AMERICAN LEAGUE
Los Angeles closer Francisco Rodriguez tied his team record of 47 saves as the Angels hung on to beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3 in the American League on Saturday.
Starting pitcher John Lackey earned his fourth straight win as the Angels capitalized on four Cleveland errors.
PHOTO: AP
Rodriguez yielded a single to open the ninth, then got three quick outs — two on strikeouts — to match his saves mark set in 2006. He narrowly escaped a second straight blown save when Ryan Garko lined a pitch inches foul with a runner on second and two outs before striking out.
RANGERS 3, RAYS 0
In Arlington, Texas, a homer on the first pitch set Texas away for a shutout victory over Tampa Bay.
The Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak while nipping the Rays’ three-game run of wins and preventing the AL East leader from extending its divisional advantage.
Rookie Matt Harrison pitched eight sharp innings, dominating the Rays in his eighth career start. He gave up just three singles, struck out eight without a walk, and retired the final 18 batters.
Harrison entered the game with a dismal 7.07 ERA but put in a performance that was a tonic for a Texas pitching staff that had given up 69 runs in its past seven games.
WHITE SOX 2, ATHLETICS 1
In Oakland, California, Chicago maintained its share of the AL Central lead with a narrow win over Oakland.
John Danks pitched six effective innings to win his fifth straight decision on the road. He extended his dominance of the A’s, allowing one run.
TWINS 7, MARINERS 6
In Minneapolis, Minnesota snuck home in the bottom of the ninth to beat Seattle and stay level with Chicago atop the AL Central.
Joe Mauer homered and scored three times, sliding home in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly to notch the winning run.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1
In Boston, the home team’s four-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of Roy Halladay and Toronto.
Blue Jays starter Halladay pitched his majors-leading eighth complete game, limiting the Red Sox to six singles before a homer leading off the ninth.
The win spoiled Paul Byrd’s Boston debut. Acquired earlier in the week from Cleveland, Byrd gave up hits to his first three batters and 10 in all.
The loss came after the Red Sox scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Texas, and left them still three-and-a-half games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Blue Jays, long considered out of contention for the playoffs, crept within eight games of Boston for the AL wildcard.
YANKEES 3, ROYALS 2, 13 INNINGS
In New York, Brett Gardner singled home the winning run with two outs in the 13th inning as New York pipped Kansas City.
The Yankees won to cling onto playoff hopes. They edged within six games of Boston, current holder of the wildcard berth.
TIGERS 5, ORIOLES 3
In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen hit home runs in the fourth inning to set up Detroit’s win over Baltimore.
Detroit starter Justin Verlander got his first victory in almost a month, allowing only two unearned runs in six innings while striking out six.
Baltimore had its three-game winning streak snapped.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chicago lost its first road game in almost a month as Florida beat the Cubs 2-1 in the National League on Saturday.
Hanley Ramirez hit a leadoff homer and Cody Ross singled in the go-ahead run for the Marlins, who avoided a season-worst fourth consecutive loss and remained three-and-a-half games behind NL East leader New York.
The Cubs, who had won nine in a row on the road and five straight overall, saw their lead in the NL Central cut back to four-and-a-half games.
DIAMONDBACKS 11, ASTROS 5
In Houston, Arizona got two grand-slam homers in a game for the first time, crushing Houston.
The Diamondbacks won for the fifth time in six games to regain sole leadership of the NL West.
Miguel Montero and Chris Young got the four-run shots — the first in their careers. Montero also had a solo homer and a double, driving in a career-high five runs.
Houston has lost eight of the past nine against Arizona.
METS 7, PIRATES 4
In Pittsburgh, a surging New York brought up its fifth straight win by downing Pittsburgh.
Injury-prone Mets starter Pedro Martinez pitched seven innings for the first time this season, allowing only one run to get his first win in six weeks.
Jose Reyes and Ramon Castro both homered, both got two hits and both got two RBIs for New York, which increased its buffer atop the NL East to two games. The Mets are a season-best 11 games over .500.
Pittsburgh rallied in vain late, getting three runs in the ninth and a further two runners on base with only one run.
Before the game, New York got disappointing news when injured closer Billy Wagner felt discomfort in his pitching elbow following a simulated game. The All-Star reliever won’t come off the disabled list as expected Monday and instead will undergo further evaluation.
BREWERS 4, DODGERS 3, 10 INNINGS
In Los Angeles, J.J. Hardy drove in the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning to give Milwaukee a narrow win over Los Angeles.
Hardy’s crucial single completed an eventful final few innings for the Brewers’ shortstop.
He hit a two-run homer in the eighth to put Milwaukee up 3-2, then made a fielding error in the bottom of the ninth that allowed the Dodgers’ tying run, before coming through with the game winner in the tenth, scoring Ray Durham, who was walked with two outs and then stole second.
The loss ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak and cost them a share of the NL West lead. Milwaukee moved within four-and-a-half games of NL Central leader Chicago while staying two games clear in the wildcard race.
In other games, it was: • Padres 8, Phillies 3 • Cardinals 9, Reds 3 • Rockies 13, Nationals 6 • Braves 11, Giants 5
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