Associated Press
BOSTON ó Dustin Pedroia doubled in a run in the eighth inning, Jon Lester outdueled Brian Bannister and Boston beat Kansas City 1-0 on Friday night.
Lester (8-6) allowed four hits through eight innings, while Bannister (6-7) gave up just one through seven.
Mark Kotsay, playing with a calf injury, led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. Pinch-runner Aaron Bates advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch. Pedroia, coming off consecutive three-hit games, doubled off the left-field wall to break the tie.
Jonathan Papelbon got the last three outs for his 23rd save.
Lester walked two and had eight strikeouts. Bannister went 7 2-3 innings, giving up three hits and four walks while striking out seven.
Blue Jays 2, Orioles 0
BALTIMORE ó Brett Cecil outpitched Jason Berken in a duel between struggling rookies and Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak.
Alex Rios hit two doubles and scored a run for the Blue Jays, but Scott Rolen’s 25-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance.
Cecil (3-1) allowed four hits over six innings to earn his first win in five starts since May 15. The left-hander came in with a 6.23 ERA and yielded 12 runs in his previous two starts.
Scott Downs, the fourth Blue Jays reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Rays 6, Athletics 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Jeff Niemann pitched a seven-hitter and Tampa Bay got home runs from Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria.
Niemann (8-4), the Rays’ No. 5 starter, has two shutouts this season.
Pena hit his 24th homer and Longoria added a solo shot for Tampa Bay, which has won nine straight at home.
Twins 6, White Sox 4
MINNEAPOLIS ó Joe Mauer’s two-out single snapped a seventh-inning tie and Minnesota hung on for the victory.
Nick Blackburn (8-4) gave up nine hits and four runs in seven innings. Joe Nathan worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.
The Twins took a 4-0 lead against starter John Danks in the first inning, but let the White Sox come back to tie it.
Tigers 5, Indians 1
DETROIT ó Edwin Jackson pitched seven sharp innings to help the Tigers beat Cliff Lee.
Marcus Thames hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning for Detroit, which has won three straight. Josh Anderson had a two-run single.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NEW YORK ó Bronson Arroyo threw a four-hitter for his second career shutout, Joey Votto and Laynce Nix homered off Fernando Nieve, and Cincinnati defeated New York 3-0 on Friday night.
The Mets have three shutout losses in their last six games, mustering only four singles in each of them. They did not get a runner to second base against Arroyo.
Arroyo (9-8) had been 1-5 in seven outings since May. He struck out five and walked none.
Phillies 3, Pirates 2
PHILADELPHIA ó Joe Blanton pitched into the eighth inning and Philadelphia’s Jayson Werth drove in two runs on the day he was named to his first All-Star team.
Blanton (6-4) allowed one run and four hits over 71/3 innings.
Werth, picked by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel to replace injured New York outfielder Carlos Beltran on the NL All-Star roster, hit a two-run double in the third to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.
Fellow All-Star Shane Victorino went 3 for 4 with two doubles for Philadelphia, which has won seven of eight, all at home.
Cardinals 8, Cubs 3
CHICAGO ó Albert Pujols hit his 32nd homer and Ryan Ludwick drove in four runs for St. Louis.
Pujols and Ludwick both reached base four times. Pujols had two RBIs to reach 85 and hit his first triple of the season.
Chris Carpenter (7-3) worked six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs with six strikeouts. The Cardinals’ ace improved his career record against the Cubs to 9-3, including 6-2 at Wrigley Field.
Astros 6, Nationals 5
HOUSTON ó Geoff Blum drove in Miguel Tejada with a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros rallied after Roy Oswalt was injured to beat the Washington Nationals 6-5.
Blum drove in the winning run in the Astros’ last at-bat for the third time this season.
Dodgers 12, Brewers 8 (10)MILWAUKEE ó Manny Ramirez tied Mickey Mantle on the career home run chart, and Matt Kemp hit a 10th-inning grand slam and made a fantastic catch for the final out to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the struggling Milwaukee Brewers 12-8 on Friday night.
Ramirez’s 536th homer pulled him even with Mantle for 15th place, and the Dodgers rallied against Trevor Hoffman in the ninth. Casey Blake drove in Ramirez with a triple in the 10th, and Kemp’s slam broke it open moments later.
Andre Ethier, James Loney and Russell Martin also homered for the Dodgers (55-31), who will enter the All-Star break with the best record in the majors.
D-backs 8, Marlins 0
PHOENIX ó All-Star Dan Haren threw his second career shutout, and Felipe Lopez hit a three-run homer.
The Diamondbacks jumped to a 7-0 fourth-inning lead on Ricky Nolasco, who lost for the first time since June 7. That lead turned out to be plenty for Haren (9-5).