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By The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jason Kendall alertly dashed home from third base with the winning run when Los Angeles’ miffed closer Francisco Rodriguez flubbed a return throw from his catcher, and the A’s took sole possession of first in the AL West with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory on Thursday.

Eric Chavez hit a tying three-run homer in the seventh for the A’s, who rallied from a four-run deficit. They took two of three to stand alone in first place for the first time this season — but not even the freewheeling A’s could have predicted this finish.

Chavez was at the plate again in the ninth with two runners on and two out. After Rodriguez’s first pitch was called a ball, the right-hander stared in and nonchalantly stuck out his glove for catcher Jose Molina’s throw — but it glanced away.

Kendall sprinted home and beat the throw. The victory capped a surge of 20 wins in 23 games since the A’s trailed Los Angeles by 8 1/2 games on July 18.

Scot Shields (7-8) allowed two singles in the ninth before Rodriguez took over.

All-Star Justin Duchscherer (6-2) pitched two hitless innings to win for the second straight day.

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1

TORONTO — Scott Downs and two relievers combined on a two-hitter and the Blue Jays handed Detroit its sixth loss in seven games.

Frank Catalanotto hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Tigers 4-2. Toronto took three of four from Detroit after losing the opener.

Downs (1-2) allowed one run on two hits. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter in seven-plus innings for his first victory since shutting out the Chicago Cubs while he was with Montreal on Sept. 8, 2004.

Starter Jeremy Bonderman (13-8) lost his third straight start despite pitching a four-hitter for his third complete game of the season.

Orioles 4, Devil Rays 2

BALTIMORE — The Orioles welcomed back Rafael Palmeiro, then beat Tampa Bay while he watched from the dugout.

Bruce Chen pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Javy Lopez homered and scored twice to lead Baltimore to a three-game sweep.

Baltimore is 5-2 under interim manager Sam Perlozzo, who took over for Lee Mazzilli three days after Palmeiro received a 10-day suspension from Major League Baseball for using steroids.

Chen (9-6) struck out five and walked none.

B.J. Ryan worked a perfect ninth to complete the four-hitter and earn his 25th save.

Doug Waechter (4-8) was the loser.

Yankees 9, Rangers 8

NEW YORK — Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning after the Yankees’ bullpen blew a strong spot start by Scott Proctor.

Proctor was making his first big league start in place of Randy Johnson, who was skipped because of a bad back. Proctor held Texas to three hits — two on solo homers to David Dellucci — before leaving with a 6-2 lead after five-plus innings.

Trailing 8-4 in the seventh, Texas scored four runs off Felix Rodriguez, and Tanyon Sturtze (4-1), who gave up a tying three-run home run to Michael Young.

After Jeter homered off James Baldwin (0-2) in the bottom half, the Rangers loaded the bases in the eighth against Tom Gordon with two outs on a hit and two walks.

Indians 4, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeff Liefer hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to help Cleveland hand Kansas City its franchise-record 13th consecutive loss.

The Royals broke their team record of 12 straight losses set in 1997.

The Indians, who have won 14 of their past 18, went 6-0 on a road trip for the first time since May 1-6, 2001.

Royals starter D.J. Carrasco (5-6) limited the Indians to two hits in the first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh.

Kevin Millwood (6-9) held the Royals to eight hits and two runs in seven innings.

Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his league-leading 32nd save in 37 opportunities.

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