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Devil Rays sneak past Red Sox

The Milwaukee Brewers' Corey Hart fails to catch a fly ball hit by the Pittsburgh Pirates' Ronny Paulino in Pittsburgh on Monday. PHOTO: AP

Scott Kazmir struck out 10 and allowed just two runners to reach second base in seven innings as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 1-0 on Monday.

Josh Wilson's sacrifice fly in the fifth drove in the run for the Devil Rays, who are 13-4 in their last 17 games but are in last place in the American League East. Boston is 7-3 in its last 10 games, but its lead in the division dropped to five games over the idle New York Yankees.

Just sixteen days after setting a franchise record with 13 strikeouts, Kazmir fanned at least 10 for the fourth time this season and 12th in his career.

Kazmir (12-8) allowed five hits and two walks. Besides Lugo, who advanced on a two-out wild pitch, the only Boston runner to reach second against him was Bobby Kielty on a leadoff single in the seventh and a one-out walk to Jason Varitek.

Curt Schilling (8-7) struck out five and allowed one run, five hits and a walk in six innings, but got little support from a makeshift lineup.

It was Boston's first 1-0 loss at home since Sept. 2, 2001, when New York's Mike Mussina lost a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning.

Athletics 9, Mariners 3

At Los Angeles, Kurt Suzuki hit his first career grand slam and Dan Johnson also hit one, only the second time in franchise history Oakland has hit two grand slams in one game.

Joe Blanton (13-9) allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings while winning for the fifth time in six decisions -- but for the first time in four starts against Seattle.

Jose Guillen hit his 20th home run in the eighth off Alan Embree to bring Seattle within 5-3. Johnson hit his third career grand slam in the ninth off Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Huston Street got the final four outs for his 13th save in 17 chances.

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 4

At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a four-run rally that lifted Detroit within three-and-a-half games of the idle New York Yankees in the AL wild-card race.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay was one out away from his eighth complete game when he gave up singles to Sean Casey and Brandon Inge. After manager John Gibbons pulled the durable right-hander for Casey Janssen (2-3), Curtis Granderson hit a two-run single to make it 4-3.

Placido Polanco followed with a single and Gary Sheffield walked to load the bases. Ordonez delivered his fourth hit of the game, an opposite-field liner to right.

Yorman Bazardo (1-1) worked the ninth for his first career win.

In other games, it was: Indians 6, White Sox 2; Twins 4, Royals 2.

David Wright hit a two-run homer and Oliver Perez tossed another gem against the Atlanta Braves, leading the New York Mets to a 3-2 victory on Monday.

Perez outpitched an effective Tim Hudson, who used his sinker to induce a steady stream of easy grounders. But slumping leadoff batter Jose Reyes scampered around the bases twice and Wright delivered the big blow, sending New York to its fourth straight win.

The Braves, who began the day fifth in the National League wild-card race, fell five games behind front-running San Diego. They are nine-and-a-half behind New York in the division, the largest deficit this season.

Perez (14-9) was cruising until Jeff Francoeur singled in the seventh and Brian McCann hit a two-run homer with two outs, cutting it to 3-2. But the left-hander regrouped, striking out Willie Harris with his 116th pitch.

Billy Wagner got three quick outs for his 33rd save in 37 chances and third in three days.

Diamondbacks 5, Giants 3

At San Francisco, pinch-hitter Jeff Salazar hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning, sending Arizona past San Francisco for its sixth straight win.

Salazar, a late scratch before the game with a sprained left ankle, hit a 2-0 pitch from Brad Hennessey (3-5) into the arcade in right-center to help Arizona increase its NL West lead to three-and-a-half games over the idle San Diego Padres.

Jailen Peguero (1-0) recorded two outs in the eighth and Tony Pena finished for his second save in four chances.

Bengie Molina hit a pair of solo home runs for San Francisco. He homered leading off the second and again to start the fourth, both on 0-1 pitches from Livan Hernandez. Molina has a career-high 79 RBIs -- 76 of them as a catcher, second-most in San Francisco history. Dick Dietz had 104 in 1970.

Phillies 6, Rockies 5, 10 innings

At Philadelphia, Ryan Howard doubled home the winning run in the 10th after Pat Burrell tied the game with a dramatic homer in the seventh, leading Philadelphia over Colorado in a game featuring wild-card contenders.

Chase Utley led off the 10th with a single off Taylor Buchholz (6-5), the seventh pitcher for Colorado. After Burrell struck out, Howard lined a double to left, and the speedy Utley hustled all the way around for the winning run.

Philadelphia took the first game of the four-game series to close within one-and-a-half games of the idle wild card-leading Padres. The Rockies are three-and-a-half games back.

Cubs 12, Cardinals 3

At Chicago, Aramis Ramirez homered twice and had four hits to help Ted Lilly earn his 15th victory, as Chicago beat St. Louis for just its third win in eight games.

In other games, it was: Pirates 9, Brewers 0, Nationals 5, Marlins 4.
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