Randy Johnson struck out 10 in 6 1-3 innings to rescue the injury-depleted Yankees rotation, and Alex Rodriguez homered to lead New York to a 7-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Rodriguez followed Gary Sheffield's double with a homer over the Green Monster to start a six-run third inning. Johnson (10-6) worked into the seventh, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks to win his third straight start.
"Randy gave us a big lift today," said Rodriguez. "It was very big for us. He's our horse."
Tom Gordon got five outs, and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 22nd consecutive save. Robinson Cano had three hits for the Yankees, who won for the ninth time in 11 games.
"With our starting rotation beat up as it is, these two games were important for us to win," New York manager Joe Torre said
Boston All-Star Matt Clement (10-3) lasted just 2 2-3 innings, allowing six runs on five hits and five walks. Johnny Damon singled in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to 28 games -- the longest in the majors this season and tied for fourth-longest in Red Sox history.
White Sox 7, Indians 5
At Cleveland, Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings, and Chicago won its third straight game.
Making his first start since earning the win as the American League's starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game, Buehrle (11-3) gave up two runs and three hits, striking out six without a walk.
Aaron Rowand had three hits and scored three times as Chicago improved to 9-3 against Cleveland, and 29-5 against the AL Central.
Aaron Boone had two RBIs for the Indians, who have scored only six runs in the series and lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook (6-12) lost his third straight start after a four-game winning streak.
Mariners 3, Orioles 2
At Seattle, rookie Mike Morse lined a game-winning RBI single to right field after Baltimore reliever Chris Ray's throwing error put a runner on third base.
Adrian Beltre led off the ninth with a clean single to right off Ray (0-1), and Willie Bloomquist hit a dribbler that Ray fielded and threw way over the head of first baseman Rafael Palmeiro.
The ball bounced into the stands and Bloomquist got credit for a single. Ray was charged with an error that put Beltre at third and Bloomquist on second. Morse then sent an 0-2 pitch into right field.
One night after a two-hit performance that included his 3,000th career hit, Palmeiro singled twice in four at-bats to boost his total to 3,003.
J.J. Putz (2-3) got the win after relieving Jamie Moyer in the ninth. Moyer pitched eight strong innings in a duel with Baltimore's Bruce Chen.
Jason Marquis pitched eight sharp innings and Larry Walker hit a three-run homer to help the St. Louis Cardinals continue their dominance of the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium with a 4-2 win.
Dating to Game 1 of last year's National League championship series, the Cardinals have beaten the Astros nine straight at home. St. Louis has won eight of 10 against Houston overall this year, and 28 of 37 against the NL Central.
The loss snapped Houston right-hander Roy Oswalt's six-start winning streak since mid-June. Oswalt (12-8) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings.
Marquis (9-6) won for the first time in more than a month.
Jason Isringhausen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 26th save in 29 chances. The save was his 127th for the Cardinals, tying him with Bruce Sutter for third on the Cardinals' all-time saves list.
RSS