Associated PressTORONTO ó Roy Halladay struck out a career-high 14 to win his major league-leading ninth game, Alex Rios backed him with a home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Halladay (9-1) threw his second complete game of the season, allowing four runs, no walks and seven hits to win his sixth straight decision. Working on an extra day of rest, he threw a season-high 133 pitches.
The right-hander, whose only defeat this season was an April 21 loss to Texas, moved ahead of Kansas City’s Zack Greinke for the major league lead in wins.
Joe Saunders (6-4) took the loss for Los Angeles.
Rays 6, Royals 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Matt Joyce hit a tiebreaking two-run double and added a two-run homer, and Andy Sonnanstine allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings to lead the Rays past the Royals.
Joyce made it 4-2 on his two-out double during the sixth off reliever Horacio Ramirez. He extended the Tampa Bay advantage to 6-2 on his third homer of the season in the eighth.
Sonnanstine (4-5) gave up six hits and had three strikeouts, rebounding from a start last Wednesday at Cleveland when the right-hander allowed eight runs and nine hits in three innings.
Tampa Bay, which won for the third time in nine games, also got a homer from Ben Zobrist.
Kyle Davies (2-5) took the loss.
Yankees 12, Rangers 3
NEW YORK ó Mark Teixeira sparked the Yankees with a takeout slide at second base after being hit with pitches twice, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada hit three-run homers and New York beat the Rangers to take over best record in the American League.
Derek Jeter became the fourth active player with 1,500 runs ó and just the fourth in Yankees history ó when Teixeira sent rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus tumbling on Alex Rodriguez’s fourth-inning grounder. A-Rod beat out the relay to avoid an inning-ending double play as Jeter scored for a 4-3 lead, keeping alive what would turn into a seven-run inning.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 1
DETROIT ó Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched five strong innings to win for the first time this season and manager Terry Francona earned his 500th victory as the Red Sox beat the Tigers.
Francona became the third Boston manager to reach that plateau with the Red Sox, joining Joe Cronin (1,071) and Mike Higgins (560).
Matsuzaka (1-3) came into the game with a 8.82 ERA in four starts, but allowed just one run and six hits with three walks. He matched a season-high with six strikeouts, and the Red Sox helped him with three double plays.
Rookie Rick Porcello (6-4) lost for the first time since April.
Twins 4, Indians 3
MINNEAPOLIS ó Joe Mauer homered and had three RBIs to help Kevin Slowey win again in the Twins’ victory over the Indians.
Slowey (8-1) won his fourth consecutive start pitching six strong innings. The Twins needed a good pitching performance to make up for the absence of two sluggers. Michael Cuddyer missed the game with a strained right index finger and Joe Crede sat out with a swollen left knee.
Joe Nathan recorded four outs for his 10th save in 12 chances, forcing pinch-hitter Ryan Garko to ground out to end the eighth inning and strand Mark DeRosa on third.
Athletics 5, White Sox 0
CHICAGO ó Vin Mazzaro pitched into the seventh inning to win his major league debut and Matt Holliday hit a three-run double to lead the Athletics to a victory over the White Sox.
Mazzaro allowed three hits, walked four and struck one in 61/3 innings. Jack Cust homered for Oakland, which won for just the second time in seven games.
Mazzaro (1-0), who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Sacramento before the game, helped end Chicago’s season-high, four-game winning streak.