Arlington, Texas ? Rafael Palmeiro came within one swing of his 500th homer — then struck out to end the game.

After leading off the eighth inning with No. 499, ending a weeklong homer drought, Palmeiro struck out with one on in the ninth and the Texas Rangers lost 8-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday.

“It was really no different than any other at-bat. The game was on the line. I was trying to keep the rally going, keep the game going,” Palmeiro said. “I just wanted to put the ball in play, I wasn’t trying to hit a home run.”

Palmeiro’s homer in the eighth was his ninth of the season. It put him within one of becoming the 19th player in the 500-homer club, and brought the Rangers to 8-5.

The stage was set for a dramatic entrance into the elite club. Michael Young led off the Texas ninth with a homer and Carl Everett reached on a single before Palmeiro came up as the potential tying run with two outs.

After taking three pitches for a 2-1 count, Palmeiro swung and missed at a pitch high and out of the strike zone. Cliff Politte then threw a ball outside for a full count before Palmeiro swung and missed again.

“I totally blocked 500 out of my mind. Now that you bring it up, Holy Cow!,” said Politte, who recorded five outs for his second save.

“I’m glad I didn’t think about Palmeiro because it could have been a different ballgame,” Politte said. “I was trying to make a quality pitch, but I made a terrible pitch and he swung through it.”

Shannon Stewart hit a three-run homer for his 1,000th career hit, becoming the seventh Toronto player to reach the milestone. He’s also the fastest to do it, in his 819th game — 75 fewer than Tony Fernandez.

Texas' Rafael Palmeiro watches the flight of his 499th career home run. The Rangers lost to Toronto, 8-6, Thursday in Arlington, Texas.

“It means a lot, but it’s something I never planned or thought about,” Stewart said. “I just tried to get on base and score runs. To get it with a home run makes it more meaningful.”

Greg Myers had three hits and three RBIs for the Blue Jays, who have won six of seven games in May after a 10-18 start. Eric Hinske doubled twice.

Palmeiro’s homer in the eighth, off Trever Miller, ended a stretch of 16 at-bats over six games since his last homer May 1 at Toronto. He gets a chance to reach the milestone at home, in a three-game series this weekend.

“Do you think I need this right now?,” said Palmeiro, surrounded at his locker by reporters. “I want to get it over with so we can concentrate on the team. We lost the game today.”

Palmeiro said he’s still having problems swinging because of his sore right elbow, having been hit by a pitch Saturday in Cleveland. He also fouled a pitch off his knee Tuesday in the opener of the series against the Blue Jays.

“I’m certainly aware. The guy’s tough. The guy plays through a lot,” Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s so smooth of a player that you lose sight of how much effort he puts into it. Raffy’s not swinging the bat as good as he’s capable. We all know that.”

Myers’ third homer leading off the second against Ryan Drese (2-2) put the Blue Jays ahead to stay. After Dave Berg and Mike Bordick reached with two outs, Stewart — who started the game with a leadoff single — hit his first homer of the season.

Angels 7, Indians 1

Anaheim, Calif. — Garret Anderson tied a career high with seven RBIs, including a grand slam, and Anaheim sent Cleveland to its ninth straight road loss. Anderson’s sixth career slam helped the Angels complete a three-game sweep after they were swept three games last weekend at Toronto. The Indians, who have lost 12 of 14, also were swept at Seattle and Oakland in late April.

Kevin Appier (2-2) returned from the disabled list and beat Cleveland for the sixth straight time over seven starts.

The right-hander labored with his control through five innings, walking six and hitting a batter. But he allowed only two hits, a leadoff double in the first by Matt Lawton and an RBI single in the second by John McDonald.

Felix Rodriguez, Mickey Callaway and Ben Weber finished with scoreless relief.

Starting for the first time since April 19, Appier threw 55 pitches in the first three innings. In his previous outing, he threw 59 pitches in two innings against Seattle before leaving with a strained forearm.

Twins 5, Devil Rays 0

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Kyle Lohse pitched a four-hitter and Minnesota beat Tampa Bay to complete a sweep of the six-game season series. Lohse (3-3) retired 19 of his last 21 batters en route to his second career complete game and shutout. He struck out three and walked none.

The Twins beat the Devil Rays for the sixth time in 10 days and have won 11 straight against Tampa Bay dating to April 25, 2002. It’s the first time the Devil Rays have gone winless in one season against an AL opponent.

A.J. Pierzynski and Torii Hunter hit RBI doubles for Minnesota. Corey Koskie added a run-scoring single, and Jacque Jones drove in one of four runs charged to rookie Dewon Brazelton (0-1) when he grounded out in the second inning.

Lohse’s other shutout was a four-hitter last Aug. 20 against the Chicago White Sox.

Shoddy starting pitching has undermined Tampa Bay all season. Brazelton settled down after giving up three runs in the first two innings, but the Devil Rays were unable get anything going offensively against Lohse.

Despite allowing 14 runs, 22 hits and five homers in his previous three starts, Lohse limited the Devil Rays to three hits through four innings. Rookie Rocco Baldelli, who went 7-for-13 in the three-game series, had two of them.

Athletics 8, White Sox 5

Oakland, Calif. — Miguel Tejada had a three-run homer among his three hits, and John Halama pitched into the seventh inning as Oakland beat Chicago. Eric Chavez also homered, and Ramon Hernandez and Erubiel Durazo had RBI doubles as the A’s beat Chicago for the fourth time in six games over the last 10 days. Six players drove in a run as Oakland got 14 hits to win for the 10th time in 13 games.

Tejada scored three runs and reached base four times while making a rare contribution to the A’s outstanding start. The AL Most Valuable Player slowly is emerging from the slump that’s given him the second-lowest batting average in the AL among regulars.

He singled in the first, then doubled and scored in the fourth. In the fifth, he drove a pitch from Jon Garland (2-3) for his seventh homer of the season.

Halama (2-2), trying to keep his job as the A’s fifth starter, had the best outing of his first season in Oakland. He allowed two runs and seven hits, striking out four in 61/3 innings to win for the first time since April 5.

Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, who lost for the 12th time in 17 games. Chicago nearly put together a few late rallies, but Oakland’s bullpen held on.

Jim Mecir struck out Tony Graffanino and Frank Thomas to end Chicago’s threat in the seventh. After Jeremy Fikac walked D’Angelo Jimenez with the bases loaded in the eighth, former White Sox reliever Keith Foulke threw another bases-loaded walk.

Foulke worked out of the eighth, but Thomas hit a ninth-inning homer before Foulke finished up his ninth save in 11 chances.

Chicago manager Jerry Manuel’s reconfigured lineup produced eight runs in a win on Wednesday night, but it wasn’t nearly as successful a day later. Thomas, moved to the No. 2 spot in the order, went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, while leadoff man Graffanino went 0-for-5.

Garland, who beat Halama and the A’s last Thursday, allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings. Scott Hatteberg drove in Oakland’s first run with a third-inning single, and Hernandez tied it with an RBI double in the fourth.

Chavez added his eighth homer against Rick White in the seventh. After Tejada reached base for the fourth time on an error later in the inning, Durazo doubled him home when Carlos Lee misplayed his drive to the left-field corner.

Oakland’s offense got back into form with three fairly strong games against the White Sox — and the A’s three pitching aces are lined up for a weekend series against the New York Yankees. Tim Hudson will pitch on Friday, followed by Barry Zito on Saturday and Mark Mulder on Sunday.