Apparently the stranglehold on first place in their division wasn’t enough for the surprising Tampa Bay Rays. They had to assume the best record in baseball, too.
Rocco Baldelli hit his first homer in more than a year, Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist also went deep and Tampa Bay opened a weekend showdown against the Chicago White Sox with a 9-4 victory on Friday.
The Rays maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over Boston in the AL East, after the Red Sox coasted to an 8-4 win over Toronto, but moved percentage points ahead of AL West-leading Los Angeles after the Minnesota Twins beat the Angels 9-0.
Even the Chicago Cubs, best in the NL, find themselves a half-game behind the Rays.
“I just want to contribute to what’s going on here,” said Baldelli, who has been sidelined most of the past two seasons with injuries and ailments. “It’s awesome.”
In other AL games, it was Seattle 7, Oakland 5; the New York Yankees 9, Baltimore 4; Cleveland 7, Texas 5; and Detroit 4, Kansas City 3.
The White Sox had won eight of nine and had a 46-9 scoring edge over the previous four games while pounding out 14 homers – but they were victimized by the long ball against Tampa Bay.
Chicago’s Nick Swisher homered in his fourth straight game, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-run shot in the fourth, but it wouldn’t last long.
Pena tied it at 2 with a leadoff homer in the sixth, and Jason Bartlett doubled in the go-ahead run off John Danks in the seventh, sending Tampa Bay to its 10th win in 13 games.
The Twins moved a half-game ahead of the White Sox for first in the AL Central.
“That’s kind of a weird feeling about the situation here in Chicago,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We lose a game and all the sudden we are down the tank. I don’t know if it’s people waiting for us to fail or people don’t just believe in the White Sox.”
Lots of people are believing in Baldelli, who returned from the DL less than two weeks ago after missing the first 116 games with a muscular disorder. He also missed much of last season with hamstring problems, but looked perfectly healthy against Octavio Dotel in the eighth.
Baldelli drove an 0-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his first homer since May 3, 2007.
“Taking some time off isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but I feel like I’m able to do it OK and not lose my swing,” Baldelli said. “It did feel pretty good tonight.”
Edwin Jackson (10-8) became the Rays’ fourth 10-game winner despite six shaky innings. He allowed seven hits and two runs, struck out five and walked five while improving to 5-1 in his past six starts.
Danks (10-6) lasted 6 1-3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs.
“In the second or third inning, I told the guys tonight was the epitome of being effectively wild,” Danks said. “I was getting away with some stuff. I was missing my spots.”
The White Sox had the leadoff man on in seven innings but got little to show for it. They stranded eight and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
“One thing I talked about before the game is we can’t do two things, walk people and commit errors, because of their propensity to hit home runs,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We got away with it tonight, but you can’t expect to do that all the time. We were fortunate.”
Twins 9, Angels 0
At Anaheim, Calif., Glen Perkins (11-3) pitched eight innings and Denard Span and Delmon Young homered for the Twins, who won their fourth straight.
Joe Saunders (14-6) allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. He hasn’t won since July 30, with three no-decisions and a loss over that stretch.
Mariners 7, Athletics 5
At Seattle, rookie catcher Jeff Clement had two run-scoring doubles to help the Mariners break their seven-game losing streak.
Roy Corcoran (4-0) allowed one hit in two innings of relief, and J.J. Putz put two runners on in the ninth but held on to pick up his eighth save in 15 chances.
Jerry Blevins (1-3) squandered a lead in the seventh to take the loss.
Yankees 9, Orioles 4
At Baltimore, Bobby Abreu went 5-for-5, Xavier Nady singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Yankees improved to 3-50 when trailing after seven innings.
Jose Veras (4-2) worked the seventh, Damaso Marte got two outs in the eighth and Mariano Rivera finished for his 29th save in 30 tries.
Jamie Walker (1-1) wound up with the loss for Baltimore.
Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 4
At Toronto, Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek hit solo home runs, Paul Byrd (8-11) won for the fifth time in six starts and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays.
Shaun Marcum (8-6) lost for the first time in five starts, allowing five runs and six hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Indians 7, Rangers 5
At Arlington, Texas, Fausto Carmona (6-5) pitched six strong innings and Ryan Garko had a two-run double as Cleveland won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Rangers rookie Matt Harrison (5-3) was in trouble from the beginning of his ninth major league start. He allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Tigers 4, Royals 3
At Kansas City, Mo., Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs and Justin Verlander (10-13) pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings as the Tigers sent Kansas City to its sixth straight loss.
Brian Bannister (7-13) is 0-7 with an 8.70 ERA in his past 10 starts. He went eight innings, allowing four runs and five hits.
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