Tigers stay in wild-card hunt

Magglio Ordonez hit a three-run home run, Gary Sheffield had a two-run homer, and Justin Verlander allowed only a run, leading the Tigers to a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers last night in Detroit.

The Tigers have won seven of nine games to stay in the wild-card chase with the streaking New York Yankees, who ended the night four games ahead in the race for the AL's final postseason spot.

Texas has dropped two straight after winning 13 of 15.

Verlander (17-5) became the first Detroit pitcher to win at least 17 games in consecutive seasons since Jack Morris in 1986-87. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, who was 17-9 last season, gave up seven hits, one walk, and struck out seven.

Verlander has won four straight starts, combining to allow just three runs.

Edinson Volquez (2-1) gave up five runs, seven hits, and four walks while striking out a career-high six. He made his third start of the season and the 14th of his career.

A day after snapping an 0-for-25 skid, Sheffield's two-run homer in the first inning ended a 16-game homerless drought.

Ordonez's three-run shot put Detroit ahead 5-1 in the sixth, giving him 132 RBIs for the season - the most since Cecil Fielder had 133 in 1991.

White Sox 7, Indians 4 - Jim Thome hit his 499th homer and drove in three runs to lead host Chicago over Cleveland.

After flying out to shallow right in his first at-bat, Thome drove a 2-and-0 pitch from Jake Westbrook out to right field leading off the fourth inning to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead with his 27th home run of the season.

Angels 18, Orioles 6 - Garret Anderson homered and had five RBIs, Kelvim Escobar earned his 17th win despite yielding six runs, and the visiting Los Angeles beat free-falling Baltimore.

Vladimir Guerrero drove in four runs and Brandon Wood hit his first major league homer for the Angels. Los Angeles, which tied a season high for runs, has outscored Baltimore, 28-11, in the first two games of the three-game series.

Mets 4, Braves 3 - Shawn Green hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and host New York beat Atlanta to tighten its grip on first place in the NL East.

Super sub Marlon Anderson homered off John Smoltz, and John Maine stymied Atlanta for six innings to help the Mets win for the 10th time in 12 games and pad their division lead to seven games over Philadelphia.

Royals 6, Twins 3 - Gil Meche won for the first time in almost two months, David DeJesus and Mark Teahen homered, and Kansas City beat visiting Minnesota to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Meche (8-12) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, earning his first win since he beat Detroit July 20. He was 0-6 with three no-decisions in his previous nine starts.

Dodgers 6, Padres 1 - Rookie James Loney homered for the fifth time in six games and starter Chad Billingsley (11-4), who moved up a day to replace Derek Lowe, limited visiting San Diego to one run over six innings for the victory.

Mariners 6, Athletics 5 - Adam Jones led off the eighth inning with a pinch-hit solo homer and Yuniesky Betancourt singled home Charlton Jimerson with two outs in the ninth, giving host Seattle a win over Oakland.

Reds 5, Cardinals 1 - Bronson Arroyo allowed one run over six innings and Edwin Encarnacion had a homer and three RBIs as host Cincinnati handed St. Louis its season-high sixth straight loss.

Diamondbacks 9, Giants 4 - Mark Reynolds and Chris Snyder hit back-to-back home runs to help Brandon Webb (16-10) win again, eliminating host San Francisco from playoff contention.

Cubs 3, Astros 2 - Rich Hill allowed three hits over seven innings and visiting Chicago moved into a tie with Milwaukee for the NL Central lead with a victory over Houston.

Rockies 12, Phillies 0 - Matt Holliday lined into a triple play, then hit a three-run homer his next time up to start Colorado on a romp in Philadelphia.

Marlins 5, Nationals 4 - Todd Linden singled in Reggie Abercrombie with two outs in the 12th inning to lift Florida over Washington in Miami.

Pirates 7, Brewers 4 - Ronny Paulino singled in the go-ahead run during a three-run eighth inning, and host Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.