A.L. ROUNDUP Twins' magic number is five

Minnesota defeated Detroit 7-3 for their 11th win in the last 12 games.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS -- Johan Santana won his eighth straight decision, and Matthew LeCroy and Dustan Mohr homered as the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3 Saturday.
The Twins cut their magic number for winning the Central Division to five with their eighth straight win and 11th victory in 12 home games.
Detroit lost its eighth straight and fell to 18-59 on the road this season. The Tigers, at 38-116, need to win five of their final eight games to avoid tying the record for most losses in a season. Only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) and the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) have lost more than Detroit.
Santana (12-3) gave up three earned runs on four hits in 52/3 innings.
The Twins scored three times in the first inning off rookie Nathan Robertson (1-2). Corey Koskie drove in two with a two-out single, and after a wild pitch, Koskie scored on a base hit by Torii Hunter.
Robertson struck out four and gave up six earned runs on six hits in five innings. He is winless in four starts since his first major league victory on Aug. 29.
LeCroy had three hits, including a double in the third and a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and finished with three RBIs.
Detroit's Craig Monroe led off the fifth with his 20th homer, tying his career-high. He hit 20 in the minor leagues in 2000 and '01. He also doubled twice and drove in two runs.
DETROITMINNESOTA
abrhbiabrhbi
ASnchz cf5120ShStwrt lf3000
Halter 3b4000Rivas 2b5100
Hggnsn rf3000Mntkw 1b2310
DYong dh4121LeCroy c5133
Monroe lf4132Koskie 3b3112
CPena 1b4000THnter cf3011
Inge c3020Cddyer dh3000
WMoris 2b4000Mohr rf4111
RStiago ss3000CGzmn ss3010
Witt ph1000
Totals35393Totals31787
Detroit000012000--3
Minnesota30012010x--7
DP--Detroit 1, Minnesota 1. LOB--Detroit 7, Minnesota 9. 2B--Monroe 2 (17), Mientkiewicz (38), LeCroy (16). HR--Monroe (20), LeCroy (17), Mohr (10). SB--Koskie (11).
IPHRERBBSO
Detroit
Robertson L,1-2566644
Mears110000
Eckenstahler011110
MAnderson100001
Roney100010
Minnesota
Santana W,12-35 2-343325
Balfour120003
Romero1 1-320000
Rincon110001
Eckenstahler pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. HBP--by Roney (CGuzman), by Eckenstahler (Koskie), by Mears (ShStewart). WP--Robertson, Santana. PB--Inge. Umpires--Home, Jerry Meals; First, Chris Guccione; Second, Steve Rippley; Third, Larry Vanover. T--2:54. A--26,903.
Mariners 9, Athletics 3
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ichiro Suzuki had four hits and drove in five runs, and Bret Boone added three hits and two RBIs as Seattle beat Oakland for the second straight day.
The Mariners scored both of their sixth-inning runs with hard home-plate collisions that made it tough for the A's to make a play. Mike Wood threw a wild pitch that allowed Mike Cameron to come home from third, and Seattle's center fielder ran into the pitcher at the plate after Wood failed to control an errant throw from catcher Ramon Hernandez.
Ben Davis then leveled Hernandez and knocked the ball from his hands to score minutes later.
Hernandez left the game two innings later with a bruised right elbow.
Joel Pineiro (15-11) worked out of jams to win for just the second time in nine starts.
SEATTLEOAKLAND
abrhbiabrhbi
ISuzuki rf6145McMln lf2110
CGillen 3b6120Edwrds lf1000
BBoone 2b5032Durazo dh2100
EMrtnz dh4011Tejada ss4021
Olerud 1b4010EChavz 3b4011
Winn lf4210Httberg 1b3000
Cmeron cf4320Grbwsk ph1000
RSnchz ss3120RaHrdz c3000
BDavis c5110Mlhuse c0100
Dye rf3000
Koonce ph1000
MEllis 2b4011
Byrnes cf4010
Totals419178Totals32363
Seattle001202022--9
Oakland200000001--3
DP--Seattle 1, Oakland 1. LOB--Seattle 12, Oakland 6. 2B--ISuzuki 3 (28), BBoone (35), Cameron (30), McMillon (9), MEllis (31). SB--BBoone (16), Byrnes (10). S--RSanchez 2.
IPHRERBBSO
Seattle
Pineiro W,15-11742235
Rhodes110001
Benitez111112
Oakland
Dchchr L,1-1463315
MWood3 2-374423
Fikac1-310000
Neu132211
HBP--by Duchscherer (EMartinez). WP--MWood. Umpires--Home, Joe West; First, Bill Miller; Second, Jeff Kellogg; Third, Paul Emmel. T--3:00. A--40,226.