AL roundup: Homers lead A's past Orioles

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Jack Cust and Matt Holiday each hit three-run homers, Dallas Braden matched his career high of seven strikeouts and the Athletics extended their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 9-1 win over the Orioles on Friday.

Aaron Cunningham drove in two runs while Adam Kennedy had a pair of hits and scored twice for the A's.

Cust hit a three-run home run off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (4-5) as part of a six-run first inning when Oakland had seven hits and batted around. Holiday connected off reliever Mark Hendrickson in the fifth.

Braden (5-5) scattered five hits and allowed one run over five innings while improving to 4-1 against Baltimore. He had seven strikeouts for the fifth time in his career and didn't walk anyone for the second time this season.

Angels 2, Tigers 1

DETROIT (AP) - Juan Rivera's ninth-inning single broke a scoreless tie, saving a stellar outing for Ervin Santana and sending the Los Angeles Angels to a victory over the slumping Detroit Tigers.

Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales started the ninth with singles off Fernando Rodney (0-1), and Rivera poked a single through the drawn-in infield for the game's first run. After Erick Aybar's sacrifice bunt, Howie Kendrick's groundout made it 2-0.

Magglio Ordonez hit an RBI single in the ninth, but Angels closer Brian Fuentes replaced Santana and got Curtis Granderson to hit a foul pop behind third that Chone Figgins caught before tumbling into the stands. It was Fuentes' 15th save in 18 tries.

Santana (1-2) picked up his first win since Sept. 22.

Rangers 5, Red Sox 1

BOSTON (AP) - Kevin Millwood held Boston scoreless for seven innings, Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer and the Rangers ended an eight-game losing streak in Fenway Park.

The loss snapped Boston's four-game winning streak and dropped its home mark to 17-7, second in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Millwood (5-4), winless in four of his last five starts, shut out the Red Sox until David Ortiz's RBI single in the eighth. Eddie Guardado relieved and retired the next three hitters easily with two runners on before Darren O'Day got the final three outs.

The Rangers chased starter Brad Penny (5-2) in the sixth.

Blue Jays 9, Royals 3

TORONTO (AP) - Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay hit solo homers and the Blue Jays gave Zack Greinke a rare pounding in handing the Royals their eighth straight loss.

Rod Barajas added a two-run shot, helping boost Greinke's ERA from 1.10 to 1.55.

Seeking to join Toronto's Roy Halladay as the only nine-game winners in baseball, Greinke (8-2) was instead tagged for a season high seven runs - five earned - and nine hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Ricky Romero (3-2) earned the win for the Blue Jays.

Indians 6, White Sox 0

CHICAGO (AP) - Carl Pavano pitched a three-hitter for his fifth career shutout and Mark DeRosa hit a three-run homer to lead the Indians.

Pavano (6-4) handled the White Sox lineup with relative ease in his first shutout since May 17, 2005, for the Yankees. After giving up a leadoff double in the first inning to Scott Podsednik, he retired the next three hitters and stranded Podsednik at third. Pavano is 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA after going 0-3 with a 9.50 ERA in April.

Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko added back-to-back home runs in the sixth for the Indians.

John Danks (4-4) lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits for the White Sox.

Twins 2, Mariners 1, 10 innings

SEATTLE (AP) - The Twins ended Ichiro Suzuki's hitting streak at 27 games, and took advantage of Seattle left fielder Wladimir Balentien's two 10th-inning miscues.

Pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. fouled out against Twins closer Joe Nathan before Suzuki - with the crowd of 35,808 of chanting, pleading "Eee-chee-ro!" - struck out for the final out, ending his team-record hitting streak.

Francisco Liriano pitched six strong innings to perhaps save his place in the rotation and help the Twins win for the fourth time in five games. Matt Gurrier (2-0) allowed one hit in 1 2-3 innings, and Nathan finished for his 11th save in 13 chances.

Mark Lowe (0-3) was the loser.