Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run home run, his second homer of the game, in the top of the ninth inning to help the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
The win, combined with Tampa Bay’s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, allowed the Yankees to overtake the Rays in the tight American League East race.
The Yankees were trailing 3-1 before Rodriguez smashed his three-run blast off relief pitcher Koji Uehara. Mariano Rivera then pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save.
Uehara thought he had struck out Rodriguez to finish the game, but did not get the call from home plate umpire Ted Barrett.
“From where I was looking, I could see their whole dugout,” Rodriguez said. “And their whole dugout literally jumped ... hoping or expecting that to be strike three. So they laughed at me, and I laughed at them a little.”
Baltimore’s Kevin Millwood and Yankees starter A.J. Burnett had dueled through seven innings before both left the game with the Orioles leading 3-1.
Millwood gave up a homer to Rodriguez to start the second inning, but escaped further damage by stranding three Yankees runners. He allowed just three hits over his final five innings.
Burnett gave up solo home runs to Adam Jones (fourth inning) and Robert Andino (seventh), while Nick Markakis’ sacrifice fly brought home Cesar Izturis in the third.
Burnett allowed three runs on six hits with a walk, striking out five, while Millwood finished with five hits, four walks and struck out six batters.
“When you’re down and you win like that, that’s pretty big, especially the way we’ve been playing,” said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who led off the ninth inning with a single.
“A win like this really helps us — helps us mentally,” Posada said.
Tigers 9, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Max Scherzer struck out 11 in eight innings to guide Detroit past Chicago.
Scherzer (11-10) allowed two hits — solo homers — and retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
Alex Avila hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh for the Tigers.
After a devastating three-game sweep against Minnesota, the White Sox continued to fade in the AL Central by losing their fourth straight game.
Edwin Jackson (3-2) pitched six-and-a-third innings for Chicago, allowing four runs.
Athletics 3, Twins 1
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the light-hitting Oakland Athletics did just enough to beat the a watered-down Minnesota Twins lineup.
Oakland starter Brett Anderson (6-6) struck out five, before Joe Mauer popped out with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning.
Nick Blackburn (9-10) had another encouraging start for the Twins, who were coming off a three-game sweep of the White Sox that put them nine games up in the AL Central. Blackburn gave up eight hits in seven innings.
Jack Cust homered for the A’s.
In other AL action it was:
• Angels 4, Rays 3
• Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 9
• Mariners 2, Rangers 1
• Indians 11, Royals 4
AP, NEW YORK
The Atlanta Braves shook off the road blues, starting their critical nine-game trip by beating the New York Mets 6-4 in the National League on Friday.
Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run fourth inning spurred by an error from New York’s David Wright.
Tommy Hanson (10-11) won for just the second time in 14 starts for the Braves, who are three games behind the Phillies in the NL East and with a half-game lead over San Diego in the wild-card race.
Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese (9-9) gave up a two-run double before Heyward drilled a shot off the facing of the second deck in right field. All the runs against Niese were unearned because of Wright’s error.
Phillies 9, Nationals 1
In Philadelphia, Roy Oswalt threw six sharp innings to earn his seventh straight win as Philadelphia beat Washington.
Oswalt (13-13) allowed one run and struck out seven. He is 7-0 with a 1.41 ERA in his past eight starts and 7-1 overall since Philadelphia acquired him from Houston.
The Phillies won their fifth straight game and reduced their magic number for clinching their fourth consecutive division title to 12. The two-time NL champions entered with a three-game lead over Atlanta.
Philadelphia jumped on Nationals pitcher Jason Marquis (2-9) for six runs in the first inning.
Rockies 7, Dodgers 5
In Los Angeles, Troy Tulowitzki hit his 12th homer this month, powering Colorado to a win over Los Angeles that moved the Rockies closer to a playoff spot.
Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez (19-6) tied Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia for the major league lead in wins as Colorado closed within one-and-a-half games of NL West-leading San Francisco.
The Dodgers’ defeat came hours after manager Joe Torre announced he would leave at season’s end, after three years in Los Angeles.
Cardinals 14, Padres 4
In St Louis, Missouri, Yadier Molina went 4-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs to lead St Louis over San Diego.
The Padres remained half a game behind first-placed San Francisco in the NL West, but fell one-and-a-half games behind Atlanta in the wild-card race. San Diego had led the NL West by six-and-a-half games on Aug. 25.
St Louis have won 11 straight games against San Diego at Busch Stadium, tying the longest active streak in the major leagues.
The Cardinals pounded out a season-high 19 hits and saddled San Diego rookie Mat Latos with the worst loss of his career. Latos (14-7) lasted just one-and-a-third innings and gave up eight earned runs.
St Louis starter Kyle Lohse (4-7) allowed seven hits over five innings to take the win.
In other NL action it was:
• Astros 5, Reds 3
• Brewers 3, Giants 0
• Cubs 2, Marlins 0
• Pirates 4, Diamondbacks 3
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