American League
Mark Buehrle got another win against Minnesota on Tuesday as the Chicago White Sox held on to beat the Twins 8-6 and take a two-game lead in the American League Central.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Buehrle (12-13) allowed seven hits and two runs in six innings and improved his career record against the Twins to 10-4 -- his most wins against any team.
"If we had lost, we'd be tied for first again and the momentum would probably go back to them," Buehrle said. "They still lost the game. They might get a little confidence knowing they battled back, but we still won."
Magglio Ordonez, Roberto Alomar and Carlos Lee homered.
Despite a four run rally from the Twins in the ninth, Tom Gordon finished for his 11th save.
"I was hoping they could make the [final] out and not get another hit or they might tie the game," Chicago's Magglio Ordonez said. "The Twins never give up, they fight you and score runs."
Minnesota's Carlos Pulido (0-1) made his first start since Aug. 7, 1994. His eight full seasons between major league appearances is the longest for a pitcher since Satchel Paige went 12 years and three days from 1953-1965.
Indians 7, Royals 1
In Kansas City, Missouri, Jason Davis gave Cleveland five shutout innings as the Indians turned Angel Berroa's error into a big sixth inning over Kansas City.
Victor Martinez hit his second career home run, a three-run shot that capped Cleveland's five-run sixth, as the Indians handed Kansas City its eighth loss in 11 games.
Davis (8-10) scattered five hits, all singles, over five innings -- and two of those hits were wiped out by double plays in the first and second. He retired the last eight batters he faced before Jack Cressend took over to start the sixth.
Jimmy Gobble (3-4) gave up just one hit through 5 2-3 innings and was on his way to a perfect sixth when Berroa -- who had just two errors in his previous 75 games -- misplayed Casey Blake's groundball to deep shortstop.
Red Sox 9, Orioles 2
In Baltimore, Derek Lowe pitched six innings of six-hit ball, and David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs to lead Boston past Baltimore.
Lowe (15-6) struck out five and walked two, throwing 109 pitches in winning his fourth straight decision since losing two in succession to Baltimore in early August.
The Red Sox went up 2-0 in the second inning against Damian Moss (1-4). Damian Jackson drove in a run with the third of four straight Boston singles, and Mueller added a sacrifice fly.
Yankees 4, Tigers 2
In New York, pinch-runner Drew Henson stumbled home to score the tiebreaking run on Bernie Williams' eighth-inning single as New York edged Detroit.
Detroit (37-106) needs six wins in its final 19 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season set by the 1962 New York Mets.
Fernando Rodney (0-3) walked Jorge Posada with one out in the eighth and he was replaced by Henson.
Gabe White (1-0) threw one pitch in the eighth for his first win with the Yankees since being acquired from Cincinnati on July 31. Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 34th save in 40 chances.
Devil Rays 11, Blue Jays 6
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Carl Crawford hit a three-run homer and rookie Doug Waechter won his third straight game as Tampa Bay downed Toronto.
Crawford put the Devil Rays ahead 6-4 with his three-run shot in the fourth inning.
Waechter (3-0) gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings. The right-hander has won all three games he has appeared in -- including both starts -- since being called up from Durham of the minor leagues on Aug. 25.
Cory Lidle (12-12) gave up seven runs, five hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings. He is 1-4 over his past six starts.
Rangers 5, Mariners 4
In Seattle, Mark Teixeira's RBI single in the 10th inning sent Texas over Seattle and snapped a four-game losing streak.
Alex Rodriguez drew a one-out walk off reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa (2-2) and later scored the go-ahead run. Rodriguez reached third on a one-out single by Rafael Palmeiro, whose three-run homer tied it at 4 in the eighth.
Seattle fell 2 1/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West and 2 games behind Boston for the AL wild card.
Rangers reliever Ron Mahay (3-0) took over in the eighth. He threw two innings, allowing two hits with one intentional walk.
Francisco Cordero pitched the 10th for his 13th save.
Athletics 8, Angels 1
In Oakland, California, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez each drove in three runs for Oakland to back Justin Duchscherer's successful return to the big leagues with a win over Anaheim.
Duchscherer (1-0), who last appeared with the Texas Rangers late in the 2001 season, allowed four hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking two.
Chris Bootcheck (0-1) failed to get out of the fourth inning in his major league debut. He gave up eight runs on seven hits over 3 1-3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
National League
Tomas Perez and Jason Michaels both hit grand slams Tuesday as the Philadelphia Phillies reached a season high in runs with an 18-5 rout of the Atlanta Braves.
The win keeps the Phillies even with Florida in the National League wild-card race.
Shane Reynolds (11-9) lasted 1 1-3 innings, matching the second-shortest start of his career.
"There's really not much I can say," said Reynolds. "It was nothing physical. I was just barely missing for balls, then missing horribly when I had to throw strikes. That's not a good combination."
Venezuelan-born Perez and Michaels became the third duo in Philadelphia history to hit two slams in a game. Ralph Miller and Lee Meadows were the first on April 28, 1921, followed by Billy McMillon and Mike Lieberthal on Aug. 18, 1997.
For the second successive night, Lieberthal gave the Phillies a quick lead with a three-run homer in the first inning. Randy Wolf (14-9) cruised to the win, allowing two runs in five innings before getting the rest of the night off.
"It was one of those days when you just didn't feel very well," Wolf said. "I was surprised that my velocity was OK."
Astros 7, Brewers 6
In Milwaukee, Lance Berkman doubled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth inning to rally Houston past Milwaukee.
The Astros tied it on pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino's three-run homer in the eighth, then went on for their fifth win in six games. Houston remained in a first-place tie with Chicago in the NL Central.
With two outs in the Astros' ninth, Dan Kolb (1-2) walked Jeff Bagwell. Jeff Kent followed with a single and Berkman doubled.
Brad Lidge (6-3) pitched the eighth for the victory and Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his team-record 40th save.
Rockies 8, Cardinals 1
In St. Louis, Gregg Zaun homered and drove in four runs for Colorado, which downed St. Louis to snap an eight-game losing streak.
The loss left the Cardinals 2 1/2 games behind Chicago and Houston in the NL Central with 17 to play.
Colorado starter Jason Jennings (12-12) ended a personal road losing streak of six games, allowing one earned runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked two.
St. Louis rookie right-hander Dan Haren (3-6) was pulled after giving up four runs on two homers in just three innings. Haren has pitched past the sixth inning just once in 13 starts.
Cubs 4, Expos 3
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Moises Alou hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning as Chicago beat Montreal after overcoming a scary moment when Sammy Sosa was hit in the helmet.
Sosa was hit by Zach Day (7-7) in the fourth inning, drawing boos from the crowd of 15,632 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. He stayed in the game and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez.
Carlos Zambrano (13-9) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings, and struck out five. Joe Borowski gave up a pinch-hit homer to Jose Macias in the ninth before finishing for his 26th save in 30 chances.
Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 1
In Phoenix, Arizona, Edwin Jackson, two years out of high school and two days out of the minor leagues, pitched six innings against Arizona to win his major league debut for Los Angeles.
Eric Gagne worked the ninth for his 50th save, extending his major league record to 58 straight and becoming the first in major league history to record 50 saves in two seasons. He had 52 saves last season.
Los Angeles remained two games behind Florida and Philadelphia in the NL wild-card chase, dropping the Diamondbacks seven games back with 17 remaining.
Johnson (4-8), who turns 40 on Wednesday, gave up four runs on eight hits, three walks and a hit batter in eight innings.
Marlins 3, Mets 1
In New York, Alex Gonzalez tripled in two runs with two outs in the ninth inning as Florida beat New York to remain atop the NL wild card standings. The Marlins won for the 10th time in 12 games and moved to a season-high 15 games over .500 (80-65).
Ugueth Urbina (3-0) worked one inning for the victory. Braden Looper pitched a perfect ninth for his 28th save.
Reds 10, Pirates 6
In Cincinnati, Russell Branyan hit a three-run homer and Wily Mo Pena added a go-ahead two-run shot in a six-run sixth inning that sent Cincinnati over Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh led 6-2 when D'Angelo Jimenez and Sean Casey opened the sixth with singles off starter Salomon Torres.
Mike Gonzalez gave up Branyan's opposite-field homer to left and was followed by Brian Boehringer (5-4), who promptly gave up Jason LaRue's double and Pena's third homer of the season to give Cincinnati a 7-6 lead. Rookie Matt Belisle (1-0) earned his first major league win with one inning of one-hit relief.
Giants 8, Padres 3
In San Diego, Marquis Grissom hit his 200th homer and four others also connected as San Francisco powered past San Diego.
Grissom and J.T. Snow both hit two-run homers in the seventh inning off reliever Luther Hackman, and Edgardo Alfonzo hit a two-run shot off Mike Bynum in the ninth. Yorvit Torrealba and Rich Aurilia had solo homers, both off rookie starter Ben Howard (1-1).
Rookie Kevin Correia (2-1) got the win in his first career start against his hometown team. He allowed one run and four hits in five innings, struck out three and walked four in his fourth major league start.
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