Jason Giambi hit his 30th homer and drove in five runs, helping the New York Yankees rout Tampa Bay 17-3 Tuesday and nudge closer to first-place Boston in the American League East.
Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada each had four RBIs for the Yankees, who pulled within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox, who lost 9-3 at Toronto.
Jaret Wright (5-2) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings, winning his third straight decision since coming off the disabled list Aug. 15.
PHOTO: AP
Giambi had a three-run homer in the first and a two-run single in the sixth, when New York scored seven runs and batted around for the third time in the game. The Yankees finished with 20 hits, including 18 singles.
Matsui went 4-for-4 with a two-run double and two-run single. Posada walked with the bases loaded in the first, then followed with a RBI single in the second and two-run single in the sixth.
Doug Waechter (5-10) started for Tampa Bay, which had won 11 of the 16 games between the teams before Tuesday night.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 3
At Toronto, Gabe Gross hit his first home run in nearly a year during a five-run second inning for Toronto, which beat Boston for their ninth time in 13 games this season.
David Ortiz of the Red Sox tied his career-high with his 41st homer. It was his 37th as a designated hitter, matching the major league record set by Seattle's Edgar Martinez in 2000.
Matt Clement (13-5) gave up six runs and six hits in six innings, dropping to 0-2 with a 8.60 ERA in three starts this year against the Blue Jays.
Blue Jays starter Scott Downs (3-3) yielded up three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Twins 9, Tigers 3
At Detroit, Matthew LeCroy, Luis Rivas and Jason Bartlett homered for Minnesota, which has won two straight, both against Detroit, after losing five of six. The Tigers have lost 11 of 13.
Brad Radke (9-11) allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings to improve his career record against the Tigers to 19-6.
Nate Robertson (6-14) gave up seven runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in three innings. Robertson has lost his last four starts with an ERA of 9.41 over that span.
Ivan Rodriguez homered for Detroit.
Indians 5, Athletics 2
At Cleveland, Ben Broussard's second homer of the game, a tiebreaking three-run shot in the eighth inning, sent Cleveland to the victory that kept the Indians in control of the AL wild-card race.
The Indians are one game in front of the Yankees for the wild card and 2 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics.
Cleveland was down 2-0 in the seventh when Broussard hit a two-run shot.
Kevin Millwood (8-11) allowed one run and seven hits while lowering his league-leading ERA to 3.02.
The Indians turned a season-high five double plays, including one in the ninth when Bob Wickman finished for his AL-leading 40th save.
The game was delayed for 21 minutes in the sixth inning when a computer system shut down and caused several of the toothbrush-shaped light towers above Jacobs Field to go dark.
Orioles 4, Rangers 3
At Arlington, Texas, Luis Matos drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth inning and Baltimore beat Texas to win its fourth straight.
Walter Young, who hit his first major league homer in the seventh, led off the ninth with a single off reliever C.J. Wilson (1-7). Pinch-runner Ed Rogers went to second on Chris Gomez's sacrifice bunt. Rangers closer Francisco Cordero came on and, after getting one out, gave up the double to Matos.
Chris Ray (1-3) gave up the tying run in the eighth but got the win. B.J. Ryan got three outs for his 33rd save.
Baltimore rookie starter John Maine allowed two hits -- solo homers by Kevin Mench and Hank Blalock -- in 6 1-3 innings. Maine gave up Mench's 25th homer in the second and Blalock's 24th in the seventh, but held the rest of the Rangers hitless in his fifth major league start.
Mariners 2, Angels 1
At Seattle, Greg Dobbs singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth for Seattle.
Los Angeles lost its second straight game to the Mariners but still leads Oakland by one game in the AL West.
Jeremy Reed reached on a bunt single against Paul Byrd (11-10) leading off the ninth and took third on Raul Ibanez's single.
Scot Shields relieved and the Angels brought in center fielder Maicer Izturis, creating a five-man infield. Richie Sexson grounded into a 4-8-3 double play on which Reed held. The Angels intentionally walked Adrian Beltre, who took second on defensive indifference. Dobbs then singled to center.
J.J. Putz (6-5) was the winner.
White Sox 6, Royals 4
At Kansas City, Missouri, Jose Contreras won his fifth straight start and Chicago beat Kansas City for the 13th time in 16 games this season.
Juan Uribe hit two doubles and drove in a run, raising his average in September to a major league-high .487. Aaron Rowand had four hits, including a career-high three doubles. Chicago hit seven doubles, a season high.
Contreras (12-7) improved to 8-2 since the All-Star break. He gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. Bobby Jenks pitched two innings for his second save.
Mike Wood (4-7) lasted just four innings. Woodgave up three runs and five hits.
Juan Pierre walked in the seventh inning when umpires said Wandy Rodriguez touched his mouth with his hand while on the mound, and Paul Lo Duca followed with a tiebreaking, two-run homer that gave Florida a 4-2 victory over Houston on Tuesday.
Josh Beckett (14-8) struck out eight over 7 1-3 innings, and Carlos Delgado homered for the second straight game, reaching 30 for the ninth straight season.
Florida leads Philadelphia by one game in the National League wild-card standings.
Mike Lamb and Adam Everett homered for the Astros, who lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped 1.5 games behind the Marlins.
With the score tied 2-2 and one out in the seventh, Pierre worked the count to 3-2 against Rodriguez (9-8). Before the next pitch, third base umpire Bruce Dreckman signaled ball four, citing Rodriguez for making contact between his hand and mouth or lips, a violation of baseball's rules.
Astros manager Phil Garner and Rodriguez argued in vain that the pitcher had merely touched his nose.
Chad Qualls relieved, and Lo Duca hit his fifth homer.
Beckett allowed two runs and nine hits. Todd Jones got his 37th save.
Phillies 5, Braves 4
At Philadelphia, Mike Lieberthal drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the sixth inning to lead Philadelphia, which is one game behind Florida in the NL wild-card race.
The Phillies have won two straight over East-leading Atlanta and four of five overall since being swept by Houston last week.
Ryan Howard homered and doubled, Chase Utley drove in two runs and Kenny Lofton went 3-for-3 with a triple and scored twice for Philadelphia.
Andruw Jones had a three-run double for the Braves, increasing his NL-leading RBI total to 124.
Nationals 4, Mets 2
At New York, Hector Carrasco filled a hole in Washington's rotation with a solid spot start, and the Nationals used a three-run third inning to beat New York.
Brad Wilkerson, Marlon Byrd and Preston Wilson each had an RBI single to help Washington win the opener of a three-game series between teams barely on the fringe of the NL wild-card race.
Gary Majewski (4-3) pitched two scoreless innings for a victory, the Nationals' second in seven games.
Substitute left fielder Marlon Anderson homered and threw out a runner at the plate for the Mets, who lost for the 13th time in 16 games.
Carrasco allowed two runs and three hits in four innings, striking out six and throwing 74 pitches.
Jon Rauch, Joey Eischen and Majewski followed with shutout relief before Chad Cordero got three outs for his 45th save.
Cardinals 5, Pirates 4
At St. Louis, Chris Carpenter blew a four-run lead in his worst outing since his 13-game winning streak began in mid-June, but St. Louis rallied on David Eckstein's ninth-inning RBI single to beat Pittsburgh.
Jim Edmonds and Yadier Molina homered for the Cardinals, who are 12-3 this season against the Pirates and reduced their magic number for clinching the NL Central to two. They have won the first two games of the series despite getting outhit 24-13.
Ryan Doumit singled, homered and doubled for the Pirates, who have lost 15 of 18.
Hector Luna singled off Rick White (4-7) with two outs in the ninth. Luna stole second and pinch-hitter John Rodriguez was intentionally walked before Eckstein's bloop hit to shallow right.
Cubs 4, Reds 3, 10 innings
At Chicago, Todd Walker's long single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning gave Chicago the victory over Cincinnati.
Derrek Lee hit his 42nd homer for the Cubs.
Felipe Lopez and Edwin Encarnacion hit homers for the Reds, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Matt Murton led off the 10th with his third hit of the game, a single off Reds reliever David Weathers (7-2). After an error, a strikeout and a walk, Walker ended it with a fly ball that landed on the warning track in right.
Michael Wuertz (6-2) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.
Rockies 6, Dodgers 4
At Los Angeles, Clint Barmes triggered a six-run second inning with a two-run single with the bases loaded and Colorado held on to beat Los Angeles.
Kim Sun-woo (5-2) won his third straight decision over four starts, allowing four runs and five hits in five innings. Brian Fuentes got three outs for his 27th save.
Rookie Edwin Jackson (1-2) gave up six runs, five earned, and three hits. His 1 1-3 inning stint was the shortest by a Dodgers starter this year.
All three Los Angeles outfielders committed an error during the Rockies' rally, which equaled the most runs scored against the Dodgers in one inning this season. One of the errors was a poor throw to the plate by left fielder Ricky Ledee after he fielded the two-run single by Barmes.
Giants 5, Padres 4
At San Francisco, Barry Bonds singled and walked twice in his second game of the season and Mike Matheny hit two RBI doubles to lead San Francisco past San Diego.
First-place San Diego lost its fourth straight but still holds a five-game lead in the NL West.
Noah Lowry (13-12) overcame baserunners in every inning for the win, and Ray Durham hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth for San Francisco.
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