ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Oakland survived a shaky night from the bullpen to extend its AL West lead with a victory over Texas.
The A's handed the Rangers their fourth straight loss and moved 4 games ahead of Texas in the opener of the final series of the regular season between the past two AL West champions.
Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios had two-run singles in a six-run eighth as the Rangers tried to rally from a 9-2 deficit. Cespedes, playing left field, ended the threat by throwing out Rios at third on Adrian Beltre's third hit.
Cespedes' 23rd homer came off Derek Holland (9-9), who is winless in a career-high seven straight starts.
Dan Straily (10-7) allowed two hits in 5 2-3 innings to win his fourth straight start and beat Texas for the second time in 11 days.
RAYS 3, TWINS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Chris Archer pitched six scoreless innings and Tampa Bay added to its slim wild-card lead by beating Minnesota.
The Rays hold the second wild-card spot with four teams still in striking range. They nudged their edge to 1 games over Cleveland, and a loss by New York pushed the Yankees to two games back. Baltimore (2 games behind) and Kansas City (3) are lurking, too.
Archer (9-7) scattered three singles and struck out seven without a walk, following a pair of rough outings for the rookie right-hander to start September.
Yunel Escobar had an RBI double among his three hits for the Rays, and Desmond Jennings and James Loney drove in runs with singles against Kevin Correia (9-12).
ORIOLES 5, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 50th home run, a tiebreaking solo shot in the eighth inning, and Baltimore erased a 3-0 deficit to beat Toronto and snap a three-game losing streak.
Davis became the 27th major leaguer to join the 50-homer club, and the first since Jose Bautista in 2010. Davis led off the eighth with a blast to center off All-Star reliever Steve Delabar, connecting on a 2-2 pitch.
The drive matched Brady Anderson's 1996 Orioles record and made Davis just the third player in major league history with 50 homers and 40 doubles in the same season. The others were Babe Ruth (1921) and Albert Belle (1995).
Adam Jones followed Davis' milestone blast with an infield hit and, two outs later, moved up on Ryan Flaherty's walk before scoring on Danny Valencia's RBI single.
Tommy Hunter (5-4) worked 1 2-3 innings for the win and Jim Johnson finished for his 44th save in 53 chances, rebounding after his wild pitch helped the New York Yankees beat Baltimore 6-5 on Thursday.
TIGERS 6, ROYALS 3
DETROIT (AP) Prince Fielder homered and drove in three runs, and Justin Verlander pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lift Detroit to victory over Kansas City.
Detroit remained six games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central and dealt the third-place Royals a setback in the postseason race. Kansas City is one of several teams hoping at least to catch Tampa Bay for a wild card.
Verlander (13-11) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. Three relievers finished. Joaquin Benoit worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and got the final four outs for his 19th save in 19 chances.
Bruce Chen (7-3) allowed five earned runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.
ASTROS 9, ANGELS 7
HOUSTON (AP) Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer and Matt Dominguez's grand slam powered a big fifth inning to give Houston a victory over Los Angeles for its fourth straight win.
The Astros trailed by 1 entering the fifth before Trevor Crowe singled in two runs to put Houston up 5-4. Dominguez then hit his 20th homer off the wall in left field to extend the lead to 9-4.
Dallas Keuchel (6-9) yielded 10 hits and six runs, but tied his career high by striking out nine in 5 2-3 innings for his first win since July 27. Josh Fields struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his fifth save.
Houston tagged Angels starter Jason Vargas (8-7) for nine hits and a season-high eight runs in 4 1-3 innings.
INDIANS 3, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) Danny Salazar struck out nine in 3 2-3 innings, Ryan Raburn hit an RBI double and Cleveland beat Chicago for the 10th time in a row this season.
Salazar's pitch count was limited to 85, and after allowing Dayan Viciedo's single with two outs on his 78th pitch, he was replaced by Nick Hagadone with runners on first and third.
Bryan Shaw (4-3) threw two scoreless innings for the win.
Hector Santiago (4-9) remained winless since Aug. 18 for Chicago, going four-plus innings and giving up three runs and six hits while walking three.
