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Angels Score 5 in 9th, Beat Rangers 11-10

The Los Angeles Angels rallied for five runs in the ninth inning, taking their playoff hopes into the final day of the regular season with an 11-10 win over Texas on Saturday that again kept the Rangers from clinching the AL West title.

Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson, pitching for the fifth straight day, entered with a 10-6 lead and allowed consecutive homers to Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun.

Ross Ohlendorf (3-1) relieved and retired Mike Trout out on a grounder, then gave up Albert Pujols' double on a difficult popup to short right that ricocheted off first baseman Mike Napoli's glove, whose back was to the plate.

C.J. Cron, David Freese, Carlos Perez and Giavotella had consecutive two-out singles, with Cron, Perez and Giavotella driving in runs.

Elvis Andrus singled off Joe Smith with two outs in the bottom half, then was caught stealing second by Perez when he overslid the base and Aybar applied the tag, a call upheld on video review.

Texas entered with a two-game division lead over Houston, which led the Angels by a game for the AL's second wild card.

A loss by Houston at Arizona on Saturday night would give Texas its first division title since 2011 and would drop the Astros into a tie with the Angels for the AL's second wild card.

Texas built a 10-6 lead in the seventh when former Angel Josh Hamilton hit his second homer of the game and Rougned Odor homered two batters later.

Tolleson had thrown 63 pitches in the previous four games; in the ninth inning on Friday night he gave up a leadoff triple to Trout and Pujols' go-ahead single in the Angels' 2-1 win.

It was the Angels' first win when trailing by four runs or more in the ninth inning since July 6, 2013, when they won 9-7 in 11 innings at Boston, according to STATS.

Tolleson was the first Texas reliever used five days in a row since Tanner Scheppers from Sept. 26-30, 2013.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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