For the Red Sox, It’s a Wild Win

The Boston Red Sox are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Derek Lowe held Baltimore to two hits over six innings, and Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra and Kevin Millar homered as the Red Sox clinched the final spot in the AL playoffs by beating the Orioles, 14-3, Thursday night in front of 34,526 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox, who have made the postseason 10 times since 1918 without winning a championship, are four games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the wild-card race with three games left.

“These fans deserve this, and they definitely deserve a World Series championship,” second baseman Todd Walker said on the field during a raucous celebration. “We’re fired up right now, and we’re going to do what we can.”

Boston’s win finalized the matchups for the first round: Minnesota will play the New York Yankees starting Tuesday in New York, and Boston will open the following day at Oakland.

Playing before a full ballpark for the 64th consecutive home game, the Red Sox led, 12-0, after four innings.

Manager Grady Little emptied his bench after five innings, and Lowe left after six innings with the victory all but secure. The Red Sox won’t be back at Fenway Park until Game 3 of the playoffs, on Oct. 4.

Lowe (17-7) did not give up a hit through 4 1/3 innings. He yielded one earned run and four walks while striking out one.

Bill Mueller had three hits in five at-bats to raise his league-leading batting average to .327. He also had three runs batted in. Garciaparra, who had been slumping all month, had a run-scoring groundout to go with his three-run homer.

Former Dodger Omar Daal (4-11) of the Orioles has not won since May 30, a span that includes two months on the disabled list because of tendinitis on his left rotator cuff. He got only five outs and yielded seven runs and seven hits.

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Detroit 5, Minnesota 4 -- Shane Halter hit a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Tigers a better chance to avoid making history.

With their third straight win, the Tigers would have to lose their final three games of the season to break the post-1900 record of 120 defeats by the 1962 New York Mets.

Detroit (41-118) set the league record for losses on Monday night with its 10th consecutive defeat. Since then, the Tigers have won three in a row.

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Kansas City 7, Chicago 3 -- Carlos Beltran homered and drove in three runs to lead the Royals at Kansas City. His two-run homer and a sacrifice fly gave the 26-year-old switch-hitter 99 RBIs.

With 101 runs scored and 41 stolen bases, Beltran is on the verge of becoming the sixth player since 1900 to record 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 30 steals in three seasons.

With one more RBI in his final three games, he would join Barry Bonds and Hall of Famer George Sisler as the only players to do it three years in a row.

Brian Anderson (14-11) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and beat the White Sox for the fifth time in six decisions. He went eight innings, giving up seven hits and three runs.