Josh Beckett pitched three-hit ball over seven innings, leading Boston to a 10-1 win on Saturday that dropped New York 5.5 games back of the first-place Red Sox with a little more than two weeks to play.
Wang Chien-ming (王建民), who had won his previous five starts, allowed five runs, nine hits and three walks in five-and-two-thirds innings. Boston knocked out Wang in a three-run sixth that boosted the lead to 5-1, then scored four more runs in the seventh, when the Yankees needed five pitchers to get out of the inning.
In a physical game that featured a bruising home-plate collision and two hit batters, David Ortiz went 3-for-3 with a two-run double and Eric Hinske homered. Boston lowered its magic number to nine for clinching the division.
New York had rallied from a 7-2 deficit on Friday to beat Boston for the fifth straight time, but Beckett (19-6) stopped the Yankees' momentum. He allowed one run and a walk while striking out seven, winning his third straight start.
Tigers 4, Twins 3
At Minneapolis, Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez quickly got to Johan Santana, helping Detroit close within 2.5 games of New York in the American League wild-card race.
Joel Zumaya (2-3) pitched one-and-two-thirds hitless innings for the victory in relief of Yorman Bazardo, a 23-year-old right-hander who pitched effectively in his first major league start.
Todd Jones got around a two-out walk in the ninth, retiring Jason Bartlett on a game-ending grounder for his 36th save this season and the 299th of his career.
Devil Rays 6, Mariners 2
At Seattle, Horacio Ramirez (8-7) lasted four batters and didn't get any outs in matching the second-shortest start in Mariners' history as the Devil Rays downed Seattle.
Scott Kazmir (13-8) allowed three hits in six innings and struck out 11, his fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season.
Seattle was outhit 14-4, lost for the 16th time in 21 games and remained 5.5 games back of the Yankees. Carl Crawford and Jonny Gomes had four hits apiece for the Devil Rays.
Blue Jays 8, Orioles 3
At Toronto, Frank Thomas hit his 509th career home run, one of a club-record seven consecutive hits to begin the game, as Toronto beat Baltimore.
Roy Halladay worked seven strong innings to win for the first time in six starts. Halladay (15-7) allowed one run and five hits, walked two and struck out two. His last win came Aug. 14 against the Los Angeles Angels.
Indians 6, Royals 0
At Cleveland, Fausto Carmona pitched three-hit ball over eight innings, retiring his final 16 batters and leading Cleveland over Kansas City.
Travis Hafner homered for Cleveland, which cut its magic number to nine for clinching its first AL Central title since 2001. The Indians have won 17 of their last 21 games.
Angels 2, White Sox 1
At Chicago, Jered Weaver allowed four hits in six innings to get his 12th victory and Anaheim kept Jim Thome stuck at 499 homers while beating Chicago.
Weaver (12-7) allowed one run, walked one and struck out eight to surpass the win total of his rookie season a year ago as he outpitched Chicago starter Jon Garland and dropped the Angels' magic number for winning the AL West to eight.
Athletics 7, Rangers 3
At Oakland, Nick Swisher homered for the third straight game and Dan Johnson connected twice and had a two-run single to help Oakland's Joe Blanton win his third straight start by beating Texas.
Mark Ellis doubled in a run and Jack Cust added an RBI single for the A's, who have won the first three games in this four-game set between the bottom two teams in the AL West.
Blanton (14-9) didn't allow a hit until Jason Botts lined a single to right to start the fifth, the first of three straight base hits. David Murphy had an RBI single and the Rangers scored another run when Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded into a double play that made it 3-2.
Miguel Cairo's RBI triple capped a four-run third inning as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday to end a nine-game losing streak.
Chicago's National League Central lead was cut to one game over Milwaukee, but St. Louis is six games back of the Cubs with just over two weeks remaining.
In the opener, Alfonso Soriano hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth that powered the Cubs to a 3-2 win and gave Kerry Wood (1-1) his first victory since May 29 last year. St. Louis lost nine in a row for the first time since a 10-game skid in 1980.
Brewers 5, Reds 3
At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 46th homer, setting a Milwaukee franchise record, as the Brewers downed Cincinnati.
Fielder's solo homer in the third off Kirk Saarloos (1-5) gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead and surpassed the previous team home-run mark he shared with Gorman Thomas (1979) and Richie Sexson (2001, 2003). Fielder extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games and is batting .422 with seven homers and 12 RBIs this month.
Padres 6, Giants 0
At San Diego, Brett Tomko (3-11) scattered four singles in six innings in his first start for the Padres, Mike Cameron hit a two-run homer and San Diego pulled within two games of NL West-leading Arizona.
San Diego, which leads the major leagues with 19 shutouts, maintained a 1.5-game lead in the wild-card race over Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Phillies 5, Mets 3
At New York, Carlos Beltran misplayed Jimmy Rollins' line drive into a two-run triple, helping Philadelphia win its seventh straight victory over New York.
New York wasted another terrific start by Pedro Martinez, who struck out nine and held the Phillies to one run in six innings.
Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 2
At Los Angeles, Derek Lowe, who missed a start after being injured while playing catch, allowed one run in seven innings, Luis Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to cap a four-run first and the Dodgers won their second straight over Arizona.
Lowe (12-12) gave up four hits while walking one and striking out five before being relieved by Joe Beimel to start the eighth. It was the Dodgers' fourth straight win.
Marlins 10, Rockies 2
At Denver, Miguel Cabrera hit the first grand slam of his career and Hanley Ramirez had two singles and three stolen bases as Florida trounced Colorado.
The last-place Marlins put another crimp in the Rockies' postseason hopes, beating them for the second straight night. Colorado dropped 4.5 games behind the Padres and has lost three in a row for the first time since dropping eight straight in June.
Nationals 7, Braves 4
At Washington, two players hit their first homers of the season, another player hit his second and Chipper Jones hit No. 26 as Washington downed Atlanta.
Jason Bergmann (5-5) pitched six-and-two-thirds innings to win his third straight start and D'Angelo Jimenez took advantage of a rare spot in the lineup to get three hits.
The Nationals beat Atlanta starter Lance Cormier (2-6) for the second time in less than a week, keeping the Braves 8.5 games behind the NL East leading New York Mets.
Astros 9, Pirates 7
At Houston, Ty Wigginton homered twice and Carlos Lee drove in three runs during a seven-run fourth inning as Houston rallied from five down to beat Pittsburgh.
Juan Gutierrez (1-1) relieved in the fourth inning and went two innings without allowing a hit to earn the win. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 21 tries.
Wandy Rodriguez lasted only three innings and allowed five runs, five hits and three walks, striking out five.
Matt Morris fell to 2-3 in nine starts with the Pirates, who acquired him on July 31.
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