J.J. Hardy saved a run with a brilliant defensive play at shortstop in the top of the ninth, then tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half.
Word of Harwell’s death at 92 started to spread shortly after the game began.
Brennan Boesch’s homer in the ninth tied it for the Tigers and Alex Avila hit a two-out double. Hardy made a brilliant, sliding stop on grounder by Ramon Santiago and threw out Avila after he rounded third base too quickly.
Hardy hit a one-out triple and scored the winning run when a pitch from Ryan Perry (1-2) zipped past Avila and into the Tigers’ dugout.
Nick Blackburn (2-1) gave up three runs and 11 hits in his fourth career complete game.
Dontrelle Willis pitched well for the Tigers, giving up three runs and four hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 5 1-3 innings.
Red Sox 5 Angels 1: In Boston, Jeremy Hermida’s bases-loaded double broke an eighth-inning tie, and Jon Lester pitched eight innings of five-hit ball to lead Boston.
The Angels have started a 10-game road trip with five straight losses.
One night after putting up 17 runs in the series opener, the Red Sox were quiet until the eighth, when they scored four times.
Lester (2-2) gave up one run, walking two and striking out five before Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation. Marco Scutaro had three hits, including two doubles, to help the Red Sox win their second straight since being swept over the weekend by Baltimore.
Kevin Jepsen (0-1) took the loss for the Angels, giving up four runs, two hits and three walks while getting just two outs in the eighth.
Mike Napoli had three of the Angels’ five hits.
Yankees 4, Orioles 1: In New York, New York’s A.J. Burnett outpitched Brian Matusz again and Joba Chamberlain closed out Baltimore for the second straight night.
With Mariano Rivera again unavailable due to stiffness in his left side, Chamberlain pitched the ninth for his second save in two nights.
After outdueling the Orioles’ promising young lefty on Thursday, Burnett (4-0) struck out eight in 7 1-3 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and an unearned run. Matusz (2-2) allowed three runs, one earned, in six innings.
Francisco Cervelli, starting at catcher while Jorge Posada recuperates from a strained right calf, had three hits and scored twice.
Blue Jays 8 Indians 5: In Cleveland, Jose Bautista homered for the second straight game and Toronto benefited from nine walks.
Bautista’s two-run homer in the fourth was his sixth of the season for the Blue Jays, who have homered 14 times in winning five of their last six games. Toronto stranded 13 runners.
Jays starter Ricky Romero won despite not having his best stuff. Romero (3-1) struck out nine, but gave up a season-high five runs in six innings. He threw three wild pitches, hit a batter and was charged with a throwing error while attempting a pickoff.
Reliever Jensen Lewis (2-1) took the loss.
The Indians scored four runs in the third when six straight batters reached with two outs. Shin-Soo Choo’s two-run single and Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double gave Cleveland as many runs as it had in its previous 20 innings combined. The Indians have scored 47 of their 91 runs this year with two outs in an inning.
Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook walked five in 3 2-3 innings and Lewis walked three in the sixth before allowing a run-scoring double to Alex Gonzalez. Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.
Royals 7 White Sox 2: In Chicago, Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer and Luke Hochevar pitched six sharp innings for Kansas City.
Mike Aviles had three hits, including a solo homer in the ninth, and Scott Podsednik had two hits, including an RBI triple against his former team, for the Royals, who had 16 hits.
Hochevar (3-1) allowed one unearned run and three hits, pitching around four walks. He rebounded after he was tagged for nine runs and 11 hits over just 2 2-3 innings Thursday in an 11-1 loss at Tampa Bay.
A.J. Pierzynski homered for the White Sox, who had their home four-game winning streak snapped. The White Sox have lost five of their last eight games.
Gavin Floyd (1-3) allowed six runs and a career-high 13 hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Athletics 7 Rangers 6: In Oakland, Calif., Ryan Sweeney drove in a career-high five runs on three hits, including a home run, for Oakland, which used six pitchers.
Kevin Kouzmanoff and Daric Barton drove in runs for the A’s, who won for just the second time in eight games. Brad Ziegler (1-2) got the win after pitching 1 1-3 innings in relief. Starter Vin Mazzaro lasted three-plus innings, allowing four runs and two hits.
Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam and had five RBIs for the Rangers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Rangers starter Scott Feldman (1-3) gave up seven runs and 10 hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Andrew Bailey recorded the final four outs for his fourth save in as many chances.
Rays 5 Mariners 2: In Seattle, James Shields won his fourth consecutive start while striking out 10, and Evan Longoria homered again for Tampa Bay.
Shields (4-0) followed his career high-tying 12 strikeouts in his previous start against Oakland by allowing eight hits and two runs. He left after the first two Mariners singled in the ninth.
Rafael Soriano got the final three outs for his seventh save in seven tries.
The Rays are off to the best start in the American League since the 2005 Chicago White Sox also began 19-7. The last team to start better was the 2001 Mariners who went 20-6 en route to an AL-record 116 wins.
Tampa Bay improved its major league-best road ERA to 2.21 and baseball’s best road record to 10-1. The 2001 Mariners also started 10-1 on the road.
Longoria had three hits, including his second home run is as many games in the fifth.
