American LeagueBruce Chen pitched his first complete game for his first victory in over two years, and Rafael Palmeiro homered during a five-run opening inning, leading the Baltimore Orioles past the Toronto Blue Jays 9-1 on Monday night.
Chen (1-0) allowed just five hits and a run in his first win since April 21, 2002, for Montreal versus the New York Mets. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
Toronto starter Justin Miller (3-4), pitching a day after his grandfather died, got two outs in the first before allowing seven straight batters to reach. Sean Douglass replaced Miller to start the second.
Miguel Tejada hit an RBI single, Palmeiro hit a two-run homer and Jay Gibbons and Larry Bigbie hit consecutive run-scoring singles in the first.
The Orioles added four runs in the eighth off Kevin Frederick on Jay Gibbons' RBI single, Brian Roberts' two-run triple and Dave Newhan's sacrifice fly.
Vernon Wells drove in the lone run for the last-place Blue Jays, who have lost four straight.
Twins 5, Tigers 3
In Detroit, Lew Ford homered and drove in two runs to back a strong outing by Brad Radke, helping Minnesota complete a four-game sweep of Detroit.
Augie Ojeda also homered for the Twins, who have won six straight, and 11 of 13.
Radke (11-7) allowed a run and seven hits in seven innings to improve to 17-6 lifetime against the Tigers.
Juan Rincon threw a scoreless eighth, but Joe Roa gave up two runs in the ninth before Joe Nathan got the final out for his 43rd save in 46 chances.
Jason Johnson (8-14) allowed four runs -- three earned -- and 10 hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out two.
Jason Smith hit a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth for the Tigers, who also received a run-scoring single from Dmitri Young in the sixth.
Royals 17, Yankees 8
In Kansas City, Missouri, John Buck hit a three-run homer and Angel Berroa had two hits and scored twice in a 10-run fifth inning that carried Kansas City to a rout of New York.
The Royals sent 15 men to the plate against four pitchers in the biggest inning against the Yankees since Boston scored 11 in a 13-7 victory on May 31, 1998. It was Kansas City's second big inning in a week. The Royals scored 11 runs in the third inning of a 26-5 victory Thursday over the Detroit Tigers.
On Monday, Kansas City scored on a walk, a balk, two wild pitches, a home run and three singles.
Berroa wound up with five hits and scored five runs and Buck also had a single and two doubles and a career-best five RBIs for the Royals, who had lost six in a row to the Yankees and beaten them only twice in their last 10 meetings at home.
Brian Anderson (4-11) went six innings and gave up nine hits and three runs.
The Yankees' lead in the AL East dropped to three games over idle Boston.
Brad Halsey (1-3), making his second start since being recalled from minor league Columbus on Sept. 5, took the loss.
Angels 5, Mariners 1
In Seattle, Kelvim Escobar pitched seven strong innings and Garret Anderson hit a three-run homer, leading Anaheim past Seattle and moving the Angels within 4 1/2 games of idle Boston in the AL wild-card race.
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki went hitless -- 0-for-4 with a walk -- for the third time in four games.
Escobar (10-10) became a doub-le-digit winner for the fourth time in his career, but lost his shutout bid when Jose Lopez homered with two outs in the seventh. Escobar allowed one run and six hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out seven.
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