Braves clinch as Phillies fall

PHILADELPHIA -- The Atlanta Braves clinched their 11th straight division title when the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 Monday night behind Mike Piazza's grand slam.

Philadelphia's loss wrapped up the NL East for the Braves. The second-place Phillies are a staggering 21 games behind Atlanta.

The Braves became the first team to secure a postseason berth this season, and did it earlier than any team in Atlanta history. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds have the earliest clinching since divisional play began in '69, wrapping up the NL West on Sept. 7.

The Mets set a season high with their seventh consecutive victory and completed their second four-game sweep at Veterans Stadium.

Astros 6, Rockies 5

HOUSTON -- Mark Loretta's 10th-inning single drove in Craig Biggio with the winning run as Houston beat Colorado.

Brad Lidge (1-0) got the win, pitching one inning.

Todd Helton hit his 28th homer for the Rockies. Randy Flores (0-1) took the loss.

Cubs 3, Expos 2

CHICAGO -- Alex Gonzalez homered in the bottom of the ninth inning -- his third game-winning shot at Wrigley Field this season -- to lift Chicago over Montreal.

Gonzalez hit a 2-2 pitch from Jim Brower (3-2) far over the fence in left-center for his 17th homer of the season and 100th of his career. Earlier this season, Gonzalez hit game-winning homers against St. Louis and Texas.

Joe Borowski (4-4) got the victory in relief.

Reds 9, Pirates 8

CINCINNATI -- Jose Guillen hit a grand slam against his former team and tied a career high with five RBIs, leading Cincinnati past Pittsburgh.

Guillen's shot gave the Reds a team-record eight grand slams this season.

Ryan Dempster (8-13) earned his first win in three decisions since Aug. 10. Scott Williamson got two outs for his first save since May 3, 2000.

American League

Rangers 12, Mariners 7

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Alex Rodriguez hit a pair of three-run homers, breaking his own major league record for shortstops with 53 home runs in a season, as Texas beat Seattle.

The Rangers homered in their 27th straight game, extending their big league mark.

Ichiro Suzuki and Desi Relaford led off the game with homers for the Mariners. But the Rangers rallied behind A-Rod and stopped Seattle's three-game winning streak, further damaging its wild-card chances.

Rodriguez hit 52 homers last year, setting the record for shortstops.

Rodriguez tied that mark in the sixth with a tiebreaking shot off Jeff Nelson.

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Derek Lowe became the American League's second 19-game winner despite being ejected, and Boston beat Tampa Bay.

Lowe (19-7) was leading 4-3 when he was ejected by plate umpire Jerry Crawford after hitting Felix Escalona with his first pitch in the seventh. Lowe also hit Escalona in the fifth inning, but no warning was issued then.

Lowe gave up three runs and five hits in six-plus innings. Ugueth Urbina pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save, striking out two.

Manny Ramirez hit a tiebreaking homer, a solo shot in the seventh off Tanyon Sturtze (3-16) that put Boston ahead 4-3. Ramirez has six homers and 18 RBIs against Tampa Bay this season and 27 homers overall.

Twins 5, Tigers 2

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dustan Mohr hit an RBI double and scored twice as Minnesota ended its 20-inning scoreless streak and beat Detroit.

After being shutout in consecutive games by Oakland left-handers Barry Zito and fellow lefty Mark Mulder, the AL Central leaders broke through against lefty Mike Maroth (5-8).

Jacque Jones drove in two runs as the Twins finished with nine hits, nearly matching their 10-hit output over the previous two games.

Rick Reed (14-7), the most consistent starter in Minnesota's injury-plagued rotation this year, gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Blue Jays 11, Indians 9

CLEVELAND -- Josh Phelps, Vernon Wells and Eric Hinske each homered and drove in three runs to lead Toronto.

Jim Thome hit his 44th home run to help the Indians overcome a 6-0 deficit.

White Sox 10, Royals 6

Kansas City, Mo. -- Joe Crede homered twice off Paul Byrd and Joe Borchard hit an inside-the-park homer to lift Chicago.

--From wire reports