Associated Press
NEW YORK ó Sergio Mitre earned his first win in two years, Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer and New York beat Baltimore 6-4 on Tuesday night for its fifth straight victory.
Alex Rodriguez had a key two-run single for the Yankees, who are a major league-best 43-22 since Rodriguez came off the disabled list May 8.
The Yankees (56-37) improved to a season-best 19 games over .500 and took a one-game lead in the AL East over Boston, which lost to Texas.
Rangers 4, Red Sox 2
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Texas rookie Tommy Hunter pitched six solid innings to beat Josh Beckett.
The Red Sox have lost four straight for the first time since last July, scoring only eight runs in the stretch.
Hank Blalock put Texas ahead to stay with a two-run single in the first, though Beckett retired the next 13 batters.
Tigers 9, Mariners 7
DETROIT ó Magglio Ordonez hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning.
Tigers closer Fernando Rodney allowed the first two batters to reach in the ninth before retiring the next three.
Indians 2, Blue Jays 1
TORONTO ó Victor Martinez hit a two-run double in the ninth and Cliff Lee had his second straight complete game.
Rays 3, White Sox 2
CHICAGO ó Carlos Pena’s sacrifice fly off Bobby Jenks capped Tampa Bay’s two-run ninth.
The Rays had the bases loaded with no outs against Jenks when Pat Burrell walked to force in Jason Bartlett with the tying run. Pena drove in Evan Longoria with a sacrifice fly to right.
The late rally made a winner of Jeff Nieman and spoiled an outstanding start by Clayton Richard, who allowed four hits over a career-high eight innings.
Twins 3, Athletics 2 (10 innings)
OAKLAND, Calif. ó Michael Cuddyer hit a go-ahead triple in the 10th inning a night after he was called out in a game-ending play at home trying to score the tying run.
Cuddyer’s two-out triple off All-Star closer Andrew Bailey (4-3) scored Joe Mauer, who singled with one out.Angels 10, Royals 2, 2nd game
Angels 8, Royals 5, 1st game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Erick Aybar broke open a close second game with a three-run triple and had seven hits in Los Angeles’s doubleheader sweep.
Aybar had three hits, three runs and an RBI in the opener. In the nightcap, he finished a homer short of the cycle after his bases-loaded triple off Juan Cruz started the Angels’ seven-run seventh.
Aybar was 7 for 9 in the two games, raising his average this month to .490.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Phillies 4, Cubs 1 (13 innings)
PHILADELPHIA ó Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 13th inning to send Philadelphia to its 10th straight victory.
The Phillies are on their longest winning streak in 18 years. They won 13 straight from July 30 to Aug. 12, 1991.
Braves 8, Giants 1
ATLANTA ó Martin Prado had three hits and scored three runs, and Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs for Atlanta.
The Braves have averaged 7.2 runs in a 5-1 start to their eight-game homestand and are 9-3 in their last 12 games.
Derek Lowe (9-7) allowed seven hits and one run in six innings.
Nationals 4, Mets 0
WASHINGTON ó John Lannan threw his first career shutout, allowing seven hits and getting 17 groundouts.
New York has been shut out five times in its last 13 games and seven times in 26 games since Carlos Beltran went on the DL on June 22. The Mets have been blanked nine times this year, tying Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox for the major league lead.
Mets reliever Bobby Parnell (East Rowan) threw a perfect eighth inning.
Willie Harris flied out to center, Austin Kearns grounded out to short and Alberto Gonzalez flied out to center.
Parnell’s ERA went down to 4.14.
Astros 11, Cardinals 6
HOUSTON ó Carlos Lee’s grand slam was one of three Houston homers.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 5
DENVER ó Miguel Montero singled and scored the tying run in the seventh inning and then hit a two-run homer in the eighth for Arizona.
Brewers 2, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH ó Braden Looper allowed four hits in seven innings, Prince Fielder had two two-out RBI singles and Pittsburgh was shut out for the ninth time this season.
Marlins 3, Padres 2
SAN DIEGO ó Chris Volstad pitched seven strong innings for Florida.
The Padres had only five singles until rookie Kyle Blanks hit Leo Nunez’s first pitch of the ninth an estimated 417 feet for his first career homer.
Dodgers 12, Reds 3
LOS ANGELES ó Rafael Furcal hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs, Matt Kemp added a two-run shot and the Dodgers picked up their 11th consecutive home win over the Reds.
The Dodgers (60-34) are 26 games over .500 for the first time since 1991.