Associated Press
BOSTONó Joe Saunders pitched six solid innings to win his fourth consecutive decision, and Gary Matthews Jr. singled in the go-ahead runs in the Angelsí four-run seventh inning on Thursday as Los Angeles beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5.
Saunders (4-0) left trailing 3-1. The Angels rallied in the seventh, when three Red Sox relievers allowed four singles and three walks to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead.
Scot Shields pitched a perfect eighth, then gave up David Ortizís two-run homer with two outs in the ninth. Francisco Rodriguez earned his ninth save.
A day after hitting two solo homers in a win over the Red Sox, Matthews had three hits and three RBIs. He drove in a pair with a bases-loaded single in the seventh after the Angels rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie it.
Tigers 8, Rangers 2
DETROIT ó Magglio Ordonez hit two of Detroitís five homers to lead the Tigers to their season-best fourth straight win. Detroit outscored the Rangers 37-10 in the three-game series, while Texas has lost seven straight.
Zach Miner (1-1) followed with 31/3 hitless innings as the Tigers pulled away.
Jason Jennings (0-4) allowed five runs on five hits and five walks in five innings, raising his ERA to 7.46 in five starts.
Athletics 11, Twins 2
OAKLAND, Calif. ó Donnie Murphy hit solo homers in the fifth and sixth innings, but they both came after the Aís had jumped on Francisco Liriano for six runs in the first.
Emil Brown hit a two-run single as the Aís batted around in the first and chased Liriano (0-3) after only two-thirds of an inning. It was the shortest outing by a Twins starter since May 30, 2002, when Brad Radke lasted one-third of an inning before leaving with an injury.
Indians 9, Royals 6, 1st game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Grady Sizemore had four hits and two RBIs and Fausto Carmona survived five shaky innings to send Kansas City to its sixth straight loss.
Sizemore was 4-for-5 with three singles and a solo home run and Casey Blake and Jason Michaels both had two RBIs amid Clevelandís 15-hit attack. Blake followed his 4-for-4, six-RBI game Tuesday by reaching base three times in four at-bats, with two RBI singles.
Rays 5, Blue Jays 3
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ó Evan Longoria tripled and had a sacrifice fly, and Eric Hinske drove in two runs for Tampa, which completed a three-game sweep of a home-away-from-home series at Disney World.
The Rays improved to 6-0 in regular-season games theyíve played here in an ongoing effort to bolster fan support in the Orlando area, which is about 90 miles east of the teamís domed stadium in St. Petersburg.
Andy Sonnanstine (3-1), coming off a three-hit, complete-game shutout of the Chicago White Sox, allowed three runs and six hits.
White Sox 7, Yankees 6
CHICAGO ó Joe Crede singled in the winning run off Joba Chamberlain in the bottom of the ninth to help Chicago avoid a three-game sweep.
Carlos Quentin doubled with one out off Chamberlain (1-1) and Crede lined a single to left-center to score him. It was the first career loss for Chamberlain, New Yorkís hard-throwing 22-year-old right-hander.
Indians 9, Royals 6, 1st game
Indians 2, Royals 0, 2nd game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Cliff Lee faced only two batters over the minimum while pitching a three-hit shutout to give Cleveland a doubleheader sweep.
Lee (4-0) struck out nine and did not issue a walk while shrinking his major league-best ERA to 0.28 as the Royals lost their seventh straight game.
In the opener, Grady Sizemore, Casey Blake and Jason Michaels all had two RBIs and powered the Indians in their first series-clinching win since they opened the season by taking two of three from the White Sox.