The Texas Rangers are testing their own patience with six games to go. They gave up a chance Thursday to inch closer to a second straight AL West crown. Coco Crisp hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, and the Oakland Athletics beat the first-place Rangers 4-3 to avoid a series sweep. The reigning AL champions Rangers began the day with a magic number of three to win the division. The Angels were playing at Toronto in a night game. Texas, which held a five-game lead over Los Angeles entering Thursday, headed home for three games with the Mariners before ending the regular season at Anaheim. Twins 3, Mariners 2: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire kept his eye on the field, and on the 37,000-plus fans at Target Field. He watched them squirm as Minnesota struggled through key spots against the Seattle Mariners for the third straight day. In the end, Gardenhire, the Twins and their crowd had reason to celebrate. Rene Tosoni hit an RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning and the Twins snapped their 11-game losing streak, beating Seattle. The Twins avoided another sweep and won for just the second time in 17 games. Indians 11, White Sox 2: Asdrubal Cabrera drove in five runs and Jeanmar Gomez won his fifth straight start for Cleveland as the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox to remain in second place in the AL Central. Gomez (5-2) gave up one earned run and four hits over six innings. Since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 30, the right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Cabrera hit a three-run homer and tied his career-high for RBIs. Kosuke Fukudome added three RBIs and Travis Hafner singled for his 1,000th career hit as Cleveland moved 1½ games ahead of the White Sox. Orioles 6, Tigers 5: J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones homered and the Baltimore Orioles ruined the Detroit Tigers' homecoming with a victory. Rays 15, Yankees 8: Matt Moore struck out 11 in five innings of his first major league start and the Tampa Bay Rays unloaded on the watered-down Yankees for a victory, a night after New York clinched the AL East title. Blue Jays 4, Angels 3 (12 innings): Edwin Encarnacion hit a game-ending home run in the 12th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Los Angeles, dealing the Angels another blow in their chase for a playoff berth.
