By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) - Hideki Matsui homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, Alex Rodriguez had four hits and New York had 23 hits in a 20-11 victory over Boston on Friday night.
The Yankees had a season high in runs in the opener of a three-game series just 12 days after completing a four-game sweep of Boston in New York.
New York is 15-3 in its last 18 games. The win increased its AL East lead to 7 1/2 games over Boston, which had won three straight.
Matsui hit three-run homers in the fifth and ninth, giving him 21 for the year, and drove in a run with a groundout in the seventh.
Mark Teixeira and Melky Cabrera both had three hits and Teixeira drove in three runs. Derek Jeter went 3 for 5 for his fourth three-hit performance in the last five games.
The Yankees led 12-1 before the Red Sox scored three in the fifth off Andy Pettitte (10-6).
Brad Penny (7-8) allowed eight runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings. He dropped to 1-6 in his last 11 games.
Rays 5, Rangers 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Scott Kazmir took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena homered on consecutive pitches for Tampa Bay.
Kazmir (8-7) didn't allow a run until Taylor Teagarden opened the eighth with a homer. The left-hander, who has won four straight starts at home, wound up allowing three runs and five hits over 7 1-3 innings.
Zobrist hit a two-run shot and Pena followed with his 32nd homer of the season to put Tampa Bay ahead 5-0 in the fifth. Zobrist has homered in three straight games and has 22 this season, breaking a tie with Jose Cruz Jr. (2004) for the most by a Rays switch-hitter.
Dustin Nippert (4-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings for the Rangers. Michael Young had three hits for Texas.
J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Blue Jays 5, Angels 4
TORONTO (AP) - Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells hit solo homers, and Toronto's Marc Rzepczynski won for the first time in six starts.
Angels catcher Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer off Casey Janssen in the ninth but Janssen got pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu to ground out, stranding Howie Kendrick at second, for his first save.
The AL West-leading Angels lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak. The Blue Jays stopped a five-game skid.
Los Angeles is 9-17 in Toronto since the start of the 2003 season.
Rzepczynski (2-3) allowed one run and three hits in a career-high 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time since July 18.
Toronto had a four-run first off rookie right-hander Sean O'Sullivan. Hill got it started with his 29th homer.
O'Sullivan (3-2), who is winless in four starts, allowed four runs and four hits in one-plus inning, the shortest of his nine career outings. He walked three and struck out one.
Wells hit a solo drive off Matt Palmer in the third, his 13th.
Mariners 9, Indians 4
CLEVELAND (AP) - Bill Hall drove in two runs in his first game for the Seattle Mariners, helping rookie starter Luke French.
Hall, acquired from Milwaukee on Wednesday, had two hits. He put Seattle ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the second off David Huff (7-7). His sacrifice fly in a two-run third made it 3-1.
Jose Lopez hit a two-run homer and Russell Branyan and Josh Wilson had solo shots for Seattle, which won for the third time in eight games.
French (3-3) allowed three runs and eight hits over six innings to improve to 2-1 in four starts since being acquired July 31 as part of the deal that sent pitcher Jerrod Washburn to Detroit.
Andy Marte and Shin-Soo Choo both had two RBIs for Cleveland.
Twins 5, Royals 4, 10 innings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Minnesota's Orlando Cabrera hit a run-scoring triple in the 10th inning after a rare blown save by Joe Nathan in the ninth.
Playing their fourth straight game without first baseman Justin Morneau, the Twins fell behind 3-0, rallied with the help of the Royals and survived some tense moments from Nathan (2-1) late to pull out a difficult victory.
Billy Butler and David DeJesus homered for Kansas City, which has lost 22 of 28 at home. Minnesota went ahead 4-3 on Denard Span's run-scoring single in the eighth. Nathan entered with a career ERA of 0.73 against the Royals and had converted 31 of 34 save chances this season. Brayan Pena hit a two-out homer to tie it.
Kansas City brought in All-Star closer Joakim Soria (3-1) for the 10th and he allowed a one-out single to Alexi Casilla then Cabrera's slicing triple down the line in right that put the Twins up 5-4.
Orioles 5, White Sox 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Brian Roberts hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning and had a solo shot in the third to lead Baltimore.
Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-12), who lost his previous four decisions, allowed one run and six hits in seven innings to record his first victory since July 19.
Jim Thome homered in the fourth for Chicago, the 564th of his career, moving him past Reggie Jackson for sole possession of 12th on the all-time list.
With the score tied at one in the eighth, White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (10-8) allowed a leadoff single to Felix Pie, then Roberts followed with his second home run of the night to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead. It was Roberts' second career multihomer game.
Floyd allowed four runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings.
Tigers 3, Athletics 2
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Ryan Raburn homered in his first two at-bats and Edwin Jackson pitched six strong innings for Detroit.
Clete Thomas drove in a run for the Tigers, who won for the sixth time in eight games to take a 3 1/2-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central.
Jack Cust and Rajai Davis both had two hits and drove in a run for the A's, who have lost five of seven. Ryan Sweeney added two hits.
Raburn hit solo home runs his first two times up. It was his second career multihomer game and his first in over two years.
Jackson (10-5) allowed two runs and six hits, striking out five and walking one in winning his third straight decision. The All-Star is 4-1 over his last 11 starts.
Jackson did not allow a home run for the first time in nine games. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 games.
Gio Gonzalez (4-4) of the A's allowed three runs and four hits, striking out a career-high nine.