M's, A's win to stop Indians' playoff hopes

From wire reports

The Seattle Mariners clinched the AL wild card spot and closed out Cleveland from the playoffs, getting home runs from Alex Rodriguez and David Bell to beat Anaheim 5-2 yesterday.

Seattle set a team record for wins, going 91-71 and finishing a half-game behind AL West champion Oakland.

The Athletics did not have to play a makeup game Monday at Tampa Bay because they already held the tiebreaker over the Mariners, going 9-4 against them.

The Oakland Athletics clinched the AL West by beating Texas 3-0 Sunday for their first playoff appearance since 1992. The A's started the day with a half-game lead over Seattle in the AL West.

The A's joined Atlanta as the only teams to win 11 division titles.

Seattle, which led the West for most of the second half, will make their first playoff appearance since 1997. The Mariners open the best-of-5 first round at the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday while the Athletics start later the same day at home against the New York Yankees.

Cleveland beat Toronto 11-4 earlier in the day, temporarily keeping its playoff hopes alive. But Oakland's 3-0 win and the victory by Seattle eliminated the Indians.

For Seattle, Bell hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning. The Mariners saw on the Anaheim scoreboard before their game ended that Oakland had won the West title.

The Mariners got strong pitching from starter Aaron Sele, reliever Arthur Rhodes (5-8) and Kazuhiro Sasaki.

Sasaki got his 37th save, breaking the major league record for rookie set by Todd Worrell for St. Louis in 1986.

For Oakland, Hudson gave up four hits in eight scoreless innings and struck out 10. He became Oakland's first 20-game winner since Dave Stewart and Bob Welch each did it in 1990.

Hudson has won seven straight starts. His last loss was Aug. 23 at Cleveland.

There had been talk that manager Art Howe would hold Hudson (20-6) if Cleveland lost, but the manager decided Saturday night he would start his ace no matter what.

"During the postseason, you want to have home-field advantage as much as possible. That's why I wanted Hudson to pitch," Howe said yesterday. "I wanted him to win here in front of the hometown fans, to get his 20th."