Jorge Posada led off the 10th inning with a homer, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 on Tuesday and back into first place in the American League East.
The Yankees squandered a six-run lead before tying it 7-7 in the sixth. Posada drove a pitch from Dan Wheeler (2-3) over the center field wall, setting off cheers from a large contingent of New York fans among the crowd and ending the Yankees’ season-worst run of four straight defeats.
The Rays erased the 6-0 deficit with a seven-run fifth inning, but Posada’s shot saw Tampa Bay drop half a game behind its divisional rival with 18 games to play.
PHOTO: AFP
New York reliever David Robertson (4-4) pitched the ninth to take the win and Mariano Rivera finished up for his 30th save in 33 opportunities.
Red Sox 9, Mariners 6
In Seattle, Washington, David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the eighth to lift Boston over Seattle.
Seattle’s Brandon League (9-7) entered the game in relief with a one-run lead and quickly retired his first two batters, but two singles, followed by Ortiz’s shot made it 7-5 to the visitors.
Boston’s Rich Hill (1-0) got the win in his first appearance since July when he was with Baltimore.
Royals 11, Athletics 3
In Kansas City, Zack Greinke picked up his first victory in nearly a month to steer Kansas City past Oakland.
Greinke (9-12), the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the first by getting Mark Ellis to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Wilson Betemit homered and drove in four runs for the Royals, who scored all their runs with two outs and in the first three innings.
It was their biggest score in three months.
Oakland’s Gio Gonzalez (14-9), who had a 1.75 ERA in winning his previous five starts, faced 16 batters, 10 reached base on seven hits and seven scored.
Rangers 11, Tigers 4
In Arlington, Texas, David Murphy had a homer upheld on replay to help Texas beat Detroit and win a sixth straight game.
Murphy led off the fourth against Jeremy Bonderman with a homer that flirted with the foul pole and was eventually ruled fair.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland argued that the ball was foul, but was overruled.
Texas increased its lead in the AL West to nine games over second-place Oakland.
Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler added run-scoring singles off Detroit’s Robbie Weinhardt (1-2) later in the inning for a 7-4 advantage.
Texas’ Dustin Nippert (4-4) pitched four-and-one-third innings for the win.
In other AL play, it was:
• Orioles 11, Blue Jays 3
• Indians 4, Angels 3
AP, CINCINNATI, Ohio
Rookie Daniel Hudson shut down the National League’s top offense for eight innings, and Tony Abreu had a pair of hits and scored a run in Arizona’s minimalist offense on Tuesday, leading the Diamondbacks to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Arizona beat the NL Central leaders for the first time in five games this season.
Hudson (7-2) gave up four hits and fanned eight before leaving with a 3-0 lead. He also had a run-scoring single off left-hander Travis Wood (5-3), who continued his fade. Wood lasted only five innings, giving up nine hits — eight of them singles.
A night after they drew a season-low 12,061 fans, the Reds sold 16,973 tickets for one of their pet promotion games — fans were allowed to bring dogs.
Nationals 6, Braves 0
At Atlanta, Georgia, Livan Hernandez homered allowed just five hits in eight innings as Washington beat Atlanta to end a six-game losing streak.
Hernandez (10-11) walked two, struck out six and hit a batter.
Only one runner reached second.
The 35-year-old right-hander varied his pitches from a curve ball in the second inning to Derrek Lee to nothing faster than an 137kph fastball. He threw 118 pitches, 75 strikes.
Adam Dunn hit his 35th home run, a mammoth 140m shot over the center field fence after Ryan Zimmerman singled in the second and Hernandez added a run-scoring double in the inning off Jair Jurrjens (7-6).
Dodgers 1, Giants 0
At San Francisco, Barry Zito’s winless streak reached a career-worst 12 outings as San Francisco lost to Los Angeles.
The Giants, coming off a 7-3 road trip in which they took three of four at San Diego, dropped one-and-a-half games behind first-place San Diego in the NL West. San Diego held off Colorado 7-6 at Coors Field. The Rockies are three-and-a-half games behind San Diego and two behind San Francisco in the division standings. The Giants remained one-and-a-half games behind Atlanta in the NL wild card race.
Clayton Kershaw (12-10) pitched a four-hitter for his first career complete game and shutout.
Zito (8-13) lost his career-high seventh straight game.
In other NL play, it was:
• Mets 9, Pirates 1
• Padres 7, Rockies 6
• Cubs 7, Cardinals 2
• Phillies 2, Marlins 1
• Astros 3, Brewers 2
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