AMERICAN LEAGUE Roger Clemens captures 310th victory; A's lose

The Rocket is expected to start Game 3 of the Twins-Yankees series.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Roger Clemens walked off a winner in the final regular-season start of his storied career.
The Rocket earned his 310th victory with Saturday's 6-2 victory over Baltimore.
Juan Rivera homered twice for the Yankees, who reached 100 wins for the second straight year and the 17th time in their history.
The AL East champions have home-field advantage throughout the postseason, which begins Tuesday against Minnesota.
Clemens (17-9), who plans to retire after the season, will pitch Game 3 of that series next Saturday at the Metrodome -- meaning this might have been his final appearance at Yankee Stadium.
Baseball's only six-time Cy Young Award winner made the most of the moment, going six innings in a solid tuneup for October.
Clemens, 41, got a standing ovation as he walked in from the bullpen before the game, and didn't disappoint the crowd of 42,702. He's become a fan favorite in the Bronx after beginning his career with 13 stellar seasons for the rival Red Sox.
He spent the next two in Toronto, then the last five with the Yankees, winning two World Series rings.
After giving up two runs and three hits -- all in the second inning -- he went out to the mound before the seventh. Then manager Joe Torre lifted Clemens so he could walk off to a thunderous ovation.
Flashbulbs popped all over the ballpark and Elton John's "Rocket Man" played on the loudspeakers as Clemens pointed to the crowd and touched his heart.
BALTIMORENEW YORK
abrhbiabrhbi
BRbrts 2b2000ASrano 2b4012
Matos cf4000NJhnsn 1b4000
Bigbie rf3000Jeter ss4030
Gbbons 1b4000JaGbi dh2000
TBtsta 3b4110Sierra dh1000
Cust dh3120Posada c4010
DCruz ss3001BWllms cf4020
Swann lf3000Matsui lf3110
Frdyce c3011ABoone 3b3220
JRivra rf4344
Totals29242Totals336146
Baltimore020000000--2
New York02030001x--6
DP--Baltimore 4, New York 1. LOB--Baltimore 5, New York 8. 2B--Cust (7), Posada (24). HR--JRivera 2 (7). SB--ASoriano (35), Jeter (11). SF--DCruz.
IPHRERBBSO
Baltimore
JJohnson L,10-105115533
Parrish331110
New York
Clemens W,17-9632233
Contreras200011
Heredia110001
HBP--by JJohnson (ABoone). Umpires--Home, Ed Montague; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Bruce Dreckman; Third, Brian Gorman. T--2:51. A--42,702.
Mariners 7, Athletics 4
SEATTLE -- Ichiro Suzuki hit a tiebreaking single and Rey Sanchez had a two-run double in the sixth inning as the Seattle Mariners beat the playoff-bound Oakland Athletics.
Substituting liberally, manager Ken Macha watched his AL West champs lose to the Mariners for the second straight game and for the fourth time in five games over nine days.
Reigning Cy Young winner Barry Zito, scheduled to pitch Game 2 of the playoffs against Boston on Thursday, started and went five innings. He wasn't involved in the decision, allowing four runs and seven hits.
Zito finished the regular season with a 14-12 record and a 3.30 ERA. Last season, he was 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA.
OAKLANDSEATTLE
abrhbiabrhbi
McMln dh5000ISuzuki rf5121
Durazo 1b3000RSnchz ss4122
Koonce 1b1000BBoone 2b3111
Tejada ss3110EMrtnz dh4000
Crosby ss1000Olerud 1b3111
EChavz 3b3222Winn lf4111
Grbwsk rf1000Cmeron cf4021
Dye rf2110Blmqist 3b4120
Germn 2b1000DWilsn c4110
Mlhuse c3010
Long lf4022
Mnchno 2b4000
Snglton cf3000
Totals34474Totals357127
Oakland022000000--4
Seattle40000300x--7
DP--Oakland 1. LOB--Oakland 6, Seattle 7. 2B--RSanchez 2 (5), Olerud (35), Cameron (31), Bloomquist (7). 3B--EChavez (5). HR--EChavez (29). SB--Cameron (17).
IPHRERBBSO
Oakland
Zito574414
Bradford L,7-4143311
Fikac100011
Foulke110001
Seattle
RFrkln W,11-13664435
Rhodes100002
RSoriano110002
Hasegawa S,16100001
Umpires--Home, Dale Scott; First, Jim Joyce; Second, Jim Reynolds; Third, Laz Diaz. T--2:46. A--45,483.
Rangers 12, Angels 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Rafael Palmeiro drove in four runs and Gerald Laird hit his first major league home run as Texas ended a five-game losing streak.
Ryan Christenson and Jermaine Clark each drove in two runs and Colby Lewis (10-9) won his fourth straight decision, allowing three runs and seven hits in five-plus innings. Palmeiro, Christenson and Laird each had three hits as Texas piled up 18.
Lewis, a 24-year-old right-hander who was promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma on July 26, became the seventh Rangers rookie to win at least 10 games and the first since Danny Patterson went 10-6 in 1997.
Ramon Ortiz (16-12) allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings, including RBI singles by Palmeiro and Christenson.
TEXASANAHEIM
abrhbiabrhbi
MYong 2b6111Figgins cf3121
Blalock 3b6110AKndy 2b1000
ARdrgz ss3121WDgdo 3b2020
Thmes rf0000GAndsn dh3010
RPlmo dh6034Owens dh1000
Txeira 1b4110Spiezio 1b3121
JsJones rf4020Wesson lf0000
Spncer rf1100DVnon rf4020
Laird c4331ARiggs lf3000
Chrstns cf5232Quinlan 1b1000
JClark lf5222Drngtn 3b4000
Grgorio c4000
Amzga ss4110
Totals44121811Totals333102
Texas010114500--12
Anaheim001011000--3
E--MYoung (10), JsJones (1). DP--Texas 3. LOB--Texas 10, Anaheim 9. 2B--Blalock (33), RPalmeiro (21), Laird (2), Christenson (7), Figgins (9), Spiezio (36). 3B--Amezaga (2). HR--Laird (1). SB--ARodriguez (17). CS--DaVanon (5). SF--ARodriguez, Figgins.
IPHRERBBSO
Texas
CLewis W,10-9573334
Callaway320002
Dominguez110012
Anaheim
ROrtiz L,16-13573312
GJones144402
Glover155511
Bootcheck220001
CLewis pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. HBP--by GJones (ARodriguez), by CLewis (AKennedy), by ROrtiz (Teixeira). WP--Glover. PB--Gregorio. Umpires--Home, Larry Young; First, Mike Everitt; Second, Jim Wolf; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt. T--2:57. A--43,218.