Tribe’s bid to seal title foiled by A’s

Still, Detroit’s loss lowered Cleveland’s magic number to one.

CLEVELAND (AP) — With a chance to pop champagne, the Cleveland Indians couldn’t even clinch a pop-up.

An early misplay on Mark Ellis’ easy infield fly doomed Cleveland, Dan Haren pitched six strong innings and Jack Cust homered as the Oakland Athletics delayed the Indians from winning the AL Central with a 9-3 victory on Saturday night.

Ellis homered and drove in three runs as the A’s built a 6-0 lead and spoiled Cleveland’s plans of wrapping up its first division title since 2001.

The Indians’ magic number was lowered to one when second-place Detroit lost 7-4 at home to Kansas City.

Cleveland, a disappointing fourth-place finisher last season, can lock up a playoff spot today by winning its final regular-season game at home.

Haren (15-8), the AL’s starter in the All-Star game, won for the first time in six starts since Aug. 21. The right-hander, battling Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona for the league’s ERA title, allowed two runs and seven hits.

Jacobs Field sold out

Cleveland fans, who have been slow to embrace these Indians all summer, sold out Jacobs Field. They came to the ballpark dressed in shades of red and were ready to party. Their hopes for a memorable night rose when the out-of-town scoreboard flashed a second-inning update from Comerica Park: KC 5, Det 1.

But at about the same time, Ellis’ towering pop off Paul Byrd (15-7), on what should have been the third out of the second, landed with a thud between the right-hander and two embarrassed teammates — a missed chance, symbolic of the whole night.

Grady Sizemore hit a two-run homer in the fifth to pull Cleveland within 6-2, but the A’s countered with three runs in the sixth as Cust hit a two-run homer to blow it open and put the Indians’ celebration on hold for at least another day.

Cleveland had its four-game winning streak stopped and dropped to 21-6 since Aug. 25.

Ellis gave the A’s a 3-0 lead in the fourth with his 19th homer, a leadoff shot that landed on the home run porch in left. Oakland chased Byrd in the fifth with three runs, two on an RBI double by Ellis.