Oakland, Calif. ? Though the ending should live forever on blooper reels, Jason Kendall and the Oakland Athletics didn’t believe they stole the lead in the AL West.

Francisco Rodriguez and the Angels simply dropped it.

Kendall alertly dashed home from third base with the winning run when Los Angeles’ miffed closer flubbed the throw back from his catcher, putting one of baseball’s strangest finishes in years on Oakland’s 5-4 victory Thursday.

The A’s took sole possession of first place for the first time this season with their second straight come-from-behind victory against the Angels’ bullpen. That achievement would be remarkable enough – but nobody in either clubhouse ever remembered an ending as odd as this one.

“I’ve never seen that in my life, but that stuff happens in baseball,” Kendall said. “You learn early on that you’re supposed to always follow the ball. I saw it rolling away, and I didn’t think he’d get it back in time. Fortunately for us, I was right.”

With Eric Chavez at the plate with two runners on and two out, Rodriguez’s first pitch was called a ball. The right-hander stared in and nonchalantly stuck out his glove for catcher Jose Molina’s throw, but it glanced away.

Oakland's Jason Kendall, left, and Eric Chavez celebrate the Athletics' 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The A's won Thursday in Oakland, Calif.

Almost nobody in the Coliseum was watching – but the A’s were ready.

“I pointed at the ball, and by the time I looked at Kendall, he had already taken off,” said Bobby Crosby, who reached second base on defensive indifference a moment earlier. “I was in shock. I was like, Are you kidding me?'”

“We were all in the dugout yelling, ‘Run, Forrest, run!'” outfielder Nick Swisher said.

Kendall sprinted home and beat the throw, sending the A’s roaring from the dugout to celebrate their 20th victory in 23 games since they trailed Los Angeles by 81â2 games on July 18.

Yankees 9, Rangers 8

New York – Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning after the Yankees’ bullpen blew a strong spot start by Scott Proctor, lifting New York over Texas. Proctor was making his first big-league start in place of Randy Johnson, who was skipped because of a bad back. Proctor held Texas to three runs before leaving with a 6-2 lead after five-plus innings.

Orioles 4, Devil Rays 2

Baltimore – Baltimore welcomed back Rafael Palmeiro, then beat the Tampa Bay while he watched from the dugout. Bruce Chen pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Javy Lopez homered and scored twice to lead the Orioles to a three-game sweep. It was the Orioles’ first series sweep since June 13-15, when they took three from Houston.

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1

Toronto – Scott Downs and two relievers combined on a two-hitter to lead Toronto over struggling Detroit. Frank Catalanotto hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Tigers, 4-2. Toronto took three of four from Detroit after losing the opener.

Late Wednesday game

Twins 7, Mariners 3, 14 innings

Seattle – Luis Rodriguez’s tiebreaking RBI single and Joe Mauer’s two-run double in the 14th inning gave Minnesota a victory over Seattle to avoid a three-game sweep. It took the Twins 4 hours, 27 minutes, but they snapped a three-game losing streak and a six-game road losing streak.