Royals and Yankees set doubles record

American League

Mike DiFelice hit three doubles as Kansas City and the New York Yankees combined to set an American League record with 19 two-base hits in the Royals' 12-9 victory Monday.

The teams broke the AL mark of 18 doubles by Cleveland and Minnesota on July 13, 1996. The major league record is 23 by St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs on July 12, 1931.

Mike Sweeney, Joe Randa and DiFelice all doubled during a four-run eighth inning off Yankees newcomer Bret Prinz. After the Royals set a team record with 11 doubles, the Yankees made sure the game broke the league record for doubles as Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi hit them in the ninth inning.

"It's just one of those wild nights that can't be explained in baseball," said Randa. "I promise you, nobody comes to the plate planning to hit doubles. They just happen."

DiFelice drove in three runs as the Royals won their third successive game, taking advantage of the Yankees' battered bullpen to send New York to its third straight loss. The Yankees had not lost at Kansas City since Sept. 6, 2000.

"It's just a freak night," said Sweeney. "But we got a win. Every night's been a new hero."

The winner was D.J. Carrasco (4-4), who pitched 1 2-3 innings of hitless relief. Sterling Hitchcock (1-3) took the loss.

Devil Rays 4, Orioles 3

In St. Petersburg, Florida, pinch-hitter Jared Sandberg doubled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Tampa Bay over Baltimore.

Julio Lugo singled with one out off Hector Carrasco (1-3) and B.J. Ryan relieved. After Carl Crawford popped out, Sandberg doubled into the left-center gap for the victory.

Travis Harper (2-6) worked two scoreless innings.

Tampa Bay tied it at 3 when Travis Lee hit a two-run, two-out homer off reliever Eric DuBose in the eighth.

Twins 5, Indians 3

In Minneapolis, Luis Rivas hit a two-run homer and Kyle Lohse pitched smoothly into the ninth inning to lead Minnesota over Cleveland for its fourth straight victory.

Lohse (9-9) won his third consecutive start for the Twins, who improved to just 3-5 against the Indians this year. They're 17-8 since the All-Star break -- the second-best record in the majors in that time.

LaTroy Hawkins relieved and gave up a single to Ryan Ludwick before getting Travis Hafner to ground into a double play. Hawkins got his first save since 2001.

In the sixth, Torii Hunter was hit by a pitch without incident. Hunter was ejected on July 4 for walking toward Indians pitcher Jason Davis after a pitch came high and inside.

Last year, Hunter was fined and suspended three games for throwing a ball back at Cleveland pitcher Danys Baez, who had hit him with a pitch.

Jake Westbrook (5-7) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Angels 10, White Sox 8

In Anaheim, California, Bengie Molina tied a career high with four RBIs as Anaheim survived a ninth-inning meltdown by closer Troy Percival to hold off Chicago.

Down 10-4, the White Sox got five straight hits off Percival to start the ninth inning. Frank Thomas hit his 28th homer and Jamie Burke's RBI single with one out pulled Chicago within two runs.

But Percival escaped further damage with the bases loaded, striking out Roberto Alomar and retiring Carlos Lee on a popup to end it.

The Angels stopped a three-game losing streak and won for only the sixth time in 26 games since the All-Star break.