Tigers, Twins run in place

The Detroit Tigers had everything lined up to take command of the American League Central race. They had a five-run lead against the lowly Kansas City Royals . . . and simply blew it.

Lucky for them, the Minnesota Twins couldn't take advantage.

Emil Brown and Paul Phillips led off the 11th inning with homers and Jeff Keppinger followed with a two-run shot to lift Kansas City to a 9-7 victory over host Detroit, just their second win in 16 games with the Tigers.

Detroit (95-65) remained tied with Minnesota atop the Central with two games left, but the Tigers have the tiebreaker because they won the season series, 11-8, which means Detroit will win the division if the teams finish tied.

The Twins lost at home, 4-3, to the Chicago White Sox, their bats falling dormant against White Sox starter Freddy Garcia.

The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the 11th to make it interesting. Joe Nelson loaded the bases with walks then was relieved by Joel Peralta. He gave up a two-run single to Carlos Guillen with one out, but got Ivan Rodriguez to ground into a double play for his first career save.

Curtis Granderson led off the game with a homer and hit another one in the third to spark a four-run inning to help the Tigers take a 5-0 lead, which was slowly whittled away by the suddenly scrappy Royals.

Kansas City scored two in the fifth and added a run in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to make it 5-all.

Mike Sweeney led off the ninth with a single against closer Todd Jones, who blew his fifth save in 42 opportunities.

With two outs and the crowd on its feet, John Buck's single put runners on the corners and Joey Gathright's RBI-single tied the game and quieted the fans.

In Minnesota, meanwhile, a crowd of 45,439 packed the Metrodome, many waving the newest edition of the Homer Hanky, to try to push their team to the division crown.

Having already clinched a playoff berth, the Twins were looking to cap an improbable finish to the season and avoid a first-round matchup with the New York Yankees.

Garcia (17-9) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and Jermaine Dye and Alex Cintron homered for the White Sox. Garcia allowed one run and five hits and Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth for his 41st save in 45 chances.

Dodgers 4, Giants 3 -- At San Francisco, Russell Martin scored the go-ahead run on Mike Stanton's wild pitch in the ninth inning after pinch hitter Olmedo Saenz singled in the tying run, and Los Angeles tied San Diego for the National League West lead.

J.D. Drew hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the Dodgers, who overcame a 3-0 deficit to win their fifth straight.

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 1 -- Livan Hernandez pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and Eric Byrnes hit his team-leading 26th homer in host Arizona's victory.

San Diego would clinch a postseason berth with one more victory or a loss by Philadelphia.

Phillies 14, Marlins 2 -- Shane Victorino had five hits and Pat Burrell hit two homers for Philadelphia at Miami, which remained two games out in the NL wild-card race.

The victory came barely 12 hours after the Phils arrived at their team hotel following a second successive late-night finish in Washington. Thursday night's 3-1 loss ended at 2:07 a.m., and the Phillies reached their team hotel in Fort Lauderdale at 8:20.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2 -- Gary Sheffield hit his first home run since returning from wrist surgery, a tiebreaking, three-run drive for host New York.

Mike Mussina (15-7) tuned up for his start in Game 2 of the playoffs by allowing one run and two hits in six innings.

Rangers 6, Mariners 5 -- Michael Young doubled twice to set a franchise record for two-base hits with 51 in a season, and drove in two runs for Texas at Seattle.

Angels 6, Athletics 0 -- Ervin Santana (16-8) allowed three hits in seven innings and Chone Figgins hit his first inside-the-park home run to lead host Los Angeles.

Mets 4, Nationals 3 -- John Maine pitched six solid innings in New York's victory at Washington. Maine allowed two earned runs and three hits but get the decision.

Reds 5, Pirates 2 -- Aaron Harang (16-11) pitched an eight-hitter for his NL-leading sixth complete game as Cincinnati won at Pittsburgh.

Indians 2, Devil Rays 1 -- Jhonny Peralta drew a bases-loaded walk off Seth McClung with one out in the ninth inning to give host Cleveland the win.

Rockies 5, Cubs 2 -- Josh Fogg (11-9) pitched seven strong innings and Colorado scored three runs in the sixth without a hit to win at Chicago.