Magic Number, 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Thanks to Baltimore's bats, the celebratory champagne is still chilling in Minnesota. Miguel Tejada homered twice and drove in five runs, rookie Daniel Cabrera threw six strong innings and the Orioles beat the Twins 12-3 on Saturday.
After winning nine straight, the Twins have been outscored 23-5 in two games by the Orioles -- keeping the celebration of their third consecutive AL Central title on hold for a bit.
Minnesota's magic number to clinch remained at three before the second-place Chicago White Sox hosted the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
``We're not worried that we're gagging or anything,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said. ``We're a pretty good baseball team.''
Minnesota starter Brad Radke (11-8) needed 79 pitches to get through three innings. He gave up five hits, three runs, two walks and struck out one.
J.D. Durbin relieved, and he needed 54 pitches to get five outs. The Orioles left nine on base in the second through the fifth, temporarily minimizing the damage, but the Twins wound up throwing 230 pitches -- allowing 18 hits and issuing seven walks.
``We were on the defensive side of the ball for a long, long time,'' Gardenhire said after the game that lasted three hours, 24 minutes.
Brian Roberts homered, doubled and drove in two runs, Melvin Mora went 3-for-6 and scored twice and every Baltimore starter reached base at least twice.
Radke's last three starts were impeccable -- two wins, 22 innings, 17 hits, two runs, one walk and 13 strikeouts. He had gone seven-plus innings in eight of his last 11 outings.
``I felt a little drained,'' Radke said. ``Just didn't have much energy. I'm not too worried about it. I still have a couple starts left before the real season begins.''
One bright spot for Minnesota was the return of Koskie, who missed the last 19 games with a sprained ankle. His two-run shot in the fourth cut Baltimore's lead to 3-2.
Koskie was on a career-high 14-game hitting streak in which he batted .358 with seven homers and 14 RBIs, until his foot was pinned underneath Anaheim's Curtis Pride in a collision at third base on Aug. 27.
``It's just one game,'' Koskie said. ``Hopefully I'll feel good going into the playoffs, but first we've got to clinch this thing.''
Kansas City
Chicago @ Texas
Cleveland @ Seattle
-Late