ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Texas Rangers had already knocked the Los Angeles Angels down with nearly six months of superior play, so they betrayed no particular excitement about finally knocking out their biggest division rivals.
Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, Michael Young added an eighth-inning RBI single, and Texas eliminated the Angels from the playoff race with a 4-3 victory Monday night.
Elvis Andrus had four hits for the AL West champion Rangers (94-66), who have won eight of nine. Texas also stayed one game ahead of Detroit (93-67) for the league’s second-best record and home-field advantage in this weekend’s division series — and the Rangers did it with one last blow to the club that dominated this division before the Rangers’ rise last year.
“We get no pleasure in (eliminating the Angels),” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “Our pleasure is just in continuing to win ballgames and move forward.”
Peter Bourjos had a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Angels, who began the night three games behind the wild card-leading Red Sox with three to play. Although Boston’s woes provided an opportunity, Los Angeles has fallen apart with seven losses in 11 games.
When Neftali Feliz struck out All-Star Howie Kendrick to
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