Playoff lineup set: Yankees vs. Twins, Angels vs. Red Sox

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 2:24 a.m.

Minnesota lost its last game and drew the New York Yankees for the first round of the playoffs, giving Anaheim the home-field advantage in its series against Boston.

After beating the Cleveland Indians 6-5 in 12 innings in the completion of a game suspended a day earlier, the Twins lost 5-2 in the regularly scheduled game Sunday.

New York (101-61), coming off its seventh straight AL East title, will play the AL Central champion Twins (92-70) starting Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. The Angels (92-70), who clinched their first AL West title since 1986 on Saturday, will face the wild-card Red Sox (98-64), starting Tuesday in Anaheim.

Anaheim got the No. 2 seed because it won the season series against the Twins 5-4.

"A little disappointing here at the end, but I'm very proud of this baseball team," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Minnesota, which finished first for the third straight season, lost to the Yankees 3-1 in the first round last year. Two years ago, the Twins beat Oakland in the division series, then lost to Anaheim in the AL championship series.

"It's going to be a lot of pressure," said AL ERA champion Johan Santana (20-6), who will start the opener against Mike Mussina (12-9). "That's the way this game is. That's what we want. That's what we're ready for."

Boston, seeking its first World Series title since 1918, lost to the Yankees in the 11th inning of Game 7 of last year's AL championship series. Curt Schilling (21-6) will start the opener for the Red Sox against Jarrod Washburn (11-8).

"I don't think anybody wants to play us," Boston's Kevin Millar said.

In other AL games, it was: Texas 3, Seattle 0; New York 3, Toronto 2; Chicago 5, Kansas City 0; Oakland 3, Anaheim 2; Baltimore 3, Boston 2; and Tampa Bay 7, Detroit 4.

At Minneapolis, Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer for Cleveland in the regularly scheduled game.

Kyle Lohse (9-13) won the opener with a scoreless 12th, then started the second game and lost, giving up three runs and five hits before leaving after the fourth due to a blister.

Cliff Lee (14-8) pitched seven sharp innings in the second game, and Bob Wickman got three outs for his 13th save. David Riske (7-3) gave up Michael Cuddyer's RBI double that ended the first game, suspended because the field had to be converted for football.

Rangers 3, Mariners 0

At Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki pushed his big league record for hits in a season to 262 with two singles and won his second AL batting title with a major league-leading .372 average. He broke George Sisler's 1920 mark of 257 hits on Friday night.

Edgar Martinez, Seattle's retiring designated hitter, went 0-for-4 and received a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd of 45,658 after grounding into a double play in the eighth.

Gil Meche (7-7) won, Francisco Cordero got hits 49th save and Chan Ho Park (4-7) lost.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2

At Toronto, Bernie Williams hit a tiebreaking homer off Josh Towers (9-9) in the eighth, Scott Proctor (2-1) got the win and Tanyon Sturtze his first save.

Yankees manager Joe Torre hinted he might keep 11 pitchers for the first round, including Kevin Brown and Orlando Hernandez. That could mean Jason Giambi, 4-for-33 since he came off the disabled list, won't be included.

Carlos Delgado, eligible for free agency, was 2-for-2 and with a sacrifice fly and a double for Toronto, which finished 67-94, the most losses for the Blue Jays since 1980 (67-95).

White Sox 5, Royals 0

At Kansas City, Mo., the Royals finished a team-worst 58-104 and were shut out for the 13th time, matching Tampa Bay for the most in the AL.

Jose Contreras (13-9) lost a no-hit bid in the seventh on Ruben Gotay's single and allowed two hits in eight innings. Zack Greinke (8-11) was the loser.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

At Oakland, Calif., rookie Nick Swisher singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth off Kevin Gregg (5-2), making a winner of Justin Duchscherer (7-6).

Orioles 3, Red Sox 2

At Baltimore, Miguel Tejada drove in his major league-leading 150th run, Bruce Chen (2-1) pitched three innings of one-hit relief and B.J. Ryan got his third save. Baltimore broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth in the fifth with an unearned run off Scott Williamson (0-1).

Devil Rays 7, Tigers 4

At Detroit, Matt Diaz hit a two-run triple in a four-run third off Nate Robertson (12-10), backing John Halama (7-6). Tampa Bay went 70-91, setting a franchise record for wins and finishing fourth in the AL East, avoiding the cellar for the first time.