American LeagueTrot Nixon and Gabe Kapler hit solo home runs, and John Burkett finally got his 10th win Tuesday night as the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1.
Chicago's lead in the AL Central is now down to one game.
Manny Ramirez wasn't in the lineup for a fifth straight game, even though Boston manager Grady Little said the slugger was healthy enough to play DH. Little said Ramirez wasn't being punished, but it's clear the Red Sox aren't happy with him.
PHOTO: AP
Ramirez missed the weekend series with the New York Yankees with pharyngitis -- the same ailment that forced pitcher Pedro Martinez to miss a start the previous week -- yet was spotted out Saturday night. Then when Little asked him to pinch-hit Monday, Ramirez said he was still "too weak."
Burkett (10-7) scattered three hits and a run over six innings, striking out four. Kim Byung-hyun pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances.
Bartolo Colon (12-12) was dazzling, allowing only a walk and two hits. But both hits were homers, spoiling his fine effort.
Athletics 2, Orioles 0
In Baltimore, Mark Ellis drove in the tiebreaking run with a 12th-inning sacrifice fly and Chris Singleton added an RBI single as Oakland beat Baltimore to win its 10th straight.
It was the ninth consecutive loss for the Orioles, four of which have come against Oakland. Baltimore is 0-7 against the A's this season.
Miguel Tejada led off the 12th with an infield hit off Jorge Julio (0-7) and took second on a walk to Scott Hatteberg. A tapper to the mound advanced the runners, and a four-pitch walk to rookie Bobby Crosby loaded the bases.
Ellis lofted a fly ball to left field on the 12th pitch of his at-bat, and Tejada scored as Melvin Mora's throw went to third base. Earlier in the game, Tejada was thrown out at the plate by Mora on a fly to left.
Singleton then singled off Buddy Groom for a 2-0 lead.
Ricardo Rincon (8-4) got the final out in the 11th and Keith Foulke worked the 12th for his 38th save.
Twins 12, Angels 6
In Minneapolis, Rookie Michael Ryan hit a three-run homer and Cristian Guzman had a three-run triple as Minnesota beat Anaheim.
The Twins, who moved within a game of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, built a 12-1 lead after four innings and finished with 14 hits to make a winner of Kyle Lohse (12-10).
Shawn Wooten went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs for Anaheim, which lost for the first time in four games on its road trip.
Corey Koskie went 3-for-5 with two runs, Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with three runs and Matthew LeCroy went 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI for the Twins, who knocked Angels starter Aaron Sele (7-10) out in a six-run third.
Rangers 8, Royals 7
In Arlington, Texas, Laynce Nix hit a three-run homer and Mark Teixeira drove in three runs as Texas held on to beat Kansas City.
The Royals scored four runs in the ninth, but fell short when Francisco Cordero struck out pinch-hitter Aaron Guiel and Raul Ibanez to end it with a runner on second for their fourth straight loss. Kansas City fell three games behind the Chicago White Sox and a game back of Minnesota in the AL Central.
Rangers starter Ismael Valdes (8-8) allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Jeremy Affeldt (6-6) got the loss in relief of Paul Abbott, who allowed two runs on one hit and six walks over 4 1-3 innings.
Tigers 8, Indians 6
In Detroit, Cody Ross hit a grand slam for his first major league home run then needed to be carted off the field with an apparent knee injury in the eighth inning, and Detroit beat Cleveland.
Dmitri Young hit a tiebreaking homer in the fifth as the Tigers won their 35th game of the season. Detroit needs to need to go at least 8-17 the rest of the way to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets' record of 120 losses in a season.
Ross was injured when he tripped over first base in the eighth, beating out a sacrifice on Cleveland reliever Jack Cressend's throwing error. Ross was writhing in pain, holding both knees while Tigers personnel attended to him.
Brian Schmack (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief for his first big league win. Chad Durbin (0-1) got the loss.
Mariners 10, Devil Rays 8
In St. Petersburg, Carlos Guillen hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the 11th inning as Seattle beat Tampa Bay. John Mabry hit a leadoff infield single off Lance Carter (7-4), and pinch-runner Chad Meyers went to third on Bret Boone's double.
Guillen, who tied a career high with five RBIs, followed with a double into the left-center field gap. Ben Davis drove in another run on a sacrifice fly.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa (2-1) pitched two innings and allowed an RBI single to Pete LaForest in the 11th for the victory, the Mariners' fourth straight.
Seattle maintained its one-game lead over Boston in the AL wild-card race, and remained two behind Oakland in the AL West.
Matt Morris outpitched Kerry Wood and Jim Edmonds hit his second homer of day as the Cardinals beat Cubs to split their day-night doubleheader Tuesday night. Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer in the 15th inning off Jeff Fassero (1-7) to give the Cubs a 4-2 win in the four-hour, 47-minute opener.
Morris (9-4) allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings. He got his first win since June 25 and ran his career record against the Cubs to 10-2, including 3-0 this season. Wood (11-11) got the loss. Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.
National League
Cubs reliever Antonio Alfonseca and left fielder Moises Alou were ejected in the eighth inning after an angry confrontation with third-base umpire Justin Klemm. In the bottom of the seventh, Klemm had called Alou's bases-loaded drive down the line just foul.
Pirates 3, Marlins 2
In Miami, Jason Kendall had four hits and two RBIs as Pittsburgh beat Florida Marlins.
Kendall, who went 6-for-11 in a three-game sweep of the Marlins last week, had three singles and a double for the Pirates, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kip Wells (7-7) allowed two runs and six hits in seven-plus innings to beat the Marlins for the second time in less than a week.
Julian Tavarez pitched two perfect innings for his fourth save.
Dontrelle Willis (11-6) fell to 0-4 in his last five starts for the Marlins, whose four-game winning streak was stopped. With the loss, Florida dropped into a tie with Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race. The Phillies beat Montreal on Wednesday night.
Mets 3, Braves 1
In New York, Al Leiter outpitched Mike Hampton again, and Jason Phillips drove in two runs as the New York Mets beat Atlanta.
Danny Garcia singled twice in his major league debut for the Mets, who beat Atlanta for the fourth time in five meetings. Mike Piazza snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning that made it 3-1.
Leiter (14-7) who beat Hampton 3-1 last Thursday in Atlanta as well, is 6-2 with a 1.45 ERA in nine starts since coming off the disabled list July 20. He pitched out of a couple early jams, allowing just an unearned run and five hits in seven innings.
Grant Roberts pitched a perfect eighth, and David Weathers worked the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.
Hampton (12-7) has lost two decisions in a row -- both to the last-place Mets -- after winning nine straight overall.
Phillies 5, Expos 3
In Philadelphia, Chase Utley's bases-loaded triple with two outs in the eighth inning lifted Philadelphia over Montreal.
The Phillies moved into a tie with Florida for the NL wild-card lead. After Endy Chavez gave the Expos a 3-2 lead on an infield single in the eighth, the Phillies came back against Javier Vazquez (12-9). Jim Thome walked with two outs in the eighth and Mike Lieberthal doubled. Ricky Ledee was intentionally walked to load the bases and Utley followed with his first career triple, a liner to left-center.
Rheal Cormier (5-0) pitched the eighth for the win, and Dan Plesac worked the ninth for his second save. Thome hit his 38th homer and Amaury Telemaco allowed two runs in seven innings for the Phillies, who are in the middle of a stretch of playing 27 consecutive days.
Brewers 4, Reds 3
In Milwaukee, Keith Ginter hit a two-run homer and Eddie Perez drove in two runs and Milwaukee beat Cincinnati.
Perez hit a tiebreaking double, his third hit of the game, off Danny Graves (4-15) in the bottom of the eighth after the Brewers squandered a 3-0 lead. Milwaukee has won 13 of 15, including a 10-game winning streak.
Luis Vizcaino (4-3) pitched a scoreless eighth and Dan Kolb worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th straight save.
For statistics on MLB leaders, check the Scoreboard on p19
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