BOSTON (AP) " David Ortiz broke a career-high 149 at-bat homerless drought in a six-run fifth inning, Brad Penny pitched his best game of the season and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 on Wednesday night.
Jason Varitek, Jason Bay and Mike Lowell also homered in the fifth off rookie left-hander Brett Cecil (2-1), but Ortiz's shot just to the left of straightaway center drew the loudest roar from fans who waited a long time since his last homer Sept. 22.
The second-place Red Sox cut the Blue Jays' lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games with their second win in two days over Toronto.
Penny (4-1) went 6 2-3 innings, his longest outing of the season, and held the Blue Jays scoreless on five hits through six innings. Then he allowed two runs on four hits in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Rod Barajas and a double-play grounder by Marco Scutaro that brought in the second run.
Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury tied a major league record with 12 putouts by an outfielder in a nine-inning game. The mark was set by Earl Clark of the Boston Braves in 1929, and also matched by Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins in 1977, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Yankees 11, Orioles 4
NEW YORK (AP) " Nick Swisher hit the first of three consecutive homers that sent Phil Hughes and New York to its eighth straight victory.
Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera also hit solo shots to right field in the second inning against starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-4) " all with two strikes.
Cano had three hits and three RBIs, and Mark Teixeira hit a run-scoring double off the center-field fence for the Yankees, on their longest winning streak since taking eight in a row last July. New York broke it open with a six-run eighth that included Derek Jeter's two-run double off the top of the right-field wall.
Hughes (2-2) struck out a career-high nine in five innings, limiting a Baltimore lineup that tagged him for eight runs and eight hits in 1 2-3 innings on May 9.
Ty Wigginton hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Orioles, their first in five games. Adam Jones added a solo shot in the fifth.
Tigers 5, Rangers 3
DETROIT (AP) " Justin Verlander allowed three hits in six innings and Detroit, despite hitting into a triple play, won its fifth straight.
Gerald Laird lined into the triple play, Texas' first since 2002, in the fourth.
Wilkin Ramirez, making his major league debut, broke a 1-1 tie with a homer in the sixth inning. Verlander (6-3) gave up one run and walked two to improve to 4-0 with a 1.02 ERA in his last five starts. He fell short of becoming the first Tigers pitcher to strike out 10 or more in four straight starts, finishing with eight.
Matt Harrison (4-3) took the loss.
Athletics 7, Rays 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) " Brett Anderson pitched into the seventh inning to pick up his first major league win, and Orlando Cabrera has two RBIs.
Anderson (1-4) gave up four runs " two earned " and four hits over six-plus innings. The victory came in his seventh career start, all coming this season.
Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir (4-4) had another dismal outing, allowing seven runs, eight hits, four walks and hitting a batter in 4 1-3 innings. Over his last five starts, Kazmir has given up 31 runs " 29 earned " over 23 innings.
Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar homered for the Rays.
White Sox 7, Twins 4
CHICAGO (AP) " Jermaine Dye's grand slam capped a seven-run fourth inning, and John Danks allowed five hits and two earned runs over 5 2-3 innings for Chicago.
Danks (3-3), who had an 8.35 ERA in his previous four starts, won for the first time in nearly a month.
Francisco Liriano (2-5) gave up seven runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings in Minnesota. The Twins have lost a season-high six consecutive games, and are 1-10 in their last 11 games in Chicago.
Indians 6, Royals 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) " Mark DeRosa had three hits and drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth, and Kerry Wood rebounded from a bad outing for Cleveland.
Wood, rocked for four runs in the ninth inning Tuesday in a 6-5 loss to the Royals, walked the bases full with one out in the ninth. But he struck out Mark Teahen and David DeJesus for his sixth save in eight opportunities " his first since May 1.
DeRosa's RBI double off Sidney Ponson (1-5) scored pinch-runner Matt LaPorta in the eighth, and Ben Francisco followed with an RBI single for a 6-4 lead.
Victor Martinez was 2 for 5 and kept his major league-leading average at .400 for the Indians, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Aaron Laffey (3-0) was the winner in relief.
Mariners 1, Angels 0
SEATTLE (AP) " Seattle fill-in starter Chris Jakubauskas limited his hometown Angels to two hits in six innings.
Ken Griffey Jr. had two hits, including an RBI single after Ichiro Suzuki doubled leading off the first against Ervin Santana (0-1). Jakubauskas improved to (3-4), and David Aardsma worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Seattle won for just the fourth time in 16 games, and for the first time in eight games against an AL West rival.