AMERICAN LEAGUE
Mariano Rivera pitched himself in and out of trouble on Saturday, escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning and preserving a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
After Mike Mussina (11-6) pitched six shutout innings, Rivera took over in the ninth with a 2-0 lead. The Red Sox quickly scored a run and were poised to get more, but Rivera struck out Coco Crisp, got Jason Varitek on a popup and fanned Julio Lugo for his 23rd save.
The Yankees won after losing the first two games of the series to Boston.
Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, two of New York’s three healthy outfielders, each drove in a run and made a nice play in the field.
Justin Masterson (4-3) hit three batters, threw a wild pitch and walked two, but managed to hold the Yankees in check in his six innings. The rookie right-hander allowed six hits in his first appearance against New York.
Rays 3, Royals 0
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Andy Sonnanstine pitched seven strong innings, Ben Zobrist homered again and Tampa Bay blanked Kansas City for its sixth straight win.
Zobrist homered for the third game in a row and the Rays increased their AL East lead to a season-high four games over second-place Boston. Tampa Bay has won 10 of 11.
Sonnanstine (10-3) won his fourth consecutive decision. He allowed five hits, walked one and struck out two.
Akinori Iwamura put the Rays ahead 2-0 with a two-out, two-run double in the second off Zack Greinke (7-5). Royals center fielder Joey Gathright made a dive and just missed catching the ball.
White Sox 6, Athletics 1
At Chicago, Gavin Floyd pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings to get his 10th victory and Nick Swisher, Brian Anderson and Alexei Ramirez homered in Chicago’s win over Oakland.
Oakland had captured the first two games of the four-game series to cool off the White Sox, who’d won seven straight before the A’s came to town.
Greg Smith (5-7), who pitched a complete game four-hitter in his previous start against the Angels, went five-plus innings, allowing five hits and four runs while tying a career high with six walks.
Twins 9, Indians 6
At Minneapolis, Joe Mauer homered, walked three times and scored three runs to help Kevin Slowey and streaking Minnesota rally past Cleveland.
Craig Monroe and Alexi Casilla hit two-run doubles, and the Twins rebounded from the Indians’ five-run second inning by scoring five times in the sixth.
Slowey (6-6) settled down, striking out six and allowing five hits in six innings.
Grady Sizemore’s three-run homer, his league-leading 22nd, was the lone highlight for last-place Cleveland, which lost its seventh straight amid speculation that ace C.C. Sabathia will be dealt before the trade deadline on July 31.
Rangers 5, Orioles 3
At Baltimore, Ian Kinsler homered, German Duran and Michael Young had three hits apiece, and Texas used a sharp pitching performance by substitute starter Scott Feldman to beat Baltimore.
Moved up in the rotation after Eric Hurley was scratched with a hamstring injury, Feldman (3-3) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings. The right-hander allowed three runs and three hits in the first, then blanked the Orioles on two hits until his departure.
Kinsler, who came into the game with an AL-leading .325 batting average, went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. His two-run homer off Lance Cormier (1-3) in the sixth put the Rangers ahead 4-3.
In other games, it was:
• Blue Jays 7, Angels 5
• Mariners 3, Tigers 2
NATIONAL LEAGU
AP, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Rick Ankiel slapped a two-run, two-out single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a three-run rally and lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
The win brought the Cardinals (50-39) to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Cubs (52-36) in the National League Central.
St. Louis rallied against Chicago closer Kerry Wood (4-2), who blew his fifth save of the season in 27 chances. Ankiel also homered in the sixth, when St. Louis rallied to tie it at 2. St. Louis reliever Kyle McClellan (1-3) picked up his first major league victory in relief.
Chicago infielder Aramis Ramirez broke a 2-2 in the eighth with a two-run homer.
Brewers 2, Pirates 1
At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder singled in Rickie Weeks with one out in the bottom of the ninth to lead Milwaukee past Pittsburgh.
Pirates reliever Tyler Yates (3-2) was in trouble from the start, walking Weeks to lead off the inning. J.J. Hardy’s sacrifice bunt ended his 16-game hitting streak but put the winning run in scoring position and Yates intentionally walked Ryan Braun to bring up Fielder.
Astros 6, Braves 1
At Atlanta, Mark Loretta had three doubles and drove in four runs and Houston scored four times in the first two innings to beat Atlanta.
In other games, it was:
• Reds 3, Nationals 2
• Mets 9, Phillies 4
• Padres 4, Diamondbacks 2
• Rockies 12, Marlins 6
• Giants 5, Dodgers 2
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