AL: Angels fumble West lead

OAKLAND, Calif. - Though the ending should live forever on blooper reels, Jason Kendall and the Athletics didn't believe they stole the lead in the West.

Francisco Rodriguez and the Angels simply dropped it.

Kendall alertly dashed home from third base with the winning run when Los Angeles' miffed closer flubbed the throw from his catcher, putting one of baseball's strangest finishes in years on Oakland's 5-4 victory Thursday.

The A's took sole possession of first place for the first time this season with their second straight come-from-behind win against the Angels' outstanding bullpen. That achievement would be remarkable enough, but nobody in either clubhouse could remember an ending as odd as this one.

"I've never seen that in my life, but that stuff happens in baseball," Kendall said. "You learn early on that you're supposed to always follow the ball. I saw it rolling away, and I didn't think he'd get it back in time. Fortunately for us, I was right."

With Eric Chavez at the plate with two runners on and two out, Rodriguez's first pitch was called a ball. The right-hander stared in and nonchalantly stuck out his glove for catcher Jose Molina's throw, but the ball glanced away.

Almost nobody in the Coliseum was watching, but the A's were ready.

"I pointed at the ball, and by the time I looked at Kendall, he had already taken off," said Bobby Crosby, who reached second on defensive indifference a moment earlier. "I was in shock. I was like, "Are you kidding me?' "

Kendall sprinted home and beat the throw, sending the A's roaring from the dugout to celebrate their 20th win in 23 games since they trailed Los Angeles by 81/2 on July 18.

Chavez hit a tying three-run homer in the seventh for the A's, who rallied from a four-run deficit. They took two of three from their California rivals, but not even the freewheeling A's could have predicted such a lucky finish.

The Angels couldn't believe it, either.

"A 5-year-old could have caught it," said Rodriguez, who was charged with an error. "I should have caught the ball. It's unfortunate that we lost the game like that, but what can you do?"

YANKEES 9, RANGERS 8: Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh after host New York's bullpen blew a strong spot start by Scott Proctor. Proctor made his first big-league start in place of Randy Johnson, skipped because of a bad back. Proctor held Texas to three runs, two on David Dellucci homers, and three hits before leaving with a 6-2 lead after five-plus innings.

BLUE JAYS 2, TIGERS 1: Scott Downs and two relievers combined on a two-hitter to lead host Toronto, which took three of four from Detroit. The Tigers have lost six of seven and 11 of 14.

INDIANS 4, ROYALS 2: Jeff Liefer hit a grand slam in the seventh to help visiting Cleveland hand Kansas City its franchise-record 13th consecutive loss.

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:47:15]