AL Capsules: Tigers continue to struggle against Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (AP) - Rays starter Jeff Niemann (9-3) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, and Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer in the eighth to lead Tampa Bay to the 7-4 win over Detroit on Wednesday night.

The Rays got out of a seventh-inning jam for the second consecutive game after intentionally walking Miguel Cabrera with runners on first and second and two outs. Grant Balfour, who ended the late threat in Monday's 3-2 win over the Tigers by striking out Brennan Boesch, this time retired the right fielder on a fly ball to preserve Tampa Bay's 5-4 lead.

Cabrera got Detroit within 5-4 on his 25th homer, a solo shot in the sixth.

Johnny Damon homered for the Tigers, who have lost nine straight road games and are 3-11 since the All-Star break.

Jason Bartlett hit a run-scoring single and Carl Crawford had an RBI grounder off Eddie Bonine (4-1) as the Rays took a 5-3 lead in the fourth. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his career-high 28th save.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 0

TORONTO (AP) - Rookie left-hander Brad Mills pitched seven innings for his first major league win,and Lyle Overbay hit a three-run homer as Toronto beat Baltimore for the 12th consecutive time.

Adam Lind went 3 for 3 with an RBI for the Blue Jays, who have won five of six.

The Blue Jays, who lead the majors with 155 homers, have gone deep in 10 straight games and hit 25 in that span.

It was the eighth shutout of the season for the Blue Jays, and the seventh time the Orioles have been blanked.

Baltimore has lost five straight and is 2-11 since the All-Star break.

Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to make his first start of the season and just the third of his career, Mills (1-0) allowed two hits, both singles, walked three and struck out four.

Jeremy Guthrie (4-11) allowed six hits in seven innings, walked one (intentional) and struck out three.

Red Sox 7, Angels 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Marco Scutaro hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning as Boston wrapped up a 10-game West Coast road trip with a three-game sweep.

Kevin Youkilis tied it with a seventh-inning homer, while Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall hit early inning solo shots as the Red Sox improved to 7-0 this season against the Angels.

Josh Beckett (2-1) yielded five hits over seven innings in his first victory since April 10 for Boston.

The Angels were swept at home for the first time in 80 series, ending the majors' longest streak since Atlanta went 84 home series without being swept from 2003-06. Los Angeles hadn't been swept in Angel Stadium since June 2007 against Kansas City.

With their seventh loss in eight games, the Angels are falling out of the race for their sixth AL West title in seven seasons. Fernando Rodney (4-1) took the loss.

Twins 6, Royals 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Delmon Young had a three-run homer as Minnesota finished a three-game sweep of Kansas City.

Jason Repko homered for the Twins, who hit 12 during a 6-1 road trip to Baltimore and KC to stay on the heels of Chicago in the AL Central.

The Royals, who set a team record by allowing 42 runs and 53 hits in the three previous games, lost for 13th time in 16 games.

Brian Duensing (4-1) went six innings and gave up two runs and eight hits. Brian Bannister (7-10) lost his fifth straight decision, going six innings-plus, allowing five runs and 11 hits. Jon Rauch pitched the ninth for his 21st save.

Yankees 8, Indians 0

CLEVELAND (AP) - New York's Alex Rodriguez had two hits, but not homer No. 600, to support another sharp outing by a resurgent A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 8-0 Wednesday night.

Burnett (9-8) earned his third win in four starts, the only blemish coming in a start in which he cut his hands hitting a door out of frustration. On Wednesday he allowed seven hits over 6 1-3 innings as the Yankees improved the best record in the majors (64-36) with their sixth win in eight games - and AL-leading ninth shutout.

Mark Teixeira had a two-run single and Brett Gardner two run-scoring singles as the Yankees built a 7-0 lead. Robinson Cano hit his 19th homer leading off the fourth to make it 8-0.

Rodriguez didn't come close to getting his elusive 600th homer, though he went 2 for 5 with a run-scoring single in the first inning off Fausto Carmona (10-8).

Athletics 3, Rangers 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Trevor Cahill allowed two hits over eight innings, and Kurt Suzuki homered and drove in two runs for Oakland.

Cahill (10-4) struck out four and walked three as he took over the team lead in victories, breaking a tie with Gio Gonzalez.

Rajai Davis had three hits for the A's, who are 8-3 since the All-Star break. Oakland pulled within 7 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Rangers.

Cahill improved to 5-1 for his career against the Rangers, 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three starts at Rangers Ballpark.

The Rangers broke up the shutout bid in the ninth on Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single off Michael Wuertz, who gave up the game-winning, two-run homer to Nelson Cruz in the 10th inning Tuesday night.

Craig Breslow struck out major league batting leader Josh Hamilton and Cruz for his first save of the season and second of his career.

Rangers starter Colby Lewis (9-7) matched Cahill until Suzuki's one-out homer in the sixth.

White Sox 6, Mariners 5

CHICAGO (AP) - Alex Rios hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning and Chicago rallied for its 10th straight home win.

Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham went deep for the White Sox, who hit three homers for the second straight day. Konerko's tying solo shot in the fifth was his third in three games and No. 24 for the season.

Chicago (56-44) has won three straight and four of six to move 12 games over .500, tying a season-high.

Chone Figgins hit a rare homer for Seattle, which has dropped 19 of 25.

Juan Pierre, who reached base three times, started the winning rally with a leadoff walk against Jamey Wright (1-3). He took second with his major league-best 38th steal and moved to third on Ramirez's sacrifice. Brandon League came in to face Rios, who bounced a single past a drawn-in infield, making it 6-5.

Matt Thornton (3-3) got one out with the bases loaded to end the seventh. Bobby Jenks struck out the side in the ninth for his 21st save.