Yankees starter Andy Pettitte returned from a two-month stay
on the disabled list to allow one run and three hits in six innings. The
left-hander, who had been sidelined since July 18 with a strained left groin,
retired his final 11 batters.
Pettitte left with New York up 3-1. Rivera’s fourth blown
save deprived him of the victory, but the veteran starter is back in time to
contribute to the Yankees’ push to win the AL East.
New York has a half-game lead over Tampa Bay, which opens a
four-game series at Yankee Stadium on Monday night, when the Yankees will honor
late owner George Steinbrenner in Monument Park.
Scott led off the 11th with a double against David Robertson
(4-5). Ty Wigginton followed with a single, scoring Scott without a throw and
providing the Orioles with their eighth straight extra-inning win.
Mike Gonzalez (1-3) got the victory.
Angels 6 Rays 3: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Peter Bourjos broke a tie with a
three-run homer, Scott Kazmir won for the first time in six weeks and Los
Angeles beat Tampa Bay.
Bourjos connected on a full-count pitch from Jeff Niemann
(10-7) with two outs in the fourth, giving the Angels a 4-1 lead. Both
baserunners — Howie Kendrick and Hank Conger — reached on walks.
Kazmir (9-14) earned his first win since Aug. 7, allowing
one run and six hits over five innings against his former team. He was 1-9 in
his previous 12 starts.
Bobby Abreu added a pair of solo homers for the Angels, who
took two of three from Tampa Bay. It was the Rays’ first series loss at home
since dropping two of three to Arizona from June 25-27.
Athletics 6 Twins 2: In Minneapolis, Mark Ellis had three
hits, including a two-run homer, and 30-year-old rookie Bobby Cramer won his
second consecutive start in Oakland’s victory over Minnesota.
The AL Central-leading Twins lost reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer
to a balky left knee late in the game. He was replaced at catcher by Jose
Morales in the seventh inning.
Cramer (2-0) was working on a three-hitter before Michael
Cuddyer and Jim Thome homered in the sixth. Brad Ziegler , Michael Wuertz and
Craig Breslow combined for 3 1-3 innings of one-hit ball.
Ellis and Akinori Iwamura each scored twice and drove in a
pair of runs against Francisco Liriano (14-8), who lost for the first time
since July 9 at Detroit. The lefty is 8-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his last 12
starts.
Mariners 2 Rangers 1: In Seattle, Doug Fister tossed seven
impressive innings, outpitching Tommy Hunter to help Seattle beat the AL
West-leading Texas Rangers.
Ryan Langerhans hit a leadoff triple in the seventh and
scored on a single by Josh Wilson , giving the Mariners the lead and chasing
Hunter (12-4).
Texas’ magic number remained six for clinching its first
division title since 1999. The Rangers have a nine-game lead over Oakland.
Langerhans went 2 for 3 and drew a 12-pitch walk from Hunter
in his first start in a week.
Fister (6-12) allowed one run and nine hits. David Aardsma
got his 31st save.
Nelson Cruz homered for the Rangers.
Red Sox 6 Blue Jays 0: In Boston, Jon Lester pitched seven
sharp innings and J.D. Drew homered in a five-run fifth as Boston avoided a
three-game sweep by beating Toronto.
The Blue Jays were mathematically eliminated from the
playoff race with the loss.
Victor Martinez also homered for the Red Sox.
Lester (18-8) won his fifth straight start and became the
first Red Sox lefty to win 18 games since Bruce Hurst in 1988. Lester pitched
out of bases-loaded jams in the third and fifth, allowing four hits and four
walks in all.
He struck out only four, snapping a string of four straight
games in which he’d fanned at least 10.
Shaun Marcum (12-8) lasted 5 1-3 innings for Toronto and
gave up six runs on nine hits.
Royals 6 Indians 4: In Kansas City, Missouri, Luke Hochevar recovered from a shaky
start to earn his first win since May 26 and Yuniesky Betancourt stole home,
leading Kansas City over Cleveland.
The top pick in the 2006 amateur draft, Hochevar (6-5) gave
up three runs in the first two innings but none after that. He allowed eight
hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one.
Hochevar missed nearly three months this season with a right
elbow sprain.
Mitch Maier had a two-run single and Kila Ka’aihue added a
two-run double.
Joakim Soria worked the ninth for his 39th save in 41
chances. He has converted 32 straight opportunities.
Josh Tomlin (4-4) went five-plus innings, allowing six runs
and six hits to snap his three-game winning streak.
Tigers 9 Tigers
7, 11 innings: In Chicago, Gerald Laird hit a tiebreaking single in the 11th
inning and Detroit escaped with a victory over the White Sox night when Manny
Ramirez was caught looking at strike three with the bases loaded for the final
out.
Jim Leyland became the 18th manager to work 3,000 games. He
watched the Tigers score six in the seventh to take a 7-3 lead only to have the
bullpen give it away in the ninth and barely escape at the finish.
In the 11th, Daniel Schlereth got an out and walked Carlos
Quentin to load the bases before facing Ramirez. Schlereth threw a 2-2 breaking
ball past the slugger to end the game and earn his first save.
Sergio Santos (2-2) was the loser. Robbie Weinhardt (2-2)
pitched 1 2-3 innings for the win.
