Derek Jeter turned in two great defensive plays and drove in the go-ahead run, and Aaron Small won his seventh straight decision to lead the New York Yankees over the Red Sox 8-4 Friday night in the opener of a big three-game series.
"That's how you win -- pitching and defense," Jeter said.
Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada homered off David Wells as New York overcame a 3-1 deficit and cut Boston's division lead to three games with a little more than three weeks left in the season. New York remained a half-game back of Cleveland in the wild-card race.
PHOTO: EPA
"We can't be thinking in terms of holding our own. We've got to make an impact," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "The only way you can do that is to go out there and win the first game."
Rodriguez, Posada and Jason Giambi had three hits apiece for the Yankees, who scored single runs in each of the first four innings, then chased Wells (12-7) during a four-run sixth.
Jeter threw out Jason Varitek at the plate with a relay in the third, singled in the fourth to put the Yankees ahead to stay at 4-3, then ranged into the hole at shortstop to get a forceout on Edgar Renteria's grounder in the seventh and stymie a comeback attempt.
PHOTO: AP
Boston tied a season high with four errors -- by second baseman Tony Graffanino, center fielder Johnny Damon, shortstop Renteria and Varitek behind the plate.
Barely an afterthought when the Yankees left spring training, Small improved to 7-0 overall, including 5-0 in six starts as a fill-in. He allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings, becoming the first pitcher to win his first seven decisions with the Yankees since Doug Bird in 1980 and 1981.
Athletics 9, Rangers 8
In Arlington, Texas, Eric Chavez drove in four runs, Mark Ellis homered and had four hits for Oakland.
Mark Kotsay also homered and got three hits for the A's, and Dan Johnson added a home run as Oakland remained 1{ games behind Cleveland in the AL wild-card race. Jason Kendall had three hits.
Mark Teixeira hit his 37th homer and knocked in five runs for Texas to reach 120 RBIs. His three-run shot off closer Huston Street in the ninth cut it to 9-8, but Street retired Alfonso Soriano on a routine fly for his 19th save.
Oakland's Barry Zito (13-11) struck out eight and walked two in seven innings, allowing four runs and five hits and beat rookie Juan Dominguez (3-4).
Mark DeRosa and Phil Nevin also homered for the Rangers, who had won nine of 12.
Royals 12, Tigers 2
In Detroit, Emil Brown drove in three runs, and Aaron Guiel homered among his three hits as Kansas City handed the Tigers a season-high ninth consecutive loss.
John Buck homered, Matt Stairs had two RBIs as Kansas City had 18 hits against seven Detroit pitchers. Justin Huber had three hits and three runs.
Zack Greinke (4-16) won for the first time since July 19. He gave up one run on five hits in 5 2-3 innings and beat Sean Douglass (5-4) .
Greinke was ejected with two outs in the sixth inning after he threw a pitch over the head of Ivan Rodriguez. Home plate umpire Mike Everitt had warned both benches after Detroit's Matt Ginter hit Chip Ambres with a pitch in the fifth.
Blue Jays 7, Devil Rays 2
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Josh Towers threw six effective innings and Corey Koskie homered for Toronto.
Towers (11-10) gave up two runs and nine hits. He has gone six innings or more in 10 straight starts.
Koskie had a solo homer off Seth McClung (6-9) in the third and added an RBI single during a two-run seventh.
Jorge Cantu drove in his team-best 102nd run on a grounder for Tampa Bay, which had won four of five. Two of the wins came during a three-game series at Yankee Stadium that ended Thursday.
McClung allowed five runs and six hits in two-plus innings.
Indians 4, Twins 2
In Cleveland, the surging Indians retained the AL wild-card lead, beating Johan Santana for the first time behind six strong innings from Jake Westbrook.
Grady Sizemore led off the first inning with a homer off Santana (13-7), who came in 5-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 18 career games against Cleveland. The Indians stretched their winning streak to five games and have gone 16-5 since Aug. 18 to move 6.5 games ahead of Minnesota.
Westbrook (14-14) allowed two runs and six hits over six innings, walking two and striking out three. The right-hander won for the fourth time in five starts and is 13-7 since a 1-7 start.
Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his career-high 38th save in 43 chances. He had 37 saves for Milwaukee in 1999.
Angels 6, White Sox 5, 12 innings
At Chicago, Vladimir Guerrero doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a heads-up baserunning play in the 12th inning Friday as Los Angeles kept its lead in the AL West at one game over Oakland.
Guerrero led off the 12th with a double off the wall in left-center off Dustin Hermanson (1-3). Bengie Molina then bunted down the third-base line, and while Geoff Blum was throwing to Tadahito Iguchi for the out at first, Guerrero kept running with Juan Uribe late covering third. Iguchi's throw home was off-line and Guerrero scored.
Brendan Donnelly (9-3) pitched the 11th to earn the win, and Francisco Rodriguez struck out the side in the 12th for his 36th save.
For Chicago, Jermaine Dye added a two-run triple and Paul Konerko hit his fifth home run in six days.
Mariners 3, Orioles 2
At Seattle, Jamie Moyer pitched effectively into the eighth inning and the Mariners' Richie Sexson drove in two runs to surpass 100 RBIs as Seattle edged Baltimore.
Left fielder Jamal Strong threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the eighth, helping Seattle hold on.
Making his team-leading 28th start of the season, Moyer (12-6) improved to 9-0 this year and 50-26 in his career at Safeco Field. The 42-year-old left-hander was scheduled to pitch Wednesday in Oakland, but the Mariners delayed his start so he could pitch at home instead.
Jay Gibbons led off the ninth against George Sherrill with his 22nd homer, but J.J. Putz got three outs for his first save this season.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the first. Ichiro Suzuki drew a leadoff walk from Erik Bedard (6-7) and scored from first on a two-out double by Sexson -- his 100th RBI.
Larry Walker hit a tiebreaking home run off the right-field scoreboard with two outs in the eighth inning, and Jason Marquis threw eight strong innings, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 3-2 Friday night.
Albert Pujols and Hector Luna each drove in a run for the defending NL champions, who reduced their magic number for clinching the Central division to nine. With their second straight victory over the slumping Mets, they knocked a team that is fading badly in the wild-card race a game below .500.
David Wright had an RBI single and Cliff Floyd had two hits for the Mets, who have lost five in a row and 11 of 13 to fall to 70-71. They entered the game 5 1/2 games back in the wild-card standings.
Walker's 13th homer, estimated at 457 feet, is the longest hit by the Cardinals at home this year. Walker has been battling a herniated disc in his neck much of the season and kicked the ground after taking a bad swing on the previous pitch before connecting on a 2-2 pitch from Jae Seo (7-2).
He had been 0-for-9 before the homer.
Marquis (12-13) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on eight hits in eight innings. He has won his last three starts, giving up only two earned runs in 26 innings, after losing seven straight decisions.
Brewers 7, Astros 4
In Milwaukee, Roger Clemens lasted just three innings in his shortest start in more than a year.
Clemens gave up five runs, tying a season high, on five hits and five walks in losing his third straight decision. His major league-leading ERA jumped from 1.57 to 1.78. It is Clemens' longest single-season losing streak in five years.
Despite the loss, Houston remained a half-game ahead of the Florida Marlins for the National League wild card.
J.J. Hardy and Damian Miller homered off Clemens (11-7) as the Brewers (70-71) moved within one game of .500. The 70 victories are the most since 2000, when Milwaukee went 73-89.
Doug Davis gave up three runs and six hits in five innings to earn his 10th win in his 14th try. He struck out six.
Davis (10-10) last won on June 22, and had 10 no-decisions since.
Phillies 12, Marlins 5
In Philadelphia, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard hit two-run homers, and the Phillies snapped a five-game losing streak.
Burrell surpassed 100 RBIs and Chase Utley tripled, doubled and singled for the Phillies.
Phillies starter Cory Lidle (10-10) was hurt by a couple of botched balls behind him that gave the Marlins a 4-1 lead. But Philadelphia's hitters responded in the third against slumping A.J. Burnett (12-10).
Jimmy Rollins led off with a walk and scored on Kenny Lofton's double. Bobby Abreu walked and Burrell ripped a two-run double down the third-base line, tying the score at 4 and chasing Burnett.
That gave Burrell 100 RBIs for the first time since he drove in 116 runs in 2002. It's been a nice comeback season for the left fielder, who was bothered by injury and drove in a combined 148 runs the last two years.
Reliever Brian Moehler didn't fare any better, giving up Howard's 16th homer deep into the Phillies' bullpen for a 6-4 lead.
Pirates 8, Reds 4
In Cincinnati, Jason Bay hit a pair of two-run homers, and Pittsburgh beat the Reds in Oliver Perez's first start in more than 10 weeks.
Nate McLouth and Jack Wilson had two hits and scored two runs apiece to help send the Reds to their third loss in four games. Perez made his first start since breaking his left big toe on June 26 at St. Louis. The left-hander lasted 4 1-3 innings.
Ryan Vogelsong (1-1) relieved Perez with runners on first and third and got Adam Dunn to hit into an inning-ending double play to get credit for the win.
The Pirates capitalized on Luke Hudson's control problems in the first, scoring two runs on just one hit, McLouth's leadoff single. Hudson (6-8), who threw 29 pitches in the inning, hit Jack Wilson and walked Bay before walking Craig Wilson with the bases loaded and giving up Rob Mackowiak's sacrifice fly.
Nationals 8, Braves 6
In Washington, Jose Guillen broke a tie with a two-run double in the eighth inning for his 1,000th career hit, capping the Nationals' comeback against Atlanta.
Guillen's big hit came on the first pitch from reliever Dan Kolb. As he stood on second base, Guillen pumped his fist, then clapped his hands over his head, while the portable stands at RFK Stadium shook as they haven't for some time.
Gary Majewski (3-3) pitched a perfect eighth for the win, then gave way to closer Chad Cordero. He got three outs for his franchise-record 44th save, striking out Todd Hollandsworth and Rafael Furcal to end it.
The Nationals faced a 6-2 deficit after Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 46th homer in the fifth off starter Esteban Loaiza. But the Nationals fought back.
Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 1
In Denver, Shawn Estes pitched six shutout innings for his first win since June 24 and Chad Tracy hit a three-run homer to lead the Diamondbacks.
Troy Glaus and Craig Counsell also connected for Arizona.
Estes (7-7) allowed five hits, walked four and struck out two. The left-hander was activated from the disabled list before the game -- he had been out since July 6 with a stress fracture in his right ankle.
Colorado stranded nine runners in the first six innings against Estes.
Rockies starter Kim Byung-hyun (5-11) matched a career high with eight strikeouts. He gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Giants 2, Cubs 1
In San Francisco, Matt Cain pitched an electrifying two-hitter in his third major league start, and fellow rookie Dan Ortmeier got his first RBI for the Giants with a tiebreaking single.
Cain, a 20-year-old right-hander, retired seven straight batters before Derrek Lee's leadoff homer in the fourth inning. Cain then retired his next 15 hitters, many with fastballs topping 95 mph.
Jerry Hairston got a leadoff single in the ninth, but Cain finished off Chicago with three quick outs, including Jeromy Burnitz's soft grounder to second base to end it.
Cain (2-1) struck out eight. He also scored the Giants' first run -- and he even got his first major league hit on a seventh-inning double off the wall in left.
Padres 3, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Woody Williams held the Dodgers hitless through five innings and Ramon Hernandez homered in a three-run fourth, giving San Diego its third straight win.
The Padres remained seven games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West. The Dodgers dropped into a tie for third with Arizona.
Williams (8-11) allowed one run and two hits in 5 2-3 innings, struck out six and walked five for his second straight win and only his second in 11 starts.
The right-hander's no-hit bid was broken up in the sixth with Jeff Kent's one-out single to left field on Williams' 99th pitch. After retiring Olmedo Saenz, Williams gave up a run-scoring single to Jose Cruz Jr., making it 3-1, and was replaced by Rudy Seanez.
Seanez pitched one inning, Chris Hammond got the last out in the seventh and Akinori Otsuka worked the eighth. Trevor Hoffman got Jayson Werth to foul out with two men on to finish the five-hitter and earn his 37th save, including 34th in a row.
Ronald Garth and Marlon Abea each hit home runs as part of Nicaragua's 20-hit attack Friday and led Central Americans over the United States 14-2 to take the Group B lead.
Nicaragua improved to 5-0 with the victory, having outscored their opponents 34-6.
It was the first loss for the Americans (4-1), who dropped to third behind Japan (5-1).
The top four teams from each of the two groups advance to the quarterfinals.
In other games, Japan beat Australia 4-2 on homers from Yohei Kaneko and Keiji Ikebe.
In Group A, Eduardo Paret led off the bottom of the first inning with his second homer of the tournament, scored a run and knocked in another to help Cuba beat South Korea 4-1. The victory was Cuba's sixth in as many games and kept it tied atop the standings with the Netherlands, who beat Canada 7-3.
Elsewhere, it was, Puerto Rico 11, Czech Republic 1; Japan 4, Australia 2; Panama 8, Brazil 5; Colombia 3, Taiwan 2; and China 7, Sweden 5.
Nicaragua took the lead in the first inning on consecutive doubles by Garth and Jenrry Roa, who drove in another run with a single in the third and hit a two-run single in a four-run fourth.
Abea's three-run homer in the seventh, his second of the World Cup, put Nicaragua ahead 9-0. Garth, who entered the game with one hit in 15 at bats, completed a 2-for-4 day with a two-run homer in the ninth.
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