Manny Ramirez added to his major league-leading RBI total with a three-run homer and a run-scoring single, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 Tuesday for their sixth consecutive victory.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Royals, who have the AL's worst record after being swept in four games by Tampa Bay.
Tim Wakefield (10-9) allowed four runs and six hits and struck out seven in seven innings, retiring 15 of his last 16 batters to move into third place on Boston's career victory list. Only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who won 192 apiece, have more.
"I'm truly honored and blessed to be mentioned with Cy and Roger and Mel Parnell and Luis Tiant and those guys," said Wakefield, the longest-tenured member of the team. "I owe it to all of my teammates -- not only the guys I'm playing with this year but to the 350-plus guys I played with my whole career here."
Matt Stairs hit a three-run homer in the first and Chip Ambres added a solo shot in the third to put the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole.
But Ramirez, the focus of trade rumors before delivering the game-winning hit as a pinch hitter on Sunday, made it 4-3 with his shot to straightaway center in the fourth off Runelvys Hernandez. He now has 97 RBIs.
"He actually made a pretty good pitch to Manny," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "But, as you know, Manny has done that before."
Boston rallied for three runs against Ambiorix Burgos (1-4) in the seventh, taking the lead for good on a single by Johnny Damon.
Indians 6, Yankees 5
At Cleveland, Scott Elarton contained New York's power-packed lineup for six innings to lead Cleveland.
Elarton (7-5) allowed three runs and four hits as the Indians won the opener of their three-game series against the Yankees, one of a handful of teams they're battling for the American League wild card.
Bob Wickman retired Derek Jeter on a grounder with a runner at second for his 28th save.
Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run double off Al Leiter (1-3), and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland.
Alex Rodriguez hit his AL-leading 29th homer, a two-run shot in the sixth.
Mariners 4, Tigers 1
At Detroit, Jeremy Reed's hustle on a sacrifice bunt helped spark a three-run rally in the eighth and Raul Ibanez's two-run single capped the inning for Seattle.
In the eighth, Reed singled leading off. The next batter, Dave Hansen, bunted the ball in front of the plate, which third baseman Brandon Inge fielded and threw to first. Seeing third base unoccupied, Reed never slowed down, running from first to third. Yuniesky Betancourt added an RBI double before Ibanez's key hit.
Julio Mateo (3-4) worked an inning for the victory. Eddie Guardado got his 25th save in 26 chances and 24th straight.
Detroit's Jason Johnson (7-9) allowed five hits in 7 2-3 innings.
Blue Jays 7, White Sox 3
At Chicago, Russ Adams hit two home runs, including going back-to-back with Orlando Hudson in the second inning, and Toronto roughed up Jon Garland and Chicago.
Eric Hinske had three hits for Toronto as starter Josh Towers won for just the third time in his last 14 starts.
Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
Towers (8-8) pitched 7 2-3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits. He tied his season-high with seven strikeouts and didn't allow a walk. Garland (15-5) had his worst outing of the season. He gave up seven runs and 13 hits in six innings.
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