Associated Press
The American League roundup…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs with a pair of well-timed singles, Josh Beckett survived a shaky start to go seven innings and the Boston Red Sox got back on the winning track with a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
Jason Varitek drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had lost five of their last seven games after getting shut out by the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
Beckett (10-5) and the Royals proved to be the perfect matchup to turn things around. The right-hander allowed all three runs in the first three innings to improve to 7-1 in his career against them ó his only loss came July 28 in Boston.
Yankees 8, Twins 4
MINNEAPOLIS ó CC Sabathia stopped his two-start losing streak with nine strikeouts over seven innings, and the New York Yankees hit three home runs to support him in an 8-4 victory over the depleted Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
The Yankees lead the majors with 163 homers this season, despite only 13 from Alex Rodriguez, who has been out following knee surgery last month. Mark Teixeira hit his 33rd, a two-run shot in the third, and Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones hit back-to-back deep balls in the fifth inning against Brian Duensing (8-12).
Indians 4, White Sox 2
CHICAGO ó Justin Masterson pitched six effective innings, Kosuke Fukudome had a tiebreaking RBI triple and the Cleveland Indians inched closer to the top of the AL Central with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
Matt LaPorta hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which pulled within 11/2 games of idle Detroit for the division lead.
The Tribe opens a three-game series at Detroit on Friday.
Paul Konerko homered for the White Sox, which lost starter Phil Humber on a scary play in the second inning. Konerko, Adam Dunn and Omar Vizquel each had two hits, and Tyler Flowers singled in a run.
Masterson (10-7) allowed two runs and seven hits. Chris Perez got the last three outs for his 27th save in 30 chances.