Manny Ramirez added to his major league-leading RBI total with a three-run homer and a run-scoring single, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 Tuesday for their sixth consecutive victory.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Royals, who have the AL's worst record after being swept in four games by Tampa Bay.
Tim Wakefield (10-9) allowed four runs and six hits and struck out seven in seven innings, retiring 15 of his last 16 batters to move into third place on Boston's career victory list. Only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who won 192 apiece, have more.
"I'm truly honored and blessed to be mentioned with Cy and Roger and Mel Parnell and Luis Tiant and those guys," said Wakefield, the longest-tenured member of the team. "I owe it to all of my teammates -- not only the guys I'm playing with this year but to the 350-plus guys I played with my whole career here."
Matt Stairs hit a three-run homer in the first and Chip Ambres added a solo shot in the third to put the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole.
But Ramirez, the focus of trade rumors before delivering the game-winning hit as a pinch hitter on Sunday, made it 4-3 with his shot to straightaway center in the fourth off Runelvys Hernandez. He now has 97 RBIs.
"He actually made a pretty good pitch to Manny," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "But, as you know, Manny has done that before."
Boston rallied for three runs against Ambiorix Burgos (1-4) in the seventh, taking the lead for good on a single by Johnny Damon.
Indians 6, Yankees 5
At Cleveland, Scott Elarton contained New York's power-packed lineup for six innings to lead Cleveland.
Elarton (7-5) allowed three runs and four hits as the Indians won the opener of their three-game series against the Yankees, one of a handful of teams they're battling for the American League wild card.
Bob Wickman retired Derek Jeter on a grounder with a runner at second for his 28th save.
Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run double off Al Leiter (1-3), and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland.
Alex Rodriguez hit his AL-leading 29th homer, a two-run shot in the sixth.
Mariners 4, Tigers 1
At Detroit, Jeremy Reed's hustle on a sacrifice bunt helped spark a three-run rally in the eighth and Raul Ibanez's two-run single capped the inning for Seattle.
In the eighth, Reed singled leading off. The next batter, Dave Hansen, bunted the ball in front of the plate, which third baseman Brandon Inge fielded and threw to first. Seeing third base unoccupied, Reed never slowed down, running from first to third. Yuniesky Betancourt added an RBI double before Ibanez's key hit.
Julio Mateo (3-4) worked an inning for the victory. Eddie Guardado got his 25th save in 26 chances and 24th straight.
Detroit's Jason Johnson (7-9) allowed five hits in 7 2-3 innings.
Blue Jays 7, White Sox 3
At Chicago, Russ Adams hit two home runs, including going back-to-back with Orlando Hudson in the second inning, and Toronto roughed up Jon Garland and Chicago.
Eric Hinske had three hits for Toronto as starter Josh Towers won for just the third time in his last 14 starts.
Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
Towers (8-8) pitched 7 2-3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits. He tied his season-high with seven strikeouts and didn't allow a walk. Garland (15-5) had his worst outing of the season. He gave up seven runs and 13 hits in six innings.
Devil Rays 10, Rangers 8
In Arlington, Texas, Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford had two triples, two doubles and three RBIs to beat Texas.
Crawford matched a team record for the most extra-base hits in a game, previously set by Jose Cruz Jr. and Randy Winn. Alex Gonzalez homered and Jorge Cantu drove in three runs for the Devil Rays, 13-5 since the All-Star break.
Hank Blalock and Gary Matthews Jr. connected for the Rangers.
Devil Rays starter Seth McClung (2-6), who beat Chris Young (8-7), gave up seven runs and six hits over 5 1-3 innings. Danys Baez got three outs for his 21st save.
Angels 10, Orioles 1
At Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero homered twice and drove in five runs, Garret Anderson also connected and Los Angeles sent sputtering Baltimore to its season-worst seventh straight loss.
Bartolo Colon (13-6) scattered 10 hits over seven innings, striking out seven and walking none. The right-hander gave up his only run in the fourth on an RBI single by B.J. Surhoff, who started at first base while Rafael Palmeiro served the second game of his 10-day suspension for a positive steroid test.
Sidney Ponson (7-10) allowed eight runs, 10 hits and three homers in 5 1-3 innings, making him 0-6 with an 8.26 ERA over his last eight starts.
Jeff Kent hit one of four homers by the Los Angeles Dodgers, accounting for all their runs in a 5-4 victory over the slumping Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
Jason Phillips, Jason Repko and pinch-hitter Choi Hee-seop also connected, the first time this season.
Jeff Weaver (9-8) left after facing one batter in the seventh inning. He allowed two runs -- both on Brad Wilkerson's triple in the third -- and six hits.
Yhency Brazoban pitched the ninth for his 21st save, extending his club record for a rookie. He retired Jose Guillen with a runner on second to end it.
Nationals starter Esteban Loaiza (6-7) gave up three of Los Angeles' homers, including Kent's shot on the first pitch of the second inning. That gave Kent 20 homers for the ninth consecutive season -- a record for a second baseman.
Cardinals 3, Marlins 1
At St. Louis, Chris Carpenter pitched a three-hitter to beat Florida's Dontrelle Willis and become the major leagues' first 16-game winner.
John Gall drove in the first two runs of his career and Jim Edmonds had an RBI single for the Cardinals, who have the National League's best record at 67-39.
Carpenter (16-4) won his eighth straight decision in nine starts. He struck out six and walked one.
He needed only 109 pitches -- 81 strikes -- to pitch his fifth complete game of the season and the 18th of his career.
Willis (14-7) allowed three runs -- one earned -- on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five innings.
Mets 9, Brewers 8, 11 innings
At New York, pinch-hitter Mike Piazza drew a bases-loaded walk from Julio Santana in the 11th inning to lead New York over Milwaukee.
Mike Cameron tied the score with a one-out homer in the ninth off closer Derrick Turnbow. David Wright also connected for the Mets, who overcame a four-run deficit and Milwaukee's season-high five homers.
Geoff Jenkins homered twice, including a tiebreaking shot off Roberto Hernandez that gave the Brewers an 8-7 lead in the ninth.
Carlos Lee and Jenkins hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Russell Branyan and Damian Miller did the same against starter Victor Zambrano in the second as Milwaukee opened a 6-2 lead.
Lee drove in four runs, increasing his NL-leading total to 89.
Wright opened the 11th with a single and was running as Cameron hit a liner right at shortstop Bill Hall, who was moving over to cover second base. The ball appeared to catch Hall by surprise and glanced off his glove into center field, putting runners at the corners.
Doug Mientkiewicz was intentionally walked. After Ramon Castro flied out to shallow right, Piazza took four straight balls from Santana (2-5).
Braden Looper (4-4) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Astros 3, Diamondbacks 1
At Phoenix, Roger Clemens threw seven innings of four-hit ball to earn his 338th victory two days before his 43rd birthday, and Houston beat Arizona.
Adam Everett drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double and Mike Lamb homered for the Astros, who won for the 14th time in 16 games and extended their lead in the NL wild-card race to two games over Washington.
Chad Tracy homered for the Diamondbacks, who fell a game behind San Diego in the NL West.
Clemens (10-4) struck out struck out eight, walked one and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.45. Brad Lidge got his 27th save. Claudio Vargas (4-6) took the loss.
Seattle Mariners right-hander Ryan Franklin was suspended for 10 days on Tuesday for violating Major League Baseball's doping policy, the eighth big league player caught under the tougher rules enacted this year prohibiting performance-enhancing substances.
The announcement came a day after Baltimore Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro was suspended 10 days after testing positive for steroids.
Franklin, 32, is 6-11 this season with a 4.61 ERA in 22 games, including 20 starts.
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