David Wells allowed three hits in eight innings, and the Boston Red Sox got a three-run homer from Jason Varitek in an 8-0 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
Wells (2-2) struck out five and walked one, coming within three outs of his first shutout in 63 starts since blanking Minnesota for the New York Yankees on April 10, 2003. The burly left-hander has rattled off 15 consecutive scoreless innings since losing his first two starts with Boston.
Baltimore's Brian Roberts went 0-for-3 with a walk, ending a 14-game hitting streak.
Bruce Chen (1-1) allowed five runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings for the Orioles, who failed to hit a home run for the first time in 10 games.
White Sox 9, Tigers 1
In Detroit, Joe Crede hit a three-run homer, Jermaine Dye had a two-run drive and Jon Garland pitched eight solid innings for Chicago's win over Detroit.
The American League Central-leading White Sox (11-4) have won three straight and are off to their best 15-game start since 1981.
Garland allowed one run and five hits, improving to 3-0 for the first time. He has won three straight starts for the first time in three years.
Wilfredo Ledezma (1-1) gave six runs and eight hits.
Yankees 11, Blue Jays 2
In Toronto, Carl Pavano scattered seven hits over eight innings to beat Toronto for his first win with New York.
Jorge Posada hit a three-run homer for New York, which went ahead 7-1 in the fourth inning.
Pavano (1-2), who signed a US$39.95 million, four-year contract, allowed two runs, just one of them earned. He struck out three, walked none and was backed by 14 hits.
Former Yankee Ted Lilly (0-2) allowed six runs and six hits -- including five doubles -- in 3 1-3 innings.
Rangers 12, Devil Rays 10
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Rod Barajas hit his first career grand slam and Kevin Mench had a bases-loaded triple for Texas, which nearly blew an eight-run lead over Tampa Bay.
Barajas was mired in a 1-for-14 slide before putting the Rangers up 6-1 with a homer on the first pitch off John Webb (0-1) during a five-run fourth inning. Mench drove in three runs in a four-run fifth.
Charles Johnson, Carl Crawford and Aubrey Huff had two RBIs each for the Devil Rays, who trailed by eight in the fifth inning and lost for the fifth time in six games.
Twins 5, Royals 4
In Minneapolis, Shannon Stewart had an RBI single through a drawn-in infield in the eighth inning as Minnesota edged Kansas City.
Juan Rincon (2-0) earned the victory with one inning of relief of Johan Santana, and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Santana, unbeaten in 19 starts since July 17, started the game less than an hour after the birth of his second child. Santana led 3-0 and was removed after seven innings with the score tied 4-all.
Stewart's RBI grounder to left off Nate Field helped the Twins end a three-game losing streak.
Angels 2, Indians 0
In Anaheim, California, Bartolo Colon pitched four-hit ball over eight innings and Chone Figgins homered to lead Los Angeles past Cleveland.
Colon (3-1) threw 115 pitches, striking out six and walking two before Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
Darin Erstad drove in the Angels' first run with a third-inning single and Figgins hit his second homer in the eighth.
Mariners 7, Athletics 6
In Seattle, Greg Dobbs drove in three runs with a pinch-hit double off rookie Huston Street (1-1) in the seventh inning and Bret Boone had a grand slam to lead Seattle over Oakland.
Juan Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs on Wednesday to help the Florida Marlins win their rematch with Aaron Heilman and beat the New York Mets 9-2.
Aaron Heilman (1-2), who pitched an improbable one-hit shutout against Florida last Friday, gave up 11 hits and left after four innings trailing 7-0. The Mets managed just four hits one night after hitting a team-record seven homers at Philadelphia.
Josh Beckett (3-1) allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings. His ERA rose to 1.00, and Florida's team ERA climbed to 1.88, still best in the major leagues.
Nationals 2, Braves 0
In Washington, Zach Day allowed just three hits over seven innings for Washington and Jose Vidro hit a two-run homer to blank Atlanta.
Washington ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-1 against Atlanta, which has won the past 13 NL East titles. The Braves have lost six of eight -- and they've scored a total of just six runs in the last five games.
Chad Cordero pitched the ninth for his third save.
Astros 6, Brewers 1
In Houston, Adam Everett and Craig Biggio led off the first inning with back-to-back homers for Houston, and Roy Oswalt outpitched an ailing Ben Sheets and Milwaukee.
Everett went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Oswalt (3-1) worked eight strong innings for his third straight win, giving up one run on four hits.
Pitching with flulike symptoms, Sheets (1-3) lasted only six innings and couldn't prevent the Brewers from losing their sixth straight. He allowed six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Reds 6, Pirates 4
In Cincinnati, Wily Mo Pena hit two homers, including a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh inning to lead Cincinnati over Pittsburgh.
Rich Aurilia also homered twice, providing more than enough for Paul Wilson (1-1) to get his first win in four starts. The right-hander gave up three runs and nine hits -- eight of them singles -- in seven innings.
Other results: Rockies 7, Phillies 4; Cubs 3, Cardinals 1; Dodgers 3, Padres 1, 10 innings; Diamondbacks 2, Giants 1.
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