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Wang pitches strongly but Jays edge by Yanks in 14

New York Yankees starter Wang Chien-ming delivers a pitch to a Toronto Blue Jays batter during the first inning of their game on Friday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Blue Jays won 5-4 in 14 innings. PHOTO: AP

At New York, Taiwan's Wang Chien-ming (王建民) pitched seven strong innings, but Gregg Zaun homered in the 14th inning to give Toronto the win after the Blue Jays blew a four-run lead in the ninth.

It was the Yankees' longest game since 2003.

Zaun homered off Brian Bruney (3-2), his 10th of this season. Alex Rios hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who won their fourth straight.

The Yankees took advantage of a key error by second baseman Aaron Hill to tie it in the ninth, but the Blue Jays, coming off a three-game sweep of Boston, regrouped and the Yankees lost for only the third time in 15 games.

Alex Rodriguez drove in the first run of the ninth with a single, his career-high 143rd RBI. The second run scored on Hill's throwing error. Robinson Cano's single made it 4-3 and Jason Giambi tied it with an RBI single.

Red Sox 8, Devil Rays 1

Josh Beckett became the first 20-game winner in the major leagues as the Boston Red Sox used late home runs by Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-1 on Friday.

The victory snapped Boston's four-game losing streak, its longest of the season. Coupled with the Yankees' 5-4 loss in 14 innings to Toronto, Boston stretched its lead in the AL East to 2.5 games.

Beckett (20-6) allowed one run and four hits over six innings, winning for the seventh time in his last eight decisions. Relievers Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez and Eric Gagne pitched three perfect innings to finish.

Mariners 6, Angels 0

At Anaheim, Jarrod Washburn scattered five hits over seven innings against his former teammates as Seattle denied Los Angeles the AL West crown for at least another day.

Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in two runs, Jose Vidro had a two-run single and Jose Guillen hit a solo homer for the Mariners.

Washburn (10-15) walked one and struck out four. Brandon Marrow pitched two perfect innings to complete the shutout.

Indians 4, Athletics 3

At Cleveland, Fausto Carmona won his 18th game and Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta hit back-to-back homers as Cleveland closed in on its first AL Central title since 2001.

The Indians remained 7.5 games ahead of Detroit in the division. Cleveland has won four straight, is 6-1 on its final homestand and 21-5 since Aug. 25.

Carmona (18-8) gave up a run and five hits in six innings, striking out seven. Joe Borowski pitched the ninth for his league-leading 43rd save.

Tigers 5, Royals 4

At Detroit, Brandon Inge hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth inning for defending AL champion Detroit, which was behind 4-0 after four innings, but rallied on Sean Casey's three-run homer in the fifth and Inge's clutch hit.

Tim Byrdak (2-0) did not give up a hit over four innings. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 38th save. He gave up the only hit the bullpen allowed in six innings.

Jason Smith hit a two-run homer for Kansas City.

Rangers 3, Orioles 2

At Arlington, Texas, Luis Mendoza scattered four hits over five innings for his first major league win as Texas survived a shaky ninth to snap a four-game losing streak.

Mendoza (1-0) gave up one run, struck out two and walked one in his second big-league start since being called up from the minor leagues on Sept. 5.

White Sox 6, Twins 4

At Minneapolis, Josh Fields hit two homers and Jim Thome added the 503rd of his career to lead Chicago.

Johan Santana (15-13) struck out 11, but gave up six runs and eight hits in seven innings to lose for the fourth time in five starts. The three homers pushed his total for the season to 33, most in the American League.

Mark Buehrle (10-9) went six innings for his first victory in eight starts.

It was Fields' second career multihomer game and his 22 homers are tops among AL rookies.

Buehrle, who was 0-3 with a 5.27 ERA in his previous seven starts, gave up four runs and nine hits for his first victory since Aug. 3 at Detroit.

Aramis Ramirez hit two three-run home runs as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-8, maintaining their hold on first place in the National League Central on Friday.

The Cubs remained 1.5 games in front of Milwaukee, which beat Atlanta 4-1.

Chicago hit four homers and withstood a shaky start by Jason Marquis to send the Pirates to their seventh straight loss.

Ramirez hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Paul Maholm. He hit another three-run shot, his 25th homer of the season, off Franquelis Osoria (0-2) to break a 7-7 tie in the sixth.

Two batters later, Geovany Soto hit a two-run homer off reliever John Grabow.

Alfonso Soriano hit his 29th homer leading off the bottom of the first.

Brewers 4, Braves 1

At Atlanta, Corey Hart keyed a three-run, eighth inning rally for Milwaukee against Atlanta's Tim Hudson (16-9).

The Braves fell 5.5 games behind New York in the NL East and moved within 4.5 games of San Diego in the wild-card race.

Hudson had a five-hit shutout going when Ryan Braun singled with two outs and nobody on in the eighth. Prince Fielder followed with a single and Hart lined a run-scoring single to right, tying the game at 1. Ron Mahay replaced Hudson with the bases loaded and walked pinch-hitter Joe Dillon, forcing in Fielder with the go-ahead run.

Mets 9, Marlins 6

At Miami, New York's Pedro Martinez (3-0) pitched five innings to get the victory and Florida committed a team-record six errors while allowing eight unearned runs.

The Mets retained a 1.5-game lead in the NL East over second-place Philadelphia, which beat Washington 6-3.

New York trailed 3-0 before the Marlins' defense came to its rescue. Two errors each by third baseman Miguel Cabrera and first baseman Mike Jacobs led to seven unearned runs and another scored on Miguel Olivo's passed ball.

Florida starter Scott Olsen left the game after five innings trailing 8-3, despite allowing no earned runs. The Marlins lead the major leagues with 127 errors.

Phillies 6, Nationals 3

At Washington, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins homered to lead Philadelphia to its major league-leading 48th comeback win.

Howard led off the second with his 42nd homer to tie the game at 1. Burrell hit a two-run homer, his 29th. Rollins hit his 29th, a solo shot, in the fifth. Howard had an RBI double in the inning to make it 6-1.

Adam Eaton (10-9) got his first victory since July 20, ending a streak of eight winless decisions.

Diamondbacks 12, Dodgers 3

At Phoenix, Tony Clark drove in four runs, including a two-run homer for Arizona as free-falling Los Angeles lost its sixth straight.

Arizona took a 1.5-game lead over second-place San Diego in the NL West.

Chris Young and Mark Reynolds hit two-run homers as Arizona scored 11 straight runs after falling behind the Dodgers 3-1. Augie Ojeda tripled and doubled, scoring both times in the Diamondbacks' third straight victory.

Rockies 2, Padres 1

At San Diego, Brad Hawpe homered with two outs in the 14th inning to give Colorado the victory that tightened the NL wild-card race.

The Rockies snapped a seven-game winning streak by the Padres, who saw their wild-card lead trimmed to 1.5 games over Philadelphia. The Rockies, who won their sixth straight, are 3.5 back.

With their 82nd win, the Rockies clinched their first winning season since 2000.

Astros 6, Cardinals 3

At St. Louis, rookie J.R. Towles had a key two-run double for Houston in the victory that eliminated last year's World Series champions from postseason contention.

The Cardinals (71-82), who have lost 14 of 16, are assured of their first losing season since 1999. Entering this season, they were the lone NL team without a losing record this decade.

Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer in a three-run first for Houston and Brandon Backe (2-1) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.

Reds 9, Giants 8

At San Francisco, Jorge Cantu's sacrifice fly against Scott Munter (1-1) in the 11th scored Brandon Phillips as Cincinnati won.

The Reds scored five runs in the eighth to tie the game at 8. Joey Votto, Javier Valentin, Buck Coats, Phillips and Edwin Encarnacion drove in runs against Giants relievers Jack Taschner and Tyler Walker.

Omar Vizquel had four hits, including a three-run homer in the seventh for the Giants.
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