The Tampa Bay Rays seem to be letting the pressure of a pennant race roll right off them, and Carlos Pena thinks he knows why.
“We just keep on playing,” Pena said. “It’s important to focus on the present. This is a young team but we’ve behaved maturely and it happened naturally. We’re able to handle things.”
Eric Hinske homered among his three hits, Ben Zobrist doubled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and the Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Pena hit a home run for the first-place Rays, who maintained their three-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The Rays have won four of five and 10 of 14.
Andy Sonnanstine (12-6) beat an AL West team for the first time in five decisions, and won his second straight following a three-game losing streak as the Rays have spent all but two days in first place in the AL East since June 28.
“I didn’t feel sharp the last time I pitched here,” said Sonnanstine, who lost his two previous starts against the A’s. “I wanted to be aggressive and stay aggressive. That really worked out. I feel like if I stick to my game plan it sets me up for success.”
In other AL games, it was: Minnesota 4, New York 2; Boston 8, Texas 4; Toronto 4, Detroit 3; Baltimore 6, Cleveland 1; Chicago 4, Kansas City 0; and Seattle 10, Los Angeles 7 in 12 innings.
At Oakland, Calif., Sonnanstine lasted six innings, allowing two runs and six hits with a walk and six strikeouts, one shy of his season high. He’s given up five runs in his last 19 1-3 innings (2.33 ERA) after allowing 14 in his previous 19 innings.
“Sony had really good stuff,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “His last two outings are as good as I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s always been a winner.”
Sonnanstine became the quickest pitcher to 12 wins (119th game) in Rays history.
Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler both pitched a scoreless inning and Troy Percival worked the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances. It was his 34th career save against the A’s, his most against any team.
Eric Patterson, who was recalled from Sacramento earlier Wednesday, drove in two runs for the A’s, who fell to 7-22 since trading Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs. Patterson was part of the trade.
Justin Duchscherer (10-8) lost his third straight decision and remains winless in his last six starts. He gave up three runs and six hits with a walk and a career-high eight strikeouts over 6 1-3 innings.
“Sometimes you make pitches and they just beat you,” Duchscherer said.
Mariners 10, Angels 7, 12 innings
Wladimir Balentien hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 12th inning after striking out four times for visiting Seattle.
Raul Ibanez greeted Justin Speier (1-5) with a leadoff double and advanced on a groundout. After an intentional walk and a fly out, Balentien hit his sixth homer of the season.
Roy Corcoran (3-0) allowed one hit over three innings to get the win.
Red Sox 8, Rangers 4
At Boston, Kevin Youkilis had three doubles and the Red Sox held onto a big lead this time, beating Texas.
On Tuesday, Youkilis delivered a three-run homer that gave the Red Sox a 19-17 victory, a win that came after they blew a 10-run cushion.
Texas trailed 8-0 in the eighth inning this time, and Milton Bradley’s three-run homer made it 8-4.
Jon Lester (11-4) held the top-hitting team in baseball to seven hits in 7 1-3 innings.
Twins 4, Yankees 2
Delmon Young hit a three-run homer for the second straight day to lead host Minnesota.
Kevin Slowey (9-8) pitched six innings, surrendering three hits, one run and one walk against a lineup minus Derek Jeter, who sat out after fouling a ball off his foot Tuesday.
Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 32nd save.
Young homered off Darrell Rasner (5-9) and helped hand the Yankees their seventh loss in 10 games.
White Sox 4, Royals 0
Ken Griffey Jr. hit an RBI single in the first inning and Mark Buehrle allowed five hits in seven innings to lead host Chicago.
Jermaine Dye added an RBI double to help keep the White Sox a half-game ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central.
Buehrle (10-10) escaped a one-out, two-on jam in the third to maintain a 2-0 lead. He struck out five and walked none in improving to 7-3 at home with a 2.72 ERA.
Luke Hochevar (6-11) allowed three runs and five hits over seven innings.
Blue Jays 4, Tigers 3
Vernon Wells hit a grand slam and David Purcey pitched six shutout innings for visiting Toronto.
The Blue Jays have won three straight, all in Detroit, while the Tigers have lost 10 of 13.
Purcey (2-3) gave up two singles and three walks.
Kenny Rogers (8-10) lost his fourth straight start.
Orioles 6, Indians 1
Jeremy Guthrie went seven innings to win his fourth straight start and Baltimore snapped host Cleveland’s five-game winning streak.
Guthrie (10-8) allowed four hits and struck out four.
Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora both had three hits for Baltimore. Markakis had a two-run single in a four-run ninth. Aubrey Huff opened the second with his 25th homer off Anthony Reyes (1-1).
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