Associated Press
BOSTON ó Nelson Cruz homered, tripled and doubled, helping the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Sunday for their first series win at Fenway Park in 12 years.
Texas took two of three in a matchup of AL division leaders. Boston dropped a half-game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Cruz’s 17th homer and 10th in his last 17 games drove in Texas’ final run. Cruz hit a solo shot in the seventh off Hideki Okajima that ended Boston’s bullpen scoreless streak at 12 innings.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4) gave up 10 hits and five runs in 52/3 innings for Boston.
Yankees 4, Rays 3
NEW YORK ó Mariano Rivera bounced back from a poor outing against Tampa Bay, and the Yankees played small ball to rally for three runs in the eighth inning.
Nick Swisher hit the 100th home run in 28 games at the new Yankee Stadium, helping Joe Girardi earn his 200th win as a manager. Alfredo Aceves (4-1) pitched two scoreless innings in New York’s major league-leading 20th comeback victory this season.
Hideki Matsui beat out a potential double-play grounder to drive in the go-ahead run, then Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save ó one day after giving up four runs in the ninth inning and taking the loss.
Blue Jays 4, Royals 0
TORONTO ó Roy Halladay pitched a seven-hitter to become the first 10-game winner in the majors, and Toronto beat Kansas City.
Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay homered for the Blue Jays, who won two of three in the series.
Halladay (10-1) needed only 97 pitches to record his 43rd career complete game and 12th shutout. He was coming off a career-high 133 pitches in a complete-game victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Tigers 9, Angels 6
DETROIT ó Clete Thomas’ grand slam broke an eighth-inning tie and Detroit took advantage of a key error by first baseman Kendry Morales to beat Los Angeles.
Chone Figgins and Juan Rivera homered off Rick Porcello for the Angels, and Bobby Abreu doubled for his 2,000th hit.
Indians 8, White Sox 4
CHICAGO ó Rookies Chris Gimenez and Luis Valbuena hit consecutive homers off former Cleveland ace Bartolo Colon, and the Indians beat Chicago.
Victor Martinez and Shin-Soo Choo also hit back-to-back homers off Colon (3-6), helping the Indians win a road series for only the second time this season.
Chicago is 2-5 on a homestand that concludes with a five-game series against first-place Detroit.
David Huff (1-2) allowed three runs ó all on Alexei Ramirez’s homer ó in five innings to earn his first career victory. The White Sox are 2 for 39 with runners in scoring position over their last six games.
Athletics 3, Orioles 0
OAKLAND, Calif. ó Vin Mazzaro pitched into the eighth inning and Oakland beat Baltimore for its season-high sixth straight win.
After Adam Jones led off the game with a single, Mazzaro (2-0) retired 15 of his next 16 hitters ó an impressive showing for his second career start.
Mariners 4, Twins 2
SEATTLE ó Jose Lopez homered and drove in two runs, leading Erik Bedard and Seattle past Minnesota.
Russell Branyan and Jamie Burke also homered for the Mariners, who took two of three from the Twins and have won three consecutive series.