Manny Ramirez hit his American League-leading 30th homer on Wednesday then left the game after a collision with teammate Edgar Renteria as Boston kept on winning, beating Kansas City 8-5.
The Red Sox matched their season high with their seventh straight win, while the Royals fell to 0-6 on the road trip that ended yesterday afternoon in Boston.
Ramirez hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Kyle Snyder (0-3) to increase his major league-leading RBI total to 100. He had bruises on the right side of his face and chest as he made the inning-ending catch on a fly ball to short left in the second.
Ramirez was replaced in the field by Gabe Kapler and was listed as day-to-day.
Renteria stayed in the game until Doug Mirabelli pinch hit for him in the seventh.
"I think everything's fine [with Ramirez,] but we'll need to check on him in the morning," Boston manager Terry Francona said.
Wade Miller (4-4) went six innings for the win, and Curt Schilling pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.
The Royals took a 4-3 lead with two runs in the second and two in the fourth. Boston then scored twice in the fourth and twice in the fifth, sending eight batters to the plate in each inning.
Tigers 10, Mariners 7
At Detroit, Chris Shelton homered and drove in three runs, and Placido Polanco added two RBIs as Detroit beat Seattle to snap a five-game losing streak.
Adrian Beltre homered and drove in four runs for Seattle.
Mike Maroth (9-11) allowed five runs and seven hits over six-plus innings for the win.
The Mariners scored two in the eighth to make it 10-7.
Gil Meche (10-8) allowed eight runs, seven earned, and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. He gave up four runs in the first inning.
Indians 7, Yankees 4
At Cleveland, Ben Broussard homered to begin Cleveland's six-run fifth inning against Mike Mussina and New York, and he ended the rally with an RBI single.
Mussina (10-7) came in 4-0 in his previous six starts against the Indians and lost to them for the first time since April 3, 2000.
Cleveland, which has won five of six, improved to 35-1 when scoring six runs or more.
Cliff Lee (12-4) won for the sixth time in seven decisions since June 12. The left-hander allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings. Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his AL-leading 29th save.
Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, who lost their second straight to Cleveland.
Twins 4, Athletics 3
At Minneapolis, Lew Ford's triple scored Justin Morneau in the bottom of the ninth, ending Minnesota six-game losing streak and Oakland's six-game winning streak.
Justin Duchscherer (4-2) walked Morneau with two outs. Ford hit a line drive off the wall in right field that barely eluded Nick Swisher's glove. Swisher threw to cutoff man Mark Ellis, who fired home, but catcher Jason Kendall's tag missed Morneau.
Joe Nathan (3-3) pitched a perfect ninth for the victory.
With two outs and Jacque Jones on first in the seventh, Kiko Calero relieved starter Rich Harden and surrendered Michael Cuddyer's eighth homer -- his second of the game and third in two nights -- that put the Twins up 3-2.
Devil Rays 8, Rangers 5
At Arlington, Texas, Jorge Cantu drove in the tiebreaking run with an eighth-inning single and Tampa Bay beat Texas to win its season-high sixth straight game.
The Devil Rays are 14-5 since the All-Star break and own their longest winning streak since a 12-game run in June 2004.
Rangers starter Ricardo Rodriguez (2-3) retired 11 of 12 batters after Damon Hollins' fourth-inning homer. But with the score tied at 3, Joey Gathright led off the eighth with a single. He went to third on Carl Crawford's single off the glove of third baseman Hank Blalock, and Cantu singled through a drawn-in infield for his third hit.
Travis Harper (2-6) pitched 2 2-3 innings for the win. He allowed consecutive solo homers to Rod Barajas and Gary Matthews Jr. with two outs in the ninth before Danys Baez got one out for his 22nd save.
Blue Jays 4, White Sox 3
At Chicago, Gregg Zaun hit a three-run double in the first inning for Toronto and David Bush won for the second time in three starts since being recalled from the minors.
The White Sox had two runners on in the seventh and eighth but did not capitalize. losing their second straight to the Blue Jays.
Carl Everett hit a solo homer in the first for the White Sox, and Paul Konerko added a two-run shot in the fifth.
Bush (2-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, improving to 2-0 in three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Chicago starter Orlando Hernandez (8-4) allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings.
Angels 8, Orioles 4
At Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero had two run-scoring doubles, and Garret Anderson and Jose Molina both hit two-run singles to lead Los Angeles past Baltimore.
John Lackey (9-4) improved to 3-0 in his last four starts, allowing three runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings. He walked three and struck out seven, including Miguel Tejada his first three times up. Tejada, who leads Baltimore with 70 RBIs, entered the game averaging a strikeout every 9.8 plate appearances -- eighth-best in the AL.
Brian Roberts had two RBIs, Jay Gibbons an RBI double and Javy Lopez an RBI single for the Orioles.
Erik Bedard (5-4) was charged with seven runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings.
AP, PITTSBURGH
Rookie Brad Eldred's third consecutive double drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, and Pittsburgh overcame three San Diego homers for a 9-8 victory.
The win was the Pirates' second in eight games, while the Padres continued to struggle, losing for the 13th time in 15 games.
"There's no better feeling than that, to get a game-winning hit in the ninth," said Eldred.
Rob Mackowiak walked in the ninth and Eldred then hit a two-out line drive into the right-center field gap off Akinori Otsuka (1-4).
Jose Mesa (2-6) pitched the ninth inning for the victory.
San Diego hadn't homered in nine games since July 22, only to hit three in the first seven innings -- including game-tying shots by Eric Young, a three-run blast in the fifth, and Khalil Greene, a two-run drive in the sixth. Young also had an RBI single in a three-run sixth that put San Diego up 8-7.
Chan Ho Park flopped in his San Diego debut, giving up seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings. Park returned to the National League in a July 29 trade after four mostly unsuccessful seasons in Texas.
Nationals 3, Dodgers 1
At Washington, Preston Wilson and Nick Johnson homered and Washington won for just the fifth time in 19 games since the All-Star break.
The Dodgers lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Tony Armas Jr. (6-5) allowed one run, four hits and struck out four over five innings before leaving the game with tightness in his shoulder. He was diagnosed with tendinitis in his shoulder and is expected to make his next start.
Chad Cordero, Washington's fifth pitcher, worked a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 36th save. Wilson hit his 18th homer of the season -- the third since joining the Nationals on July 14 -- in the fourth to give Washington a 2-0 lead.
Milton Bradley homered in the third, his 11th, for the Dodgers.
Phillies 4, Cubs 3
At Philadelphia, Jimmy Rollins scored the winning run for Philadelphia over Chicago in the bottom of the ninth on a passed ball with the bases loaded.
Rollins doubled off Mike Remlinger (0-3) to open the ninth, and moved to third on a grounder. The lefty reliever intentionally walked the left-handed hitting Chase Utley and Bobby Abreu to load the bases before he was pulled for Michael Wuertz.
Pat Burrell swung wildly at strike three on a full count, but the ball got past catcher Michael Barrett. Rollins broke for home, stopped halfway down the line, then darted home when Barrett threw to third. Billy Wagner (4-1) pitched a perfect ninth inning for the win.
Brewers 6, Mets 4
At New York, Lyle Overbay singled home two runs in the ninth, and Milwaukee rallied after New York starter Pedro Martinez left.
Carlos Lee and Bill Hall homered for the Brewers, who blew a four-run lead in Tuesday's 11-inning loss.
Martinez departed with a 4-3 lead after allowing eight hits in seven innings. He struck out eight, raising his NL-leading total to 163, but Roberto Hernandez gave up Lee's 27th homer with one out in the eighth, tying the score.
Rick Helling (1-0) worked the eighth for his first major league win since Sept. 20, 2003, for Florida. Derrick Turnbow, who blew a save Tuesday, retired Carlos Beltran with runners at second and third for his 22nd save. Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza homered for the Mets, who lost for the second time in nine home games. David Wright had a two-run single but committed an error to start the ninth.
Other games
At Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-5. The Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 9-6 at St. Louis. At Phoenix, the Houston Astros handed the Arizona Diamondbacks a 7-0 defeat, and at San Francisco the Colorado Rockies beat the Giants 3-2.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans