Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Jason Bartlett drove in a career-high five runs and Tampa Bay beat struggling Oakland 13-4 on Monday night for a season-best four-game winning streak.
Rookie Jeff Niemann (4-3) allowed four runs and eight hits in eight innings to win for the fourth time in his last five decisions. He struck out three and walked none in the longest outing of his career.
Bartlett went 3-for-3 with a walk to raise his batting average to .384. He had a two-run single off Sean Gallagher (1-2) in the first as well as a run-scoring triple in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth.
“I know he played really well last year. But at no point did I see him play this well,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I’m talking a complete game.”
The A’s have been outscored 47-13 during a four-game losing streak in which their starting pitchers have yielded 31 runs (23 earned) in 13 innings.
Yankees 7, Twins 6
NEW YORK ó Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate, combining with Alex Rodriguez for back-to-back drives in a six-run first inning, and New York completed a four-game sweep of Minnesota.
Teixeira was hitting .198 on May 8 with five homers and 15 RBIs. Since Rodriguez returned to the lineup that night, Teixeira has raised his average to .239, doubled his home run total and increased his RBIs to 29.
“Pitchers are just making a few more mistakes,” Teixeira said. “It puts a lot of pressure on them when Alex is in the lineup and, you know, a pitcher is not going to want to get into deep counts and maybe walk me with a guy like A-Rod behind me.”
After stringing together three straight walk-off wins for the first time since 1972, the Yankees overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit and hung on to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games.
Andy Pettitte (4-1) won consecutive starts for the first time this year, allowing four runs and 12 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Glen Perkins (1-3) lasted just nine batters and got two outs, allowing six runs and seven hits. Minnesota dropped to 4-12 on the road but is 14-9 at home.
Blue Jays 3, White Sox 2
TORONTO ó Alex Rios hit a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning and Toronto completed a four-game sweep of Chicago.
Jim Thome tied it in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer, the 548th of his career, but Toronto rallied against Octavio Dotel (1-1).
Chicago lost its season-high fifth straight and has dropped 10 in a row at Toronto.
Dotel had not allowed a run in 14 games this season, a span of 12 1/3 innings, when he relieved in the eighth with the score 2-all.Jose Bautista drew a leadoff walk, moved up on a sacrifice and stole third. Rios’ triple skipped past a diving Scott Podsednik in center field.
“It’s kind of a crazy week,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said afterward. “I can’t describe it. We’re losing games in different ways all the time, late in the game, early in the game, by a lot of runs, by a few runs. There’s so many different ways to lose, you can’t describe each of them.”
The White Sox have lost 12 of 15 since May 2 to drop from first to fourth in the AL Central.
Angels 10, Mariners 6
SEATTLEó Torii Hunter hit a three-run double in a five-run fifth inning and Kendry Morales homered twice, rallying John Lackey and the Angels.
Lackey won in his second start in three days. The Angels’ ace returned from a quick ejection on Saturday.