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Beckett pitches Red Sox to another win

Josh Beckett returned from the disabled list to win his eighth consecutive decision, pitching seven innings of three-hit ball to lead Boston to a 4-2 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday.

Beckett (8-0) faced the minimum number of batters in the first six innings before allowing two runs in the seventh. He struck out seven and walked one.

Hideki Okajima pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

Jeremy Sowers (1-5), coming off his only win of the year, allowed four runs and six hits over 5 2-3 innings.

Kevin Youkilis doubled and homered -- his ninth consecutive multihit game, the most by a Red Sox since Jim Rice in 1978. He extended his hitting streak to 21 games.

Youkilis hit an RBI double in the first and led off the sixth with a homer.

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2

At Toronto, New York's losing streak reached five as Alex Rios hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for Toronto.

New York (21-29) has lost 13 of 18 and dropped a season-high 14.5 games behind first-place Boston in the American League East. The Yankees are tied for last in the division with Tampa Bay.

Tigers 14, Devil Rays 2

At St. Petersburg, Florida, Gary Sheffield homered twice and drove in five runs, and Jeremy Bonderman won his fourth straight start for Detroit.

Sheffield's 34th multihomer game helped the Tigers stop a four-game losing streak. He has 467 homers, moving him past Dave Winfield into sole possession of 29th place on the all-time list.

Orioles 6, Royals 2

At Kansas City, Missouri, Jeremy Guthrie pitched seven strong innings and Ramon Hernandez drove in two runs as Baltimore handed Kansas City its sixth straight loss.

Guthrie (3-1) allowed two runs and three hits as the Orioles won their fourth in a row after losing four of five.

Twins 9, White Sox 2

At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau homered and drove in four runs for Minnesota in its third straight win.

Morneau went 3-for-4 and Jason Kubel added a two-run homer, while Michael Cuddyer and Luis Castillo each had three hits.

Rangers 4, Athletics 0

At Oakland, California, Sammy Sosa lined a two-run single that got by charging left fielder Shannon Stewart, breaking a scoreless tie in the sixth and helping Texas trounce Oakland and end a season-worst six-game losing streak.

Marlon Byrd singled in a run during that four-run sixth for one of his three hits and Mike Wood pitched five innings in an impressive spot start against his former club.

Angels 4, Mariners 1

At Anaheim, California, Ervin Santana allowed one run over seven innings, Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer for Los Angeles against Seattle.

Santana (4-6) gave up four hits and walked two as the Angels extended their AL West lead over the second-place Mariners to 4.5 games. He improved to 4-1 at home. Scot Shields pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 17th save.

AP, PHILADELPHIA

Orlando Hudson had four hits and drove in four runs, Micah Owings pitched five effective innings Tuesday night to lead Arizona over Philadelphia 11-5, the Diamondbacks' sixth straight victory.

Owings (4-1) gave up one run and seven hits. He tripled with two outs in the fifth and didn't come out for the sixth.

Arizona got five runs off starter Jon Lieber (2-3) in the second inning and five unearned runs off reliever Geoff Geary in the eighth.

Pirates 4, Padres 1

At Pittsburgh, Tom Gorzelanny scattered seven hits over seven innings to lead the Pirates, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Gorzelanny (6-3), who gave up one run, entered the game third in the NL with a 2.51 ERA. He lowered that to 2.39.

Dodgers 10, Nationals 0

At Washington, Brad Penny scattered four singles over 6 1-3 innings and Juan Pierre had a career-high four extra-base hits for Los Angeles.

Penny (7-1) struck out four and walked one, combining with two relievers on the Dodgers' third shutout of the season. Penny has yet to surrender a home run in 70 innings, making him the only pitcher in the majors who has pitched at least 40 innings without allowing a homer.

Mets 5, Giants 4, 12 innings

At New York, Carlos Delgado hit his second homer of the game for the Mets moments after Jose Reyes provoked excitable San Francisco reliever Armando Benitez to balk home the tying run in the 12th inning.

The Mets took advantage of two balks by Benitez (0-3) to win their fourth in a row. Minus Barry Bonds from the starting lineup, the Giants lost their fourth straight.

Marlins 9, Cubs 4

At Chicago, Jeremy Hermida hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning and Josh Willingham added a three-run double in the eighth to lead Florida.

Reds 2, Astros 1

At Houston, Scott Hatteberg hit a solo home run in the eighth and Matt Belisle struck out a career-high eight for Cincinnati, which handed the Astros their ninth consecutive loss.

Brewers 5, Braves 4

At Milwaukee, Ben Sheets brushed off a poor first inning to get the win and Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 17th homer for the Brewers, who snapped a six-game losing streak.

Rockies 8, Cardinals 3

At Denver, Yorvit Torrealba hit a grand slam and Rodrigo Lopez struck out a season-high seven in six innings as Colorado won its seventh straight.

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