Heavenly victory for Angels
Torii Hunter missed the game because of a suspension. He certainly took part in the celebration.
Wearing a pair of goggles, he got down on the clubhouse floor to do the butterfly and backstroke in a puddle of champagne and beer Wednesday after the Los Angeles Angels became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season.
"I love it. I'm Michael Phelps," the center fielder hollered.
The Angels won the AL West for the fourth time in five years, beating the New York Yankees 4-2 and waiting an hour to watch second-place Texas lose to Seattle 8-7.
Much later, after the clock passed midnight at Fenway Park, Tampa Bay beat Boston 4-2 in 14 innings. The Rays increased their AL East lead over the Red Sox to 2Z\x games.
Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer in the 14th — the Rays had been just 1-for-35 with runners in scoring position during the season. Then when closer Troy Percival's back stiffened, Jason Hammel took over with the bases loaded and no outs and retired three straight batters for his first save since Class A in 2002.
Hammel had started throwing in the bullpen in the 14th, not expecting to get into the game.
"I figured I'd just get some work in," Hammel said. "I hadn't pitched in five days. I wanted to get up and keep the arm fresh. I figured Perc would close it out."
Several hundred fans were still in the stands at Anaheim when the clinching became official, and they got to party with the Angels as the scoreboard flashed "2008 AL West champions."
Tampa Bay took more than five hours to finish off yet another improbable win. The teams will meet next week for three games at Tropicana Field, where the Rays are 6-0 against Boston.Boston's Mike Timlin (4-4) tied the Pirates' Kent Tekulve for the most appearances by a right-handed reliever with 1,050.
At Chicago, Mark Buehrle (13-11) outpitched Roy Halladay (18-10) and the White Sox ended Toronto's 10-game winning streak.
At the Metrodome, Kevin Slowey pitched seven effective innings and the Twins posted consecutive wins for the first time in almost three weeks.
At Baltimore, Scott Lewis made an impressive major league debut by pitching three-hit ball for eight scoreless innings.
At Detroit, Ryan Sweeney and Jack Cust hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to lead Oakland. Sean Gallagher came off the disabled list and pitched four hitless innings.
At Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez each had four hits for the Mariners.Nelson Cruz, Taylor Teagarden and Hank Blalock hit two-run homers for Texas.
