American LeaguePedro Martinez allowed four hits in seven innings Friday, pitching the Red Sox to their longest winning streak in nine years as Boston blanked the Texas Rangers 2-0 for its 10th consecutive win.
Manny Ramirez and Bill Mueller both homered as Boston within 2 1/2 games of the New York Yankees in the American League East.
PHOTO: AP
The Red Sox, who have won 16 of their past 17 games and 22 of 26, have not been this close to first place since before June 12. The Yankees lost to Baltimore 3-1.
"I expected it," Martinez said of Boston's spectacular surge. "I thought we had the talent all the way to have a run like this one."
Boston, which trailed by 10 1/2 games on June 16, is on its longest winning streak since winning 12 in a row from Aug. 3-14, 1995.
Martinez (15-5) pitched shutout ball for the second time in five starts, striking out nine, walking one and leaving after matching his season high with 117 pitches. Keith Foulke worked the ninth for his 27th save in 32 opportunities.
``I felt pretty good command of every pitch I had,'' he said. ``I'm in good shape. I feel at the tippy top part of my game.''
John Wasdin (2-3) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings for Texas, which fell seven games behind Boston in the wild-card race.
Orioles 3, Yankees 1
In New York, Rodrigo Lopez outpitched Kevin Brown as Baltimore downed New York.
Miguel Tejada got his major league-leading 122nd run batted in as the Orioles won their fifth straight game following a 12-game losing streak.
Derek Jeter homered in the first inning for the Yankees, who lost for the first time since Tuesday's record-setting 22-0 defeat against Cleveland. New York's division lead has not been this small since before games of June 12.
Lopez (11-8) allowed six hits and struck out seven in a season-high 7 1-3 innings. He entered with a 13.50 earned run average in three appearances against the Yankees this season.
Jorge Julio struck out Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada in succession in the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Angels 10, Indians 5
In Cleveland, Troy Glaus homered for the first time since May 11, and Garret Anderson and Bengie Molina also hit home runs to help Anaheim beat Cleveland and snap a three-game losing streak.
Glaus homered on the first pitch of the sixth inning to give Anaheim a 6-0 lead. He was playing in his fifth game since missing three months because of surgery on his right shoulder.
Anderson homered in the fifth and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Angels, who won for the 11th time in 15 games. Cleveland has lost 14 of 18.
Anaheim remained four games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West and 4 1/2 games behind Boston in the wild-card race.
Kelvim Escobar (9-9) pitched 6 2-3 innings, giving up four runs and eight hits to improve to 4-1 in his last six starts. He walked four and struck out two.
Twins 2, Royals 0
In Minneapolis, Johan Santana pitched a no-hitter through six and finished with seven shutout innings to win his ninth straight start as Minnesota blanked Kansas City.
Desi Relaford lined a clean single to left leading off the seventh to end Santana's bid.
Santana (16-6) gave up one hit and one walk, striking out 11 and throwing 106 pitches. J.C. Romero worked the eighth inning to extend his club-record scoreless streak to 32 1-3 innings, and Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 38th save in 41 chances to finish the two-hitter.
Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau hit consecutive home runs in the sixth and Shannon Stewart went 3-for-4 for the Twins, who are 29-18 since the All-Star break and entered with a nine-game lead in the AL Central.
Athletics 7, Blue Jays 4
In Toronto, Bobby Kielty hit a go-ahead homer off Ted Lilly, and Nick Swisher doubled and walked twice in his major league debut as Oakland overcame Toronto.
Tim Hudson won his fourth straight start for the AL West-leading A's, who won for the 15th time in 17 games.
Kielty's two-run homer off Lilly (9-10) gave Oakland a 5-4 lead in the sixth. The A's swapped Lilly for Kielty in the offseason.
Swisher, who was prominently featured in Michael Lewis' book ``Moneyball,'' finished 1-for-3 with two walks. He wore a taped helmet with the word ``rookie'' on the front of it while he took batting practice.
Hudson (11-4) allowed four runs on eight hits in seven innings, and Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 22 chances.
White Sox 7, Mariners 5
In Chicago, Juan Uribe homered and Roberto Alomar had a two-run double for Chicago's win over Seattle.
Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 with one RBI for the Mariners, giving him a major league-leading 218 hits. Seattle has lost three straight since a season-high five-game winning streak. Bret Boone hit his 20th homer in the eighth.
The game was halted for a few minutes in the sixth inning when a man ran across the outfield after Uribe's home run. The man was chased by 11 security guards from right field to left-center and was escorted off the field.
National League
Matt Morris pitched a two-hitter and struck out a season-high 11 batters Friday to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to their seventh straight victory, 3-0 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a matchup of division leaders.
Reggie Sanders homered, doubled and had two runs batted in. Mike Matheny also homered for the Cardinals, who have won 11 of 13 games overall and are a major league best 90-44.
Morris (15-8) won his third straight start and walked none, pitching the low-hit complete game of his career. The only hits he allowed were singles by Jose Lima in the third and Robin Ventura in the fifth.
"I know it's the best game I've caught with him," catcher Mike Matheny said. "It's amazing, the way he pitched."
Morris, who retired his last 14 batters, pitched his second shutout this season, the eighth of his career. He has 16 complete games, including three this season. Previously, his low-hit complete game was a three-hitter against Cincinnati on Sept. 7 last year.
Lima (11-5) gave up three runs and six hits in seven innings.
Braves 7, Expos 1
In Montreal, Paul Byrd pitched eight strong innings and Eli Marrero homered to help Atlanta extend its winning streak to four games.
Byrd (6-4) held the Expos scoreless into the eighth inning before Maicer Izturis hit a leadoff triple and scored on pinch-hitter Ryan Church's RBI grounder.
Byrd, who returned June 19 from reconstructive surgery on his elbow which caused him to miss the entire 2003 season, allowed four hits, struck out five and walked two.
J.D. Drew hit an RBI single in the third to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. The Braves finished with nine hits, ending a streak of 12 straight games of 10 or more.
Scott Downs (2-5) allowed five runs on seven hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Phillies 8, Mets 1
In Philadelphia, Gavin Floyd made the most of his major league debut, holding the Mets to four hits over seven innings to help Philadelphia send New York to its seventh straight loss.
Pat Burrell homered in his first game since Aug. 3, Jason Michaels homered twice and Placido Polanco also hit a home run for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Mets, coming off a 1-10 homestand, have lost 12 of 13.
Brewers 11, Reds 4
In Milwaukee, Geoff Jenkins and Wes Helms drove in three runs each, and Scott Podsednik tied a career high with four hits as Milwaukee downed Cincinnati.
Helms and Gary Bennett homered for Milwaukee, which scored its most runs since beating Anaheim 12-2 on June 9 and have won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 8-10. Milwaukee is 13-35 since the All-Star break.
Wes Obermueller (5-7) allowed four runs, six hits and four walks in six innings. He also went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk
Brandon Claussen (2-4) lasted just 1 1-3 innings in his shortest outing this season, giving up a career-high eight runs and seven hits. Austin Kearns homered for Cincinnati, which lost its fourth straight.
Padres 7, Rockies 6
In San Diego, Phil Nevin hit a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning as San Diego rallied from a five-run deficit to move within two games of idle Chicago in the wild-card race.
The seven runs matched the Padres' total in their previous three games, when they were swept on the road by the St. Louis Cardinals, who have baseball's best record.
Vinny Castilla homered twice and drove in four runs for the Rockies, upping his RBI total to 112, second in the NL.
Scott Linebrink (6-1) pitched a perfect seventh for the win. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances.
Scott Dohmann (0-2) allowed three runs in a third of an inning.
Giants 18, Diamondbacks 7
In San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit his 697th homer and drove in three runs, and Edgardo Alfonzo had five hits to help San Francisco move within two games of idle Chicago in the National League wild-card race.
Bonds' first homer in five game easily reached the bleachers in right-center in the second inning. The two-run shot off Edgar Gonzalez (0-8) was Bonds' 39th of the season.
Led by Alfonzo and J.T. Snow, who had four hits, the Giants pounded out 18 hits against Arizona's pathetic pitching staff.
Bonds went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly, maintaining his lead in the NL batting race while also drawing two more intentional walks -- including his 100th of the season, extending his major league record.
Dave Burba (4-1), acquired from Milwaukee on Thursday, got the win with two innings of scoreless relief. The victory, coupled with the Dodgers' loss at St. Louis, moved the Giants within 5 1/2 games of Los Angeles in the NL West.
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