AMERICAN LEAGUE
REUTERS AND AP, MIAMI
Kevin Youkilis had three hits and scored two runs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 on Thursday.
Mike Lowell drove in Youkilis with a sacrifice-fly in the sixth inning to put Boston up 4-3 before they added two more runs in the seventh.
The win gave the Red Sox (78-55) a three-game lead in the American League wild card over the Texas Rangers and a six-game advantage over Tampa Bay (72-61). It was Boston’s first series win at Tropicana Field since Sept. 23, 2007.
“They have to play really, really well, and we have to play poorly [for the Rays to catch us],” Boston third baseman Mike Lowell told reporters. “If they play like they have this year and we play like we have, I think six games are a lot.”
The Red Sox got off to a fast start with Jason Bay hitting a two-run double to score Victor Martinez and Youkilis in the top of the first but Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena hit back immediately to tie it at 2-2 in the bottom of the same inning.
Rocco Baldelli his a solo home run in the top of the second to make it 3-2 before Tampa Bay tied it at 3-3 in the fourth on an RBI double from catcher Gregg Zaun.
Boston starter Clay Bucholz (4-3) took the win after allowing three runs over six innings, and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 34th save of the season.
Tampa Bay outfielder B.J. Upton sprained his ankle after colliding with Carl Crawford in the fifth and was likely to miss the next two games, the St Petersburg Times reported.
“It would have been nice to at least win two out of three, but it’s not devastating,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “There are still 29 games left, and we’re going to do this thing one day at a time in spite of everybody wincing.”
TIGERS 4, INDIANS 3
At Detroit, Placido Polanco hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Detroit Tigers a win over the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers completed a three-game sweep and increased their lead in the AL Central to five games over the idle Twins.
Also on Thursday, it was:
• White Sox 5, Cubs 0
• Yankees 10, Blue Jays 5
• Mariners 7, Athletics 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ST LOUIS, MISSOURI
Rookie Casey McGehee hit a two-run homer off John Smoltz after St Louis failed to turn a double play, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cardinals 4-3 to avoid a three-game sweep on Thursday.
Smoltz (1-1), making his third start for the Cardinals, allowed four runs and six hits over six innings.
The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the sixth. Smoltz got Prince Fielder to ground into a potential inning-ending double play but second baseman Julio Lugo juggled the ball and could only throw out Fielder as the tying run scored.
McGehee followed with his 13th homer of the season. He also drove in the Brewers’ first run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and finished with nine RBIs in the series.
Manny Parra (10-10) improved to 3-1 against the NL Central leaders this season.
In other NL action, it was:
• Mets 8, Rockies 3
• White Sox 5, Cubs 0
• Marlins 8, Braves 3
• Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 2
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