Santana strikes out 13 in Twins’ 5-0 win
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Johan Santana struck out 13 Saturday to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 5-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox, who have lost seven of their last nine games. Santana (14-7) has struck out 10 or more batters in eight starts this season and he leads the major leagues with 220 strikeouts. Justin Morneau hit his career-high 20th homer and Michael Cuddyer also homered for the Twins.
Santana loaded the bases in the ninth and was relieved by Joe Nathan, who struck out three to complete the four-hitter and earn his 38th save. The 2004 AL Cy Young Award winner is 7-2 with an ERA of 1.69 since the All-Star break.
Yankees 1, Blue Jays 0
TORONTO – Shawn Chacon gave New York’s tired bullpen a much-needed rest by pitching eight innings, Bernie Williams drove in the lone run, and the Yankees won their sixth straight.
Chacon (5-3) allowed four hits before Tom Gordon pitched the ninth for his first save in eight chances.
Orioles 2, Devil Rays 1
BALTIMORE – Luis Matos drove in Bernie Castro with a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading Baltimore over Tampa Bay.
Pinch-hitter Castro led off with a single and stole second. Eric Byrnes sacrificed Castro to third, and reliever Joe Borowski (1-4) intentionally walked B.J. Surhoff. Matos then lined a single to left.
Todd Williams (5-4) pitched a perfect eighth for the win and B.J. Ryan worked the ninth for his 34th save. Carl Crawford homered for Tampa Bay.
Red Sox 2, Athletics 1
BOSTON – Manny Ramirez hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning and drove in two runs, leading Bronson Arroyo and the Boston Red Sox over the struggling Oakland Athletics.
It was the second consecutive game-winning RBI for Ramirez, but came in a much different way than the one that gave Boston a 3-2 win in 10 innings Friday night. In that one, he was hit by a pitch after the Red Sox loaded the bases on an intentional walk to David Ortiz.
Arroyo (13-9) retired his first 12 batters before walking the first hitter in the fifth. He gave up the first hit with two outs in the inning, an RBI single by Marco Scutaro.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched the eighth and Mike Timlin got the last three outs to finish the four-hitter and earn his ninth save.
The Red Sox kept their 11/2-game AL East lead over the New York Yankees, who beat Toronto 1-0. The Athletics’ fourth loss in five games dropped them 11/2 games off the AL West lead held by the Los Angeles Angels, who played at home against Detroit late Saturday.
Boston became the first team in the majors this season to win 50 home games and has won 14 consecutive games at Fenway Park that were decided by one run.
Indians 5, Royals 4
CLEVELAND – One stomach-churning, fingernail-biting playoff race wasn’t enough for the Cleveland Indians. Now they are in another.
Cliff Lee won his eighth straight decision and Coco Crisp hit a two-run homer as baseball’s hottest team beat the Kansas City Royals, pushing the Indians within 31/2 games of Chicago in the AL Central.
That’s as close as Cleveland has been to the first-place White Sox since April 18.
The Indians have won 11 of 12, and in going 22-6 since Aug. 18, they’ve trimmed 111/2 games off a Chicago lead that reached 15 on Aug. 1.
Back then, it seemed insurmountable. Not anymore. Not with six games remaining against the reeling White Sox, who have dropped seven of nine and will host a three-game series against Cleveland starting Monday.
The Indians also improved to 12-3 in September and stayed a half-game up on the New York Yankees for the wild card.
Lee (17-4) remained unbeaten since July 8, allowing four runs and five hits in seven innings. The left-hander, who has just one loss since June 1 – a span of 19 starts – was staked to a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
Lee gave up John Buck’s homer in the third, and Emil Brown’s three-run shot in the sixth that brought the Royals within 5-4. But as it has done all season, Cleveland’s steady bullpen came through.
Bob Howry worked a perfect eighth and Bob Wickman finished up for his league-leading 43rd save.