Rangers 5, Mariners 3
Craig Gentry's inside-the-park home run led an early offensive assault and the Texas Rangers won the American League West title about 2 hours after their 5-3 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Friday.
The Rangers captured their second straight AL West championship when the Oakland Athletics defeated the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Friday.
Texas also remained tied with the Detroit Tigers for the second-best record in the American League.
Gentry used his blistering speed to record his first career home run, lofting a ball to left-center off Anthony Vazquez (1-5) that eluded diving outfielders Mike Carp and Trayvon Robinson. Gentry easily beat the relay home to give the Rangers a 5-0 advantage.
Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre also went deep for the Rangers, who have won 13 of 17 meetings with the Mariners in 2011.
Matt Harrison (14-9) extended his winning streak to four games, limiting Seattle to three runs on three hits over six innings. It was his second straight victory over the Mariners after throwing six shutout innings against them five days earlier.
Neftali Feliz worked the ninth for his 30th save.
Ichiro Suzuki, Dustin Ackley and Miguel Olivo knocked in runs for the Mariners, who will finish with at least 90 losses for the third time in the last four seasons.