glen Perkins, and Kansas City topped the Twins. The Twins entered the night trailing Houston by one game and tied with Los Angeles in the AL wild-card race. The Angels beat Texas, and the Astros played later at Arizona.

BLUE JAYS 8, RAYS 4 Troy Tulowitzki doubled and singled in his return to the Toronto lineup after missing three weeks with injuries, and the visiting AL East champion Blue Jays rallied past Tampa Bay. Tulowitzki went 2 for 5 and the star shortstop also scored a run.

INDIANS 8, RED SOX 2 Josh Tomlin pitched into the seventh inning and Carlos Santana drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double, leading host Cleveland to a victory over Boston. Tomlin (72) made one mistake — a two-run home run by David Ortiz in the fourth — in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five and allowed five hits.

WHITE SOX 2, TIGERS 1 Chris Sale allowed one run over seven-plus innings and set a White Sox season strikeout record as Chicago beat visiting Detroit. By getting James McCann looking at a 3-2 breaking ball for the first out of the second inning, Sale struck out his 270th batter of the season. He broke the mark set by Hall of Famer

Ed Walsh in 1908 when he struck out 269 batters.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CUBS 6, BREWERS 1 Jake Arrieta struck out seven in six strong innings, and visiting Chicago beat Milwaukee as it tried to keep up with Pittsburgh in the race to host the NL wild card game. Arrieta (22-6) allowed two singles in his final tuneup before the postseason. His ERA dropped to 1.77. His next start will likely come against Pittsburgh in the NL wild card game.

BRAVES 4, CARDINALS 0 Julio Teheran pitched six strong innings, Daniel Castro drove in two runs and host Atlanta beat NL Central champion St. Louis. Teheran (11-8) allowed 5 hits, walked 1 and struck out 6. The right-hander closed his regular season by going 2-1 with a 1.62 ERA in his last six starts.

PIRATES 6, REDS 4 (12) Starling Marte’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning gave Pittsburgh a victory over visiting Cincinnati. The Pirates maintained a two-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for home-field advantage Wednesday night in the NL wild-card game. Pittsburgh can ensure the game is at PNC Park with a victory in either of its two remaining games or one Cubs loss in Milwaukee.