Red Sox 8, Athletics 3
BOSTON (AP) - Josh Beckett became the American League's first 12-game winner and the Boston Red Sox snapped out of a slump with 14 hits in an 8-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
Beckett (12-4) struck out 10 and allowed one walk and eight hits in seven innings before the bullpen extended its streak to 24 scoreless innings since the All-Star game.
Dustin Pedroia homered and drove in two runs and Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits for the Red Sox, who entered with just 25 runs and a .215 batting average in their nine games since the break.
They roughed up Trevor Cahill (6-9) and led 6-0 through five innings before the Athletics got to Beckett with single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
Yankees 11, Rays 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A.J. Burnett allowed two hits in seven innings and Nick Swisher homered twice to lead New York past Tampa Bay.
The AL East leaders improved to 10-1 since the All-Star break, with Burnett (10-4) getting his fifth straight win.
The switch-hitting Swisher homered from both sides of the plate for the second time this season. Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon also went deep, while Derek Jeter had three hits and Alex Rodriguez contributed a two-run double on his 34th birthday.
Cano had a RBI triple in the second inning, then led off the sixth with his 15th homer off Rays starter James Shields (6-7).
Twins 4, White Sox 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Michael Cuddyer's two-run homer in the sixth inning pushed Minnesota's record back to even and sent Chicago to yet another defeat at the Metrodome.
John Danks (8-7) allowed two earned runs and six hits over seven innings after missing his last start due to a finger blister, but that wasn't enough to keep the Sox from their 12th loss in the last 14 games at Minnesota's soon-to-be-vacated dome.
Glen Perkins (6-6) was a little bit better than Danks over seven innings of his own, letting Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan finish the game and bring the Twins' record to 50-50.
Indians 8, Angels 6
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer off All-Star closer Brian Fuentes in the ninth inning, helping the short-handed Indians rally for the win.
Jhonny Peralta had four hits and followed Martinez's shot with another homer off Fuentes (1-3), who leads the majors with 30 saves.
Cleveland played without manager Eric Wedge and reliever Winston Abreu after both were suspended for Abreu's plunking of Seattle's Jack Hannahan last weekend. The Indians then traded first baseman Ryan Garko to San Francisco shortly before the game, and Grady Sizemore sat out while feeling ill.
Juan Rivera, Kendry Morales and Mike Napoli hit consecutive homers in the second inning for the Angels.
Jose Veras (4-1) got the win and Kerry Wood earned his 14th save in 18 chances.
Blue Jays 11, Mariners 4
SEATTLE (AP) - Marco Scutaro matched his career high with four hits and Toronto took advantage of Felix Hernandez's worst start of the season.
Lyle Overbay and Rod Barajas homered for the Blue Jays, who finished with 15 hits. Ricky Romero (9-4) pitched six innings for his sixth win in seven decisions.
Seattle, which has lost four straight, remained 71/2 games back of the AL West-leading Angels and fell 71/2 behind wild card-leading Boston.
Hernandez (11-4) allowed seven runs - tying a career worst - and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had won a career-best seven consecutive decisions and was 10-2 with a 1.94 ERA following a Mariners loss this season.
Royals 5, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE (AP) - Billy Butler had a career-high five hits and drove in three runs, and Brayan Pena beat out a run-scoring infield single to snap a seventh-inning tie for Kansas City.
Butler led off the seventh with a double to right-center off Matt Albers (1-4), advanced when Miguel Olivo grounded out for the second out and scored when Pena beat Melvin Mora's throw on a slow chopper to the third-base side of the mound.
Five of Kansas City's 14 hits were infield singles.
Robinson Tejeda (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
The Royals won for the second time in 13 games despite stranding 12 runners. Joakim Soria worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.
Rangers 5, Tigers 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Rookie Tommy Hunter pitched a career-high seven innings, Nelson Cruz and Michael Young homered, and Texas finally beat AL Central-leading Detroit.
The Rangers had lost the first six meetings with the Tigers this season to drop to 3-14 against them over the last three years before Hunter (3-1) pitched Texas to its seventh victory in eight games.
Hunter allowed one run and five hits in his sixth major league start. C.J. Wilson pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances, finishing it off in a light rain.