A’s keep Rangers reeling

Texas’s loss keeps the Rangers 6 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the American League wild-card standings and it clinched a postseason berth for the New York Yankees.

Suzuki hit a two-run double and scored on Barton’s RBI single during a five-run seventh when the A’s broke the game open to win for the 10th time in 12 games.

Oakland improved to 14-6 in September, tied with Colorado for the best record in the majors. It’s the first time since June 2008 the A’s have had a winning record in a month.

Mariners 4, Rays 3 - Jose Lopez hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and Seattle beat host Tampa Bay, eliminating the defending AL champions from the postseason.

“It’s not the way we wanted this year to end,’’ Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “But, I like the way we’re hanging together. I think we learned a lot this year in regard to it’s not easy to repeat. You can never assume that it’s just going to happen again because you were so good the previous year. It’s very humbling. We’ll be back next year.’’

Ichiro Suzuki had a two-run homer for the Mariners, who ended Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak.

Lopez gave Seattle a 4-3 lead on his 25th homer this season, coming off Dan Wheeler (4-5) with one out in the eighth.

“It’s over with. You just go on and look forward to 2010,’’ Wheeler said of the Rays, who are 77-74 this season.

Dodgers 14, Nationals 2 - Rafael Furcal drove in four runs, Hiroki Kuroda allowed four hits over six innings and Los Angeles had two big innings to rout host Washington.

The Dodgers’ sixth win in seven games lowered their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to three. Los Angeles would win its second straight NL West title for the first time since 1977-78 with any combination of Dodger wins and Colorado losses totaling seven.

Kuroda (8-6) won his third straight start, benefiting from two innings in which the Dodgers sent 11 men to the plate. He did not allow an earned run, walked two and struck out six.

Tigers 3, Indians 1 - Edwin Jackson pitched seven shutout innings and first-place Detroit kept its slender lead over Minnesota with a road victory.

Twins 8, White Sox 6 - Michael Cuddyer hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth and Matt Tolbert homered in the same inning as Minnesota defeated host Chicago.

Reds 10, Pirates 4 - Scott Rolen had three hits and three RBIs and Joey Votto had three doubles as visiting Cincinnati clinched Pittsburgh’s third straight last-place finish in the NL Central.

Cardinals 11, Astros 2 - Joel Pineiro (15-11) allowed five hits in seven effective innings, Yadier Molina hit a two-run homer and St. Louis inched closer to the NL Central title in Houston.

Rockies 11, Padres 10 - Brad Hawpe homered for the first time since Aug. 29 and host Colorado beat San Diego despite a rare rough outing from lefty Jorge De La Rosa and a four-run ninth-inning rally by the Padres.

Cubs 7, Brewers 2 - Derrek Lee hit his 35th homer and drove in two runs to set a career mark with 109 RBIs, leading Chicago over host Milwaukee.

Braves 3, Mets 1 - Jair Jurrjens dominated a feeble New York lineup again and Yunel Escobar hit a two-run single, sending visiting Atlanta to victory.

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5 - Aaron Hill doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning and host Toronto handed Baltimore its sixth straight loss.

Phillies 9, Marlins 3; Marlins 3, Phillies 0 - Anibal Sanchez allowed two hits in eight innings to beat Philadelphia for the first time in five career decisions, and Florida’s win gave it a doubleheader split. Joe Blanton gave up two hits in seven shutout innings in the first game.