Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2004 | 7:41 a.m.
Torii Hunter and the Minnesota Twins are used to celebrating in September. The playoff party never gets old, though.
The Twins clinched their third straight AL Central title Monday night with an 8-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, then topped it off with a raucous celebration in the visitor's clubhouse.
Donning hats and T-shirts proclaiming them division champions, Minnesota players poured beer down manager Ron Gardenhire's back. Brad Radke sprayed anyone he could get. Even general manager Terry Ryan was doused with champagne.
"Three times!" Hunter screamed. "How about that?"
Not bad at all, especially for a small-budget team that was threatened with contraction just a few years ago. Now the Twins have reached the playoffs in three straight seasons for the first time in their 44-year history.
"Every year we've got to go out there and prove to somebody. But you know what? I like it," Hunter said. "We're the underdogs."
The Angels desperately want to join Minnesota in the postseason, and they gained some precious ground Monday night with a 5-2 victory over visiting Seattle.
Anaheim closed within 2 1/2 games of idle Oakland in the AL West and 4 1/2 of Boston in the wild-card chase despite playing most of the night without star right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, who was hit in the head by Ryan Franklin's 0-2 pitch in the first inning.
X-rays at a hospital were normal, and Guerrero returned to the dugout during the game.
"I don't think it was intentional. With two strikes, you're not going to do that," Guerrero said. "I feel good. I only feel sore where the ball hit me."
In other AL games, it was: Toronto 6, New York 3; Baltimore 9, Boston 6; Detroit 3, Cleveland 1; and Kansas City 6, Tampa Bay 3.
Even though Guerrero appears to be fine, it might have been a costly win for the Angels. They also lost second baseman Adam Kennedy to a sprained right knee, and outfielder Jose Guillen came out in the eighth because of a strained right hip flexor.
Kennedy was to have an MRI on Tuesday.
John Lackey (13-12) gave up two runs in six innings, and Troy Percival earned his 29th save in 34 chances. Dallas McPherson had three hits and an RBI in his first major league start for Anaheim.
"Great performance," manager Mike Scioscia said. "For a kid to come into a pennant race and get his first start and swing the bat the way he did gave us a big lift. You can see the talent is there."
After Guerrero went down, Scioscia was ejected after yelling and pointing at Franklin (4-16). Seattle's bench emptied, but no punches were thrown.
Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with a walk. His two singles gave him 238 hits this season, 19 short of George Sisler's major league record set in 1920. Seattle has 12 games remaining.
At Chicago, Hunter and Corey Koskie each hit a two-run homer off Mark Buehrle (14-10) in the first inning. Henry Blanco and Luis Rivas also connected for the Twins, and Carlos Silva (13-8) allowed two runs in seven innings to win his third straight start.
Minnesota is the second team to clinch its division this year, joining NL Central champ St. Louis. The Twins had to wait for someone else to lose to secure their last two titles; this time they won on the field.
"They're all great," Gardenhire said. "It means everything in the world."
The White Sox didn't bother sticking around for the festivities. As if watching Minnesota celebrate in their own park wasn't bad enough, the loss officially eliminated them from the playoffs.
Chicago has lost seven games in a row to the Twins.
"I will admit it stinks watching it," Paul Konerko said.
Orioles 9, Red Sox 6
At Boston, B.J. Surhoff hit a grand slam, and Baltimore capitalized on the third straight poor start by a Red Sox pitcher.
Tim Wakefield (11-10) lost his control after three strong innings and fell to 0-3 in four starts. Boston failed to take advantage of the Yankees' loss to Toronto and remained 4 1/2 games behind the AL East leaders. The Red Sox lost 14-4 on Saturday in New York and 11-1 on Sunday.
Blue Jays 6, Yankees 3
At New York, Gustavo Chacin became the first lefty starter to win his major league debut against the Yankees in the Joe Torre era.
Chacin (1-0) allowed a mere four hits before leaving in the eighth inning. Javier Vazquez (14-10) gave up four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Royals 6, Devil Rays 3
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Calvin Pickering hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth.
Brian Anderson (5-11) allowed three runs in 7 2-3 innings to win his third straight decision. Jeremy Affeldt got his 12th save. Aubrey Huff and Carl Crawford homered for Tampa Bay, which has lost 17 of 21.
Tigers 3, Indians 1
At Detroit, Mike Maroth (11-11) pitched shutout ball into the seventh, and Dmitri Young and Brandon Inge homered for the Tigers.
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