Coming off two tight wins over their traditional rival, and about to head into the All-Star break, the New York Yankees turned to two of their veterans to beat the upstart Tampa Bay Rays.
Derek Jeter came through with his bat and glove, backing a stellar effort by Andy Pettitte that helped the Yankees beat the Rays 5-0 on Tuesday night.
“We knew the importance of the game,” manager Joe Girardi said.
Meanwhile in Boston, the Red Sox rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to top Minnesota 6-5.
For the second straight night, Manny Ramirez came through with a clutch hit in the eighth inning. A day after hitting a go-ahead single, Ramirez connected for a two-run homer.
“We had a terrific inning, a lot of good things happened,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “Last night was what we needed, but sometimes you need a home run.”
Jeter didn’t homer, but had a key two-run double off All-Star Scott Kazmir, then made a stellar spinning play in the seventh inning that preserved a two-run lead and prompted a sellout crowd to chant his name. Pettitte needed little other help in pitching eight sharp innings.
“It was a big game for us,” said Pettitte, who gave up four hits. “These guys are ahead of us. They’re playing with a lot of confidence.”
In other AL games on Tuesday, it was: Detroit 9, Cleveland 2; Toronto 7, Baltimore 6; Texas 3, Los Angeles 2; Chicago 8, Kansas City 7, 13 innings; and Oakland 2, Seattle 0.
Rays manager Joe Maddon noted before the first pitch the increased attention on this two-game set created “an October feel.” He said his team would merely treat it as another series – the Yankees, in their 90th game this season, saw it as chance to make up ground.
In Boston, Nick Blackburn pitched 6 2-3 innings allowing two runs and six hits for Minnesota. Despite the loss, the Twins starting pitching is 16-1 in the last 23 games with an ERA of 2.99.
“It’s a tough loss, one we thought we had,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We made a lot of mistakes, they blooped one to left, blooped one to right and next thing you know Manny hits one into the seats.”
Tigers 9, Indians 2
At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit two homers, Marcus Thames had one and Justin Verlander was dominant after a shaky start to lift Detroit.
The Tigers (45-44) lead the majors with 21 wins since June 7.
The defending AL Central-champion Indians (37-52) have dropped nine straight.
Jeremy Sowers (0-5) took recently traded CC Sabathia’s turn in the rotation and gave up seven runs and 10 hits over 5 2-3 innings.
Cabrera capped the four-run third with a two-run homer, one pitch after Thames’ RBI double.
Thames hit his 17th homer, a two-run shot that put Detroit ahead 6-2 in the fifth.
Cabrera hit his second homer in the seventh and Ivan Rodriguez added a solo shot in the inning to give Detroit a 9-2 lead.
Verlander (6-9), who allowed two runs in the first, gave up seven hits and struck out seven in seven innings.
Blue Jays 7, Orioles 6
At Toronto, Alex Rios scored the winning run when shortstop Freddie Bynum misplayed a grounder in the bottom of the ninth.
Rios drew a one-out walk off Jim Johnson (2-3), then stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Ramon Hernandez as Vernon Wells struck out. Matt Stairs was intentionally walked to bring up Scott Rolen, who lined a grounder off Bynum’s glove and into left field, scoring Rios.
Bynum entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the ninth after Jay Payton pinch-hit for Brandon Fahey in the top of the inning.
Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan left after four innings with a sore right shoulder and will have an MRI on Wednesday. He allowed four runs, two earned, and four hits.
B.J. Ryan (2-3) worked a perfect ninth after Toronto rallied from a 6-2 deficit on Rios’ bases-loaded triple and Wells’ game-tying single.
Rangers 3, Angels 2
At Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton’s major league-leading 87th RBI helped Texas left-hander Matt Harrison win in his major league debut.
After Ian Kinsler doubled in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games, Hamilton put the Rangers ahead with an RBI single.
Texas closer C.J. Wilson loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before getting Juan Rivera to ground out for his 22nd save.
Chris Davis homered for the fourth time in four starts at home to tie the score at 2 in the fifth.
Harrison had a 1-0 lead when he ran into trouble in the fifth. Garret Anderson’s two-run single followed a walk to Torii Hunter and a double by Howie Kendrick.
Harrison (1-0) allowed five hits with one strikeout and one walk in seven innings
Joe Saunders (12-5) gave up six hits and three runs in eight innings.
White Sox 8, Royals 7, 13 innings
At Kansas City, Mo., Orlando Cabrera’s RBI double in the 13th inning gave Chicago the lead and it held on for the victory.
Nick Masset (1-0) coaxed a game-ending double play from Mark Grudzielanek with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th.
With one out in the 13th, Alexei Ramirez reached on an infield single, his career-high fourth hit, and scored on Cabrera’s double to right-center off Robinson Tejada (0-1), the sixth Royals pitcher.
Masset went two innings and was the sixth pitcher the White Sox used in the 4-hour, 20-minute game.
The Royals tied it 7-all in the bottom of the 11th after the White Sox had taken a two-run lead in the top of the inning on A.J. Pierzynski’s two-run sacrifice fly to deep center.
Mike Aviles had an RBI single and Alex Gordon brought him in with a double off Scott Linebrink, who started the 11th.
Jim Thome was 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored for Chicago.
Athletics 2, Mariners 0
At Oakland, Calif., Justin Duchscherer faced only three batters over the minimum and threw a two-hitter for his first career complete game to lead Oakland.
He allowed a two-out double to Richie Sexson in the fifth and a leadoff single to Miguel Cairo in the sixth. Sexson reached base on a two-base throwing error by Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki in the third.
Duchscherer (10-5) retired the side in order six times, including the ninth inning. Duchscherer struck out four and walked none, improving to 7-2 with a 1.34 ERA over his last nine starts.
Ryan Sweeney had an RBI single in the first and Donnie Murphy added a sacrifice fly in the second for Oakland.
Seattle starter Carlos Silva (4-11), who has won once since April 17, allowed seven hits and two runs in eight innings, striking out five.
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