Angels, Indians claim AL divisions titles with wins

~ Boston reserved a playoff spot Saturday.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- John Lackey and the Los Angeles Angels gave their fans another reason to wave those rally monkeys.

The Angels clinched their third AL West title in four years Sunday, with Lackey leading them to a 7-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

After losing two in a row to the Mariners, the Angels clinched in their final home game of the season. Wearing red and roaring, a sellout crowd was on its feet to see manager Mike Scioscia's team return to the American League playoffs after missing out last season.

Hours after Cleveland clinched the AL Central, the Angels locked up their spot. On Saturday night, Boston assured itself of at least an AL wild-card slot.

Macier Izturis and Casey Kotchman homered in the third inning and that was enough for Lackey (18-9). The Angels ace held Seattle to two runs in seven innings.

Francisco Rodriguez, who was a rookie star with Lackey in the Angels' drive to the 2002 World Series title, pitched the ninth for his 38th save in 43 chances.

The Angels' 91-65 record gave them an insurmountable 8 1/2-game lead over the second-place Mariners.

Seattle was one game behind Los Angeles on Aug. 25, and two back when the Angels came to town two days later. The Angels swept the three-game series and the Mariners, who went on to drop 10 of their next 12 and fall out of contention.

Cleveland, which leads Detroit by 7 1/2 games, finished fourth and 18 games behind the Tigers a year ago.