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September 25, 2002
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Angels once again failed to clinch a playoff spot, losing their third in a row as Ivan Rodriguez homered to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.
Anaheim dropped 31/2 games behind Oakland in the West with its sixth loss in eight games. The Athletics, already assured a playoff berth, played at Seattle later Tuesday.
"The fact that it's so close, sometimes it's like a carrot dangling at you and some guys start to press," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Some guys are pressing a little bit."
The Angels' magic number for wrapping up their first playoff spot since 1986 remained at one. Boston stayed in contention with a 4-2 win at Chicago, and Seattle had to win at Oakland to avoid being eliminated.
Rodriguez led off this sixth against Kevin Appier with his 18th homer for a 2-1 lead. That came after Anaheim had tied the game.
Rookie Joaquin Benoit held Anaheim to five hits in seven innings.
Garret Anderson's 28th homer, a shot into the upper deck in right, tied it at 1 with two outs in the top of the sixth. But that was the only run the Angels managed against Benoit, who struck out four and walked one.
Bengie Molina had a one-out double in the Angels seventh, and pinch-runner Chone Figgins moved to third on a wild pitch. But Benoit then struck out Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein -- the last two batters he would face -- to get out of the inning.
Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his ninth save. Scott Spiezio led off with a single, but was caught stealing.
In the fifth, Troy Glaus had a leadoff walk and Spiezio singled before Molina's sacrifice bunt. But Kennedy struck out and Eckstein lined out.
The Angels again stranded two runners on in the eighth after centerfielder Ruben Rivera missed Tim Salmon's flyball and pinch-hitter Shawn Wooten walked. Tim Salmon flied out against Jay Powell, the third Texas pitcher in the inning, to end the threat.
Appier gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Kevin Mench's run-scoring single, a bouncer up the middle that bounded off the heel of Kennedy's glove as the second baseman made a sliding attempt to stop it. Before that, Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and Todd Hollandsworth snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a bloop single down the leftfield line.
MARINERS 8, ATHLETICS 7: Scott Podsednik's pinch-hit single drove in Bret Boone to cap a four-run bottom of the eighth for host Seattle.
The Mariners have won three in a row to keep from being eliminated for the wild card.
Arthur Rhodes got David Justice on a foul popup, Mark Ellis on a fly to right and Terrence Long on a groundout to second for the save.
BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 1: Carlos Delgado homered twice, and Roy Halladay got his 18th win as host Toronto sent Baltimore to its seventh consecutive loss.
Delgado reached 30 homers for the sixth consecutive season and became the first Blue Jays player with five seasons in a row with 100 RBIs when he hit a three-run homer off Sean Douglass in the third inning.
His 31st homer, a two-run drive off Douglass in the fifth, gave Toronto a 7-1 lead. He tied a season-high with five RBIs. Vernon Wells went 4-for-5 with four RBIs.
RED SOX 4, WHITE SOX 2: Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez each had RBIs as visiting Boston did its part to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
A Boston loss or an Anaheim win eliminates the Red Sox from the wild card. Boston has won five in a row, and the Angels have lost three in a row.
TWINS 4, INDIANS 3: Bobby Kielty hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth for host Minnesota.
ROYALS 17, TIGERS 2: Chuck Knoblauch, Raul Ibanez and Aaron Guiel homered and host Kansas City had its highest scoring game of the season.