Rangers Lose But Win AL West

The Texas Rangers didn't win the AL West the way they wanted. Not that it showed.

Rangers players sprayed each other with champagne, soaking their red championship T-shirts after their 15-4 drubbing by the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Texas won their second division title in three years when second-place Anaheim lost to Oakland.

"It's nice," Rangers closer John Wetteland said. "It's really an accomplishment. It's what we wanted last year, but things just didn't work out."

"We had our backs to the wall a lot of times this year, but we finally took care of business," said Will Clark, the frequent target of teammates squirting champagne. "These guys are enjoying this moment and I'm enjoying it, too."

The Rangera had a four-game winning streak broken, but it didn't seem to matter to them. They reached the AL playoffs when the Angels fell 7-2 to the Athletics.

On the field, the Texas players were understated, shaking hands and exchanging hugs when they came off the field at the end of the eighth inning, right after the Angels' result became final.

But it was a different story in their clubhouse.

That was the way manager Johnny Oates wanted it. He asked that the Angels-Oakland final score b kept off the scoreboard.

"I just wanted us to stay professional," he said. "I just don't think it looks very good in the middle of the game to be high-fiving everybody."

Oates said Todd Stottlemyre will pitch Tuesday against the New York Yankees or Boston and 20-game winner Rick Helling will go Wednesday.

"If we pitch like we have in the last week, we'll do just fine," Oates said of the Rangers' playoff chances.

They lost in four games to the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs in 1996.

Ken Griffey Jr. matched his career-high home run total of 56 -- set last season -- and drove in five runs for the Mariners. Griffey leads the AL in homers; Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis' Mark McGwire each hit their 66th homers earlier in the evening.

"I'm glad they didn't celebrate on our field," Griffey said of the Mariners' lopsided win. "As a team, that's something you take pride in."

Manager Lou Piniella, whose Mariners were favored to repeat as division champs, offered his congratulations to the Rangers.

"They had a good year and I wish them well in the playoffs," Piniella said.

Joe Oliver and Ryan Rafmanovich also homered for the Mariners. Lee Stevens hit two two-run homers for Texas.

Paul Abbott (3-1) allowed six hits, walked three and struck out seven in eight innings.

Todd Zeile, acquired in a trade from Florida July 31, set a Rangers record by reaching base safely in 11 consecutive plate appearances when he walked and singled.

The Mariners took a 4-0 lead in the third inning on David Bell's RBI single, Griffey's two-run double and Edgar Martinez's run-scoring double.

In the fourth, they made it 8-0 as Oliver hit a three-run homer and Alex Rodriguez added an RBI single.

Griffey hit a three-run homer off Eric Gunderson in the sixth, a 417-foot shot to right field, and Radmanovich followed with a two-run homer to give Seattle a 13-0 lead.

Esteban Loaiza (3-6), the Texas starter, went three-plus innings, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk.

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