ROUNDUP Thursday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Angels 7, Tigers 1

DETROIT — Torii Hunter homered to back Ervin Santana, and the Angels beat the Tigers to cut their magic number to six for clinching their fourth AL West title in five seasons. Santana (15-5) struck out eight in 71‚Ñ3 innings, allowing one run and six hits. Santana, who won his first six decisions this year, is 4-0 in seven starts since July 27.

Royals 5, Athletics 4, 10 innings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joey Gathright hit a run-scoring single in the 10th inning, helping the Royals open a doubleheader with a win over the Athletics.

Rays 7, Yankees 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott Kazmir allowed one hit in six scoreless innings, and Tampa Bay’s bullpen weathered ninth-inning home runs by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to hang on for a victory over the Yankees. Willy Aybar homered and drove in three runs for the AL East-leading Rays, who avoided a three-game sweep and extended their lead in the division over second-place Boston to 31‚Ñ2 games. The Red Sox, who face Tampa Bay six times over the next two weeks, were idle. Kazmir (11-6) limited the Yankees to Cody Ransom’s fifth inning double, walked five and struck out seven, but a high pitch-count (98) prevented him from going deeper into the game. Chad Bradford worked a scoreless eighth but Tampa Bay lost its bid for its 13th shutout of the season in the ninth when Jason Hammel gave up RBI single to Ransom, who finished 3-for-3, and home runs to Jeter and Rodriguez.

Blue Jays 9, Twins 0

TORONTO — Jesse Litsch threw a four-hit shutout and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota. Litsch (10-8) walked two and struck out three and is 2-1 with a 0.94 ERA in four starts since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 14.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 2, Nationals 0

ATLANTA — James Parr tossed six sharp innings in his major league debut, leading the Braves to the win. Parr (1-0) surrendered just two hits — both to Ronnie Belliard — walked three and struck out three.

Associated Press