AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, CHICAGO
John Danks held the Los Angeles Angels hitless for six innings before finishing with a two-hitter on Thursday as the Chicago White Sox won 1-0 for a four-game sweep and its 22nd victory in 27 games.
Danks (8-7) gave up a leadoff single to Reggie Willits in the seventh. After yielding another single, he pitched out of trouble and got his first major league shutout.
Chicago won its fifth straight and moved within one-half game of Detroit for first place in the American League Central.
Ervin Santana (8-7) gave up three hits over eight innings.
RAYS 5, INDIANS 2
At St Petersburg, Florida, Carl Crawford hit two two-run homers and Wade Davis stopped his six-game winless streak as Tampa Bay downed Cleveland.
Tampa Bay went ahead 2-1 on Crawford’s two-run shot in the first inning. His second two-run drive and Carlos Pena’s solo homer made it 5-2 in the third.
Davis (6-9) gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings. He had gone 0-5 in six starts since beating Chicago on May 29.
Tampa Bay has won six straight and is 7-1 in July. The Rays were 11-14 in June.
Michael Brantley hit his first major league homer for the Indians, who have lost 23 of their last 35 road games.
ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 4
At Arlington, Texas, Craig Tatum drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to force in the go-ahead run and Scott Moore and Felix Pie homered as Baltimore rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Texas.
BLUE JAYS 8, TWINS 1
At Toronto, Jose Bautista hit one of Toronto’s five home runs as Brett Cecil snapped a four-start winless streak with a victory over Minnesota.
Fred Lewis, Adam Lind, Jose Molina and Lyle Overbay also went deep for the Blue Jays, who hit 10 homers in the three-game series and lead the majors with 130. Bautista leads the majors with 23 homers and eight Blue Jays have at least 10 home runs before the All-Star break, a club first.
YANKEES 3, MARINERS 1
At Seattle, Alex Rodriguez had a two-run single in the ninth inning to give New York their first lead, and Mariano Rivera closed out the victory over Seattle.
The Yankees won their sixth straight overall and season-best fifth in a row away from home behind Andy Pettitte.
After Derek Jeter’s one-out walk in the ninth, Nick Swisher had his fourth hit, a double that sent Jeter to third. After an out, Rodriguez fought off David Aardsma’s fastball and pushed it through the right side of the infield to give New York a 3-1 lead.
It was only the second time Rodriguez got a hit off Aardsma (0-6). The other was a decisive homer in the eighth inning a week ago at Yankee Stadium.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, DENVER
Ubaldo Jimenez became the first pitcher to reach 15 wins before the All-Star break in 10 years as the Colorado Rockies beat the St Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Thursday.
Jason Giambi went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and Dexter Fowler had two hits for the Rockies, who swept the three-game series.
Huston Street worked the ninth for his third save.
Jon Jay doubled twice for the Cardinals.
Jimenez (15-1) was dominant over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits. He struck out six and walked one.
GIANTS 9, BREWERS 3
At Milwaukee, Aubrey Huff homered and drove in four runs, and rookie Buster Posey homered as San Francisco’s bullpen held on to complete a four-game sweep of Milwaukee.
Also on Thursday, it was:
• Astros 2, Pirates 0
• Padres 7, Nationals 1
• Phillies 4, Reds 3, 12 innings
• Diamondbacks 10, Marlins 4
• Dodgers 3, Cubs 2
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