AROUND THE HORN Thursday's game

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Orioles 9, Red Sox 7
BOSTON -- David Newhan caught David Ortiz's bid for a three-run homer at the edge of the warning track for the final out, and Baltimore hung on, dropping Boston 4 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees going into this weekend's Fenway Park showdown. The Red Sox lead the AL wild-card race by six games over Anaheim and Texas heading into this weekend's three-game series with AL East-leading New York.
White Sox 7, Royals 6
CHICAGO -- Joe Crede hit a game-winning three-run shot in the ninth for Chicago -- his second homer in two innings. Aaron Rowand and Ross Gload also homered for the White Sox, who have won three straight games.
Rangers 5, Athletics 4
ARLINGTON, Texas -- David Dellucci's double drove home two runs to give the Texas Rangers a 5-4 win over Oakland and a three-game sweep of the Athletics.
Texas, a surprise contender after four straight last-place finishes, moved within two games of the AL West-leading Athletics with 10 to play. The Rangers have won five in a row and 10 of 13.
Yankees 7, Devil Rays 3
NEW YORK -- Derek Jeter hit a leadoff home run, Jon Lieber pitched into the eighth inning and the New York Yankees clinched their 10th consecutive playoff berth. John Flaherty also homered for the Yankees, who entered with a 3 1/2-game lead in the AL East over the second-place Red Sox. The Yankees go to Boston for a three-game series this weekend. New York, given a standing ovation by fans following the final out, has the second-longest streak of consecutive trips to the playoffs, trailing only Atlanta, which was in position to clinch its 13th straight division title later in the day.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cardinals 4, Brewers 2
MILWAUKEE -- St. Louis reached 100 wins for the first time since 1985 and the seventh time overall. Yadier Molina hit his first major league home run, a two-out drive in the eighth off Matt Wise (1-2) that broke a 2-2 tie. Hector Luna followed with his third homer of the season, his fourth hit of the game.
St. Louis, which clinched the NL Central title last weekend, has 10 games remaining and can surpass its club record of 106 wins, set in 1942. Dan Haren, pitching because Chris Carpenter strained his right biceps, made his first start for St. Louis since Aug. 20. He allowed one run and two hits in five innings and matched his career high with six strikeouts.
Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 1, 1st game
Rockies 2, Diamondbacks 1, 10 innings, 2nd game
DENVER -- Jeromy Burnitz drove in the winning run with a bloop single in the 10th inning to give Colorado a doubleheader sweep against Arizona. In the opener, Jeff Francis (3-2) gave up one run and seven hits and matched a career high by striking out eight. In the second game, Todd Helton doubled to right field to start the 10th inning against Randy Choate (2-4), who then walked Vinny Castilla intentionally. Burnitz followed with a single in front of left fielder Andy Green. Allan Simpson (2-1) worked a scoreless 10th to earn the victory.
Mets 4, Expos 2
MONTREAL -- Tom Glavine (10-13) won for just the third time since mid-June, and Gerald Williams and Victor Diaz homered to lead the New York Mets over Montreal. Glavine now has 261 victories, trailing only 300-game winners Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux among active pitchers. Braden Looper pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 32 chances. Brad Wilkerson went 3-for-4 and tied Tony Batista for the team lead with 31 homers when he connected in the fifth inning to make it 4-2. New York moved three games ahead of last-place Montreal in the NL East.
Phillies 9, Marlins 8, 10 innings
MIAMI -- Jimmy Rollins' two-out homer in the 10th inning gave Philadelphia a victory and moved World Series champion Florida within a game of elimination in the NL East title race. The Marlins dropped into a tie with Philadelphia for second place in the division. The best the teams can do is tie Atlanta atop the East.
Reds 3, Braves 2
ATLANTA -- Gabe White earned his first save in over four years, preserving Cincinnati's win and preventing Atlanta from clinching another division title. The Braves' magic number in the NL East was reduced to one when Philadelphia beat Florida, but Atlanta will have to wait at least another day to clinch its 13th consecutive division championship.
Astros 7, Giants 3
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer off Dustin Hermanson in the ninth, and Houston rallied past San Francisco. Carlos Beltran had three hits for the Astros, who gave their flagging playoff hopes a big boost by scoring five runs in the ninth. Houston was in danger of falling four games behind San Francisco in the NL wild-card race. Instead, the Astros lingered 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who took a half-game lead over the Giants for the wild card.
Dodgers 9, Padres 6
SAN DIEGO -- Cesar Izturis homered and Adrian Beltre had three hits for Los Angeles, which survived a shaky start by Kazuhisa Ishii and beat San Diego to take a 1 1/2-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West. The Dodgers knocked out Brian Lawrence (15-13) after four innings and went up 7-0 in the fifth.
Ishii allowed four runs and four hits in 4 2-3 innings, while walking six and striking out five.
Associated Presss