Felix Escalona's bases-loaded single with two outs in the ninth inning gave the New York Yankees a 5-4 victory Tuesday night over the Toronto Blue Jays and sole possession of the AL wild-card lead.
Hideki Matsui hit a tying homer in the ninth, and Derek Jeter had two hits in his return to the lineup for the Yankees (69-55), who scored in each of the final four innings to win for the ninth time in 12 games and reach 14 games over .500 for the first time this season.
New York, which didn't lead until the final hit, had been tied for the wild-card lead with Oakland, which lost at Detroit.
PHOTO: AP
Vernon Wells had three hits, including a homer, as the Blue Jays wasted a strong start by Josh Towers and matched a season high with their fifth straight loss.
Toronto took a 4-3 lead off Mariano Rivera (6-3) in the ninth, but Matsui led off the bottom half with his 20th homer, a drive off Miguel Batista (5-5). Jorge Posada walked with one out, and Robinson Cano walked with two outs. Batista then intentionally walked Jeter to load the bases for Escalona, who singled to center on an 0-2 pitch.
Twins 1, White Sox 0
At Minneapolis, Jacque Jones ended Freddy Garcia's no-hit bid with a homer to lead off the eighth inning, and Johan Santana and Minnesota beat Chicago.
Santana (13-6) gave up three hits and walked one in eight innings, striking out seven to beat Garcia in a battle of perhaps Venezuela's two best pitchers. Santana, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, improved to 6-1 after the All-Star break.
Garcia (11-6) walked two and struck out three in eight innings. Jones' homer to right-center was his 18th of the season and the only hit Minnesota managed.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 32nd save and extended his scoreless innings streak to 15.
Red Sox 5, Royals 2
At Kansas City, Missouri, David Wells and Boston maintained its mastery of Kansas City, snapping the Royals' two-game winning streak that followed a team-record 19 straight losses.
Edgar Renteria had three hits and Jason Varitek hit a towering home run for Boston, which handed the Royals their team-record ninth straight loss at home.
Wells (10-6) allowed five hits in five shutout innings for his 11th straight win over the Royals, raising his lifetime record against Kansas City to 16-3.
Jeremi Gonzalez pitched three hitless innings and Mike Timlin worked the ninth, giving up two runs on Donnie Murphy's single with the bases loaded.
Zack Greinke (3-15) became the first major league pitcher with 15 losses.
Angels 7, Orioles 6
At Baltimore, Orlando Cabrera had three hits and three RBIs to back Jarrod Washburn for Los Angeles.
The Angels amassed 12 hits over the first three innings in taking a 5-0 lead. Washburn (7-7) allowed one run, eight hits and one walk in 6 1-3 innings.
Francisco Rodriguez gave up a grand slam to Miguel Tejada with two outs in the ninth inning before striking out Javy Lopez to earn his 29th save.
The victory enabled Los Angeles to stretch its lead in the AL West to 3 games over Oakland, which lost to Detroit 4-1.
Cabrera, who hadn't had a three-hit game since July 31, had three hits by the third inning. Juan Rivera tied his career high with four hits, and Robb Quinlan, activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, went 2-for-3 and scored twice. He came in batting .159.
Tejada hit two homers, his 23rd and 24th, and drove in five runs, and Lopez hit his 11th homer for the Orioles, who have lost four straight.
Jake Peavy outdueled boyhood idol Roger Clemens, throwing a four-hitter for his third shutout this season and the San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros 2-0.
"What an honor, man," said Peavy, 24. "It was just a tremendous feeling just to be on the same ball field as somebody that you idolize and have a chance to compete against him. It was a well-pitched game and I'm just glad we came out on top."
Peavy (11-6) also had a single off Clemens with one out in the eighth, one of five hits allowed by the seven-time Cy Young pitching award winner. Clemens threw his first complete game since July 30, 2003, at Anaheim, and the 118th of his career.
"I was excited," Peavy said. "I knew the biggest thing for me was not letting my emotions get out of control."
Clemens retired 17 straight batters before Brian Giles homered with one out in the seventh for a 2-0 lead. Giles drove a high fastball into the seats in right field on a 2-1 count, his 13th.
It was just the eighth homer allowed this year by Clemens (11-6), who came in leading the majors with a 1.53 ERA overall and 0.37 on the road. Clemens lost for only the second time on the road this year and his ERA jumped to 1.56 overall and 0.56 on the road.
Pirates 10, Cardinals 0
At Pittsburgh, unbeaten rookie Zach Duke pitched two shutout innings before leaving with a sprained left ankle, but Pittsburgh got big nights from three other first-year players to beat St. Louis.
Nate McLouth, one of four rookies in Pittsburgh's increasingly young lineup, hit his first career homer -- a two-run drive off the slumping Jason Marquis -- and Ty Wigginton had a three-run triple in his first Pirates' at-bat in 2 1/2 months. Chris Duffy and Ryan Doumit, the other two rookies, reached base three times apiece and scored a combined five runs.
With the Pirates up 4-0, Duke (6-0, 1.81 ERA) singled to start the second inning for his second career hit and advanced on Duffy's single. But Duke was trapped off second on McLouth's line drive that shortstop David Eckstein intentionally dropped and, trying to decide whether to head for third or go back to second, was tagged out scrambling back to the bag.
Postgame X-rays were negative, and the Pirates said Duke wasn't expected to miss more than one start.
Cubs 10, Braves 1
At Chicago, Jerome Williams took a no-hit bid into the fifth inning and had the first multihit game of his career, and Jeromy Burnitz backed him with a grand slam.
Williams (4-6) allowed one run and three hits in 7 2-3 innings, his longest outing this season. After walking Rafael Furcal leading off the game, he retired 11 in a row before Andruw Jones led off the fifth with his 40th homer.
At the plate, Williams was 2-for-4 with a single, double and a run.
Burnitz, in an 15-for-71 slide coming in, hit his eighth career slam, his first since May 2003, for an 8-0 lead in the fourth against reliever Joey Devine. Burnitz has 19 homers this season.
Braves starter John Thomson (3-4) lasted just 3 2-3 innings for his second straight start, allowing five runs and seven hits.
Mets 14, Diamondbacks 1
At Phoenix, Victor Zambrano pitched a six-hitter for his first complete game in more than two years to lead New York over Arizona.
Zambrano had two of the Mets' 17 hits, tying a nine-inning season-high set July 31 at Houston.
Ramon Castro drove in a career-high five runs and Mike Jacobs continued his amazing jump from Double-A to the major leagues, contributing a two-run homer. David Wright and Victor Diaz drove in two runs each, and Cliff Floyd, Jose Reyes and Miguel Cairo had run-scoring hits.
The Mets won for the sixth time in eight games.
Zambrano (7-10) allowed one run -- an RBI single by Luis Gonzalez.
Claudio Vargas (7-7) was roughed up for eight runs in five innings. He allowed 10 of the Mets' 16 hits, walking one and striking out six.
Dodgers 8, Rockies 3
At Los Angeles, Jeff Weaver won his fifth straight decision and went 3-for-4 with a career-high three RBIs to lead Los Angeles past Colorado.
Weaver (12-8) allowed three runs and six hits in eight-plus innings. It was the 17th consecutive start in he has lasted through the sixth -- the longest such streak of his career. He struck out five, walked two and hit two batters.
Weaver had an RBI single in the second and a two-run single in the eighth. Oscar Robles, filling in for injured shortstop Cesar Izturis, had a career-high four RBIs for Los Angeles.
Jamey Wright (6-15) lost his fourth straight start, allowing six runs -- four earned -- and seven hits over six innings. He is tied with Kansas City's Zack Greinke (3-15) for the most losses in the majors.
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