Ortiz, a former Twin, hit a two-run homer in the sixth and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a homer and two RBIs to help the Red Sox win for the fifth time in seven games and move 1 1/2 games ahead of the idle New York Yankees in the AL East.
Marco Scutaro chipped in three hits and Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 25th save.
Jason Kubel had a homer among his three hits and two RBIs for the Twins, who have lost five in a row.
Alfredo Aceves (8-1) gave up one run in an inning in relief of Tim Wakefield for the victory. Wakefield gave up five runs — three earned — and eight hits with five strikeouts.
Glen Perkins (3-2) gave up two runs — one earned — in 1 2-3 innings to take the loss.
In Baltimore, A.J. Pierzynski homered and drove in three runs, and Alex Rios singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to help Chicago to its fourth straight victory.
Gordon Beckham also connected for the White Sox, who blew a four-run lead before rallying to secure their season-high sixth consecutive road win.
After J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Jesse Crain (6-3) to put Baltimore up 6-5, the White Sox regained the lead against Jim Johnson (5-4). Paul Konerko walked, Carlos Quentin singled and Pierzynski hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. Rios then singled under the glove of third baseman Josh Bell to bring home Quentin.
Sergio Santos struck out the side in a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Casey Kotchman led off the ninth inning with a home run and also hit a run-scoring single to lift Tampa Bay.
Kotchman drove the first pitch from Blake Wood (5-1) over the center field fence.
Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth (4-1) pitched a perfect ninth to earn the win.
Luke Hochevar allowed one run and five hits over seven innings for the Royals. The right-hander, who had won his previous three starts, had seven strikeouts and two walks.
Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson , 3-0 in four starts during July, gave up one run and six hits in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
Eric Hosmer put the Royals ahead 1-0 on a first-inning RBI single.
Rangers 9 Mariners 2: In Arlington, Texas, Matt Harrison pitched seven strong innings for his career-high 10th victory and Nelson Cruz homered for Texas.
Harrison (10-8) allowed two runs and five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in 104-degree heat, surpassing his nine-win rookie season in 2008.
Cruz, Mitch Moreland and Yorvit Torrealba all had three hits for the AL West-leading Rangers, who stretched their lead over the idle Los Angeles Angels to 1 1/2 games.
The Rangers scored twice in the second against rookie Charlie Furbush (1-1) with the help of the Mariners’ second error of the night. Furbush allowed seven runs — six earned — and eight hits over four-plus innings in his second start since he was acquired from Detroit.
