Red Sox mount rally to beat Yankees 12-8

NEW YORK: Mike Napoli hit a tying grand slam in the seventh, Shane Victorino had a go-ahead homer one inning later and the Boston Red Sox rallied past the New York Yankees 12-8 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Will Middlebrooks homered for the third straight day and Boston erased a five-run deficit in another wild game between these longtime rivals. One night earlier, the Yankees took an 8-7 lead with a six-run seventh — only to lose 9-8 in 10 innings on Victorino’s tiebreaking single.
New York has lost consecutive games when scoring at least eight runs for the first time since September 1949, according to STATS. The last time it happened with both games at home was 1911 against Cleveland.
Napoli also doubled, singled and walked twice in a perfect night at the plate. He scored three times, one night after sparking Boston’s ninth-inning comeback with a two-out single off Mariano Rivera.
The Red Sox, who have a 7½-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay, have slowed New York’s wild-card charge by winning the first two games of a four-game set, improving to 9-5 against New York this year. They have scored 41 runs in their past three games and won 11 of 13 overall.
Alfonso Soriano homered and Brett Gardner hit a two-run triple for the Yankees, but Phil Hughes and Boone Logan failed to hold an 8-3 lead for Andy Pettitte. New York went hitless after the fifth inning.
Athletics 7 Astros 5: In Oakland, California, Josh Donaldson had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Oakland beat Houston to move into first in the AL West.
Jed Lowrie added two hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which has won six of eight. Yoenis Cespedes and Nate Freiman had two hits apiece.
The A’s grabbed a half-game lead over the Rangers, who lost 6-5 at the Los Angeles Angels.
A.J. Griffin (13-9) gave up four runs over six innings.

Mariners 6 Rays 4: In Seattle, Justin Smoak doubled in a pair of runs off Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta in the eighth inning and Seattle rallied for a victory over the Rays.
The Rays’ lead was cut to two games over the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles in the race for the second wild-card berth in the American League.
After tying the game in the top of the eighth, the Rays couldn’t keep the Mariners from going ahead.


Orioles 4 White Sox 0: In Baltimore, Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 48th home run, Scott Feldman pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout and Baltimore beat extended Chicago’s losing streak to eight games.
Davis connected in the sixth inning off John Danks to move within two homers of tying Brady Anderson for the single-season club record. The solo shot gave Davis 123 RBIs, second-most in the majors behind Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera (130).
Danny Valencia and Matt Wieters also homered for the Orioles. All three long balls came off Danks (4-12).
Making his 11th start since he was acquired in a trade with the Cubs on July 2, Feldman (5-4) allowed only one runner past first base.
Tigers 16 Royals 2: In Kansas City, Missouri, Omar Infante set career highs with five hits and six RBIs, Andy Dirks also went 5 for 5 and Detroit pounded Kansas City.
Austin Jackson drove in four runs as the Tigers finished with a season-high 26 hits. Dirks, who is hitting .410 against Kansas City this season, scored four times.
Infante had run-producing singles in the second, fourth and seventh innings and a three-run double in the fifth. It was more than enough support for Anibal Sanchez (13-7), who allowed one run in seven innings while lowering his AL-best ERA to 2.61.
Angels 6 Rangers 5: In Anaheim, California, Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer and C.J. Wilson pitched into the seventh inning to beat Texas for the first time, leading Los Angeles over the Rangers.
Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun had RBI singles during a five-run fourth inning for the Angels, who have won 11 of 14 late in their lost season. Trumbo capped the rally with his 30th homer.
Alex Rios and Elvis Andrus homered for the Rangers.
Interleague
Indians 8 Mets 1: In Cleveland, Scott Kazmir struck out a season-high 12 in six innings, Nick Swisher hit a grand slam and Cleveland continued its playoff push with a win over New York.
Kazmir (8-7) struck out at least one batter in each inning, including the side in the first, third and sixth. The left-hander, who has been pushed back in the rotation for extra rest over the last month, held the Mets to four hits, allowed no walks and hit a batter in winning for the first time since Aug. 4.