Detroit Tigers' third baseman Miguel Cabrera and catcher Gerald Laird celebrate clinching the MLB American League Central Division by beating the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, Missouri, Monday. — ReutersOAKLAND, California – Detroit and Oakland secured Major League Baseball playoff berths with triumphs Monday, joining the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the American League title chase. Miguel Cabrera smacked his 44th home run and Jhonny Peralta added a solo homer of his own to power the Detroit Tigers over host Kansas City 6-3 and clinch the AL Central division crown for the visitors. Coco Crisp doubled in a run and scored on a sacrifice fly out by Brandon Moss to help host Oakland defeat Texas 4-3, clinching a playoff spot for the A's and moving them within one game of AL West leader Texas with two to play. Two division crowns remain up for grabs with two days remaining in the sixth-month season and the playoffs starting later this week. Division winners will avoid a one-game opening showdown between the wildcard qualifiers. Two-time defending American League champion Texas (93-67), loser in the 2010 and 2011 World Series to the National League winner, needs only one win over Oakland (92-68) in its two remaining games to claim the AL West title. Yankees 10, Red Sox 2: Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Mark Teixeira homered in a nine-run second inning, and the New York Yankees routed the Boston Red Sox 10-2 to open a one-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East with two games to play. Baltimore lost 5-3 at Tampa Bay and dropped into second place, prompting cheers from the crowd when the final score was posted before the ninth inning. The Yankees, who clinched their 17th playoff berth in 18 years on Sunday, would ensure their 13th division title in 17 years by sweeping the three-game series against the Red Sox. Rays 5, Orioles 3: Alex Cobb allowed two hits over seven innings, helping the Tampa Bay Rays keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Ben Zobrist hit his 20th homer and Chris Giminez had a two-run double off Wei-Yin Chen as the Rays pulled away from a 1-1 tie in the seventh. Cobb (11-9) yielded a fourth-inning single to J.J. Hardy and an opposite-field solo homer to Matt Wieters that had tied it in the top of the seventh. White Sox 11, Indians 0: White Sox rookie Hector Santiago allowed one hit in seven shutout innings to beat Cleveland, but Chicago was eliminated from postseason contention when Detroit defeated Kansas City. Santiago (4-1), who began the season as the team's closer, struck out a season-high 10. The Indians' only hit off the left-hander was Shin-Soo Choo's two-out single in the third. The second-place White Sox won for the third time in 13 games. They collapsed down the stretch after leading the AL Central for 63 straight days. The White Sox scored four runs in the sixth off Corey Kluber (2-5) and added six in the ninth. Dayan Viciedo hit his first grand slam to make it 11-0. Blue Jays 6, Twins 5: Anthony Gose singled home the winning run in the 10th inning as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins. Adeiny Hechavarria hit a one-out single off Brian Duensing (4-12) and moved to second on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter J.P. Arencibia struck out on a pitch that bounced away from catcher Drew Butera, whose throw to first hit Arencibia in the helmet and rolled into foul territory. In another game, Los Angeles Angels defeated Seattle mariners 8-4. — Agencies
