AL: Rays move back into first place in East
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Willy Aybar drove in two runs, Rafael Soriano set a team record with his 44th save of the season and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Friday night, moving back into first place in the AL East. Tampa Bay reduced its magic number to three to clinch the franchise’s second playoff berth and moved a half game ahead of New York, which lost to Boston.
Soriano, the fourth Tampa Bay reliever, pitched the ninth to break Roberto Hernandez’s franchise save record set in 1999.
Seattle’s Jason Vargas (9-12) lost his seventh straight start, which is one off the team record held by Randy Johnson (1992) and Rick Honeycutt (1980).
Jeff Niemann (11-7) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Red Sox 10, Yankees 8
NEW YORK (AP) – Andy Pettitte was chased early, ineffective in his second start since being activated from the disabled list, and Boston held off New York.
Jed Lowrie hit a three-run homer off Pettitte (11-3) and went 4 for 4, setting a career high for hits. Bill Hall added a three-run shot against Jonathan Albaladejo, handing Red Sox starter Josh Beckett (6-5) a 10-1 cushion in the fifth.
Alex Rodriguez rallied the Yankees with a pair of home runs, giving him 610 to pass Sammy Sosa for sixth place on the career list. Mark Teixeira also connected twice as New York went deep a season-high six times.
Blue Jays 6, Orioles 4
TORONTO (AP) – Jose Bautista hit two home runs, increasing his major league-leading total to 52, Vernon Wells also went deep and the Blue Jays beat Baltimore for the 12th straight time in Toronto.
Left-hander Brett Cecil (14-7) gave up three runs in 6 1-3 innings for the win, improving to 3-0 in four career starts against the Orioles.
All three homers came off Baltimore right-hander Chris Tillman (1-5), who allowed five runs and four hits in six innings.
Tigers 10, Twins 1
DETROIT (AP) – Justin Verlander struck out 11 in a complete game and Jhonny Peralta drove in four runs for the Tigers in a rout of Minnesota.
Miguel Cabrera had a two-run homer and scored three runs for the Tigers, who have won six of their last seven.
Verlander (18-8) improved to 5-0 in his last seven starts and became the first Tiger to strike out 200 batters in consecutive seasons since Jack Morris in 1987-88.
Francisco Liriano (14-9) allowed two runs in three-plus innings before leaving the game with an illness.
Indians 7, Royals 3
CLEVELAND (AP) – Rookie Josh Tomlin pitched a four-hitter for his first career complete game, helping the Indians avoid a 100-loss season.
Tomlin (5-4) allowed three runs, struck out a season-high six and walked two as the Indians snapped a five-game losing streak.
Jayson Nix homered twice for Cleveland and Shin-Soo Choo had three hits off Luke Hochevar (6-6).
As bad as they’ve been this season, the Indians (63-91) can’t surpass 99 losses even if they don’t win any of their final eight games.