Yankees 5, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE (AP) - Andy Pettitte retired his first 20 batters before a lamentable seventh-inning sequence spoiled both his perfect game and no-hit bid, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Monday night.
Pettitte (12-6) was poised to finish the seventh without allowing a baserunner, but former Oriole Jerry Hairston Jr. let a two-out grounder by Adam Jones slip through his legs for an error. Hairston was playing in place of Alex Rodriguez, who was given the night off.
Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field single inside the third-base line.
After Melvin Mora led off the eighth with a home run, Pettitte completed his masterful effort by getting three straight outs. The 37-year-old lefty moved into sole possession of third place on the Yankees career wins list. He broke a tie with Lefty Gomez with his 190th victory with New York, a number bested by only Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231).
Pettitte allowed one run and two hits, struck out eight and walked none to improve to 4-0 in his last seven starts. He's 26-6 lifetime against the Orioles, including 16-4 in Baltimore.
It was the first time Pettitte went eight innings since July 20, 2008. Mariano Rivera got two outs for his 37th save - and career-best 33rd in a row.
Nick Swisher homered and had three hits for the AL East-leading Yankees, who have won four straight and 21 of 27. Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (9-13) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
Blue Jays 18, Rangers 10
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Adam Lind and Rod Barajas each homered twice, with Lind's first career grand slam helping power Toronto to a big early lead before the Blue Jays held on for a victory over the slipping Rangers.
Lind had a career-high eight RBIs, matching the most in the majors this season when he hit a solo homer and a three-run double in Toronto's seven-run ninth that finally put the game out of reach after Texas had rallied from an 11-run deficit to make it 11-10.
The Rangers (72-58), who came up short of their largest comeback victory in team history, wrapped up a losing August and dropped four games behind idle Boston in the AL wild-card race.
Rays 11, Tigers 7
DETROIT (AP) - Carlos Pena hit his AL-best 38th homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay beat Detroit for a split of their four-game series.
Tampa Bay scored six times in the first inning against the AL Central leaders, capped by Pena's two-run drive. James Shields (9-10) pitched seven innings and Jason Bartlett added a solo homer as the Rays moved within five games of idle Boston in the wild-card race.
Tampa Bay hosts the Red Sox on Tuesday night, the start of a three-game series.
Carlos Guillen had four hits for Detroit, including a pair of two-run homers.
Jarrod Washburn (9-8) allowed his first six batters to reach base. The last was Pena, who hit a shot down the right-field line. Pat Burrell had a two-run double earlier in the inning.
Twins 4, White Sox 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Home runs by Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel in the third inning lifted Nick Blackburn and the Minnesota Twins to yet another Metrodome victory over the collapsing Chicago White Sox.
The Twins crept within 31/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central, leaving the White Sox six games back. Minnesota has won 15 of 17 against Chicago in its soon-to-be-vacated domed home.
The White Sox have lost eight of nine overall. They finished August at 11-17.
Blackburn (9-9) matched his career high with seven strikeouts in seven strong innings. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 35th save.
Gavin Floyd (10-9) allowed three runs in six innings for Chicago.
Angels 10, Mariners 0
SEATTLE (AP) - Vladimir Guerrero hit two home runs, one a monster shot into the upper deck, teammate Juan Rivera added a three-run homer and the Angels reminded the Mariners who rules the AL West with a runaway victory.
Seattle played its first game since May against the division kingpins without All-Star cornerstone Ichiro Suzuki, Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre, active home run leader Ken Griffey Jr. and season home-run leader Russell Branyan.
Suzuki and Beltre are expected to return Tuesday.
In the meantime, the results were predictable against Joe Saunders. He improved to 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three starts against Seattle this season.
Athletics 8, Royals 5
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Ryan Sweeney had a two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on Adam Kennedy's bases loaded fielder's choice grounder in the sixth inning to help the Athletics beat the Royals.
Rajai Davis added two hits and two RBIs for the A's, who won for only fifth time in their last 13 games.
David DeJesus homered and Alberto Callaspo drove in three runs for the Royals, who played without manager Trey Hillman. Hillman left the team to be with his family following the death of his father-in-law and is expected to miss the entire series with the A's.
Bench coach John Gibbons served as Kansas City's interim manager and will do so the remainder of the series. Hillman is expected to rejoin the team later this week.