Hideo Nomo took a shutout into the eighth and Carl Crawford snapped a scoreless tie with a sixth-inning single to help the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 2-1 Thursday.
The Devil Rays' bullpen protected a one-run lead in the eight and ninth inning sto give the 36-year-old right-hander his 199th win in his career in the US and Japan.
"I'm not too concerned about the 199th win. I'm just glad our team was able to win the last three games," Nomo said through an interpreter after the Devil Rays finished a sweep of the struggling A's, who have dropped five straight and 14 of 17.
It was Nomo's seventh attempt to move within one win of the 200 victories he needs to automatically gain membership in the Meikyukai, one of two Hall of Fame equivalents in Japanese baseball. He has 121 wins in 11 major league seasons.
"One more," Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said. "Let's hope he gets it the next time out."
Crawford had two of Tampa Bay's four hits off Oakland starter Dan Haren (1-7), including a RBI single that gave the Devil Rays a 1-0 lead in the sixth. Julio Lugo followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.
Trever Miller got two outs in the eighth, and Danys Baez worked the ninth for his sixth save in nine opportunities.
Yankees 4, Tigers 3
In New York, Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 17th home run to help New York rally for a victory over Detroit.
The Yankees won their fourth straight and 15th in 17 games, and moved one-half game ahead of Boston, which lost in Toronto, for second place in the American League East. It's the first time since April 10 New York was higher than third in the division.
The Yankees haven't led the Red Sox in the standings since April 13, when New York was 4-4 and Boston was 3-5. The rivals open a three-game series today.
Rodriguez's homer in the fifth inning against Jeremy Bonderman (5-3) followed a single by Hideki Matsui and gave the Yankees third baseman 49 RBIs, also tops in the majors.
The Tigers had an early 3-1 lead against Kevin Brown (4-4), who gave up 10 hits in seven innings.
Mariano Rivera gave up a single to Jason Smith in the ninth but struck out the side for 11th save.
Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 1
In Toronto, Eric Hinske homered as part of a six-run first inning, and Toronto thrashed Boston to complete a three-game sweep.
Boston, which has lost seven of 10, opens a three-game set Friday in New York against the rival Yankees.
Russ Adams had a career-high four RBIs for the Blue Jays, who swept the Red Sox in a three-game series for the first time since May 30-June 1, 2003. Toronto is 6-2 versus Boston this season.
The Blue Jays sent 10 batters to the plate in the first against Boston starter Wade Miller (1-1). Reed Johnson led off with a triple before Orlando Hudson hit a sacrifice fly. Hinske later hit a towering two-run homer to right.
Miller, making his fourth start of the season, allowed seven runs on six hits in just two innings.
Staked a 7-0 lead after two innings, Gustavo Chacin (5-3) allowed one unearned run on seven hits in six innings.
Rangers 8, Royals 1
In Arlington, Texas, Kenny Rogers won his sixth straight start for Texas, which hit three home runs to beat Kansas City.
Rogers (6-2) gave up a run in the first and allowed six baserunners through the fourth, even with a three-up, three-down inning in that stretch. But the 40-year-old left-hander held the Royals to that single run over seven innings, lowering his AL-leading ERA to 1.69.
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