Associated Press
American League roundup …
BOSTONó Dustin Pedroia had three hits and five RBIs, and David Ortiz went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs for Boston in a 14-2 victory over Baltimore on Tuesday night.
Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and took a four-game lead in the AL wild-card race. The Red Sox moved within four games of Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Jon Lester (13-5) allowed one run and six hits, striking out five and walking four in five innings. Coco Crisp had three hits for Boston.
Pedroia has hit in seven straight games, and is batting .600 (18-for-30) during that stretch. He leads the American League in hitting at .330.
Yankees 7, Rays 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Mike Mussina earned his 17th win, and New York got home runs from Alex Rodriguez and Xavier Nady.
Joba Chamberlain came off the disabled list for New York and pitched 11/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Seeking his first 20-win season, Mussina (17-7) allowed two runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings. He matched a season high with eight strikeouts, improving to 3-0 against the Rays, who had won five straight.
Rodriguez hit home run No. 548, tying Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for 12th place on the career list. The eighth-inning solo shot off Jason Hammel was his 30th of the year, giving A-Rod 11 seasons with 30 or more.
Indians 9, White Sox 3
CLEVELAND ó Victor Martinez hit his first home run in nearly a year for Cleveland.
The White Sox remained tied with Minnesota for the AL Central lead despite losing for the fifth time in six games.
Chicago’s Nick Swisher snapped his 0-for-19 slide with an eighth-inning double.
Blue Jays 7, Twins 5
TORONTO ó Jose Bautista and Alex Rios both had four hits and hit back-to-back homers for Toronto in its seventh straight victory over Minnesota.
Lyle Overbay also homered for Toronto, which finished with 17 hits in winning its third straight.
Minnesota lost for the seventh time in 10 games and dropped to 5-7 with two games remaining in a season-long 14-game road trip.
Angels 5, Tigers 4
DETROIT ó Mark Teixeira’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly gave Los Angeles the victory.
Torii Hunter drove in three run for Los Angeles, which reduced its magic number to clinch the AL West to eight.
Miguel Cabrera hit his third home run in three days and drove in three runs for Detroit, which has lost seven of nine.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 54th save. The all-time record of 57 was set by Bobby Thigpen in 1990 with the Chicago White Sox.
Rangers 6, Mariners 4
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Brandon McCarthy pitched six strong innings for his first win in more than 13 months and Josh Hamilton drove in three runs for Texas.
Hamilton, who increased his major league-leading RBI total to 121, Milton Bradley and Gerald Laird all had three hits for Texas, which ended the Mariners’ season-best four-game winning streak.
Yuniesky Betancourt homered for the Mariners.
Royals 5, Athletics 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Billy Butler homered and drove in four runs to lead Kansas City in a game between teams that combined for 40 losses in August.
It was the second time in three games Butler had four RBIs. He homered in the first for a 3-0 lead off rookie Gio Gonzalez (1-3).
Zack Greinke (10-9) allowed two runs in seven innings for his first win in five starts.