David Ortiz tossed his bat and trotted around the bases as if it had been a couple of days, rather than more than three weeks, since he’d last done it.
Ortiz homered for the first time in 20 games, Paul Byrd pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings for his fourth straight victory and the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 7-2 Sunday, moving within 1 1/2 games of the division lead.
Welcome to September in the AL East.
Only this time, it’s Tampa Bay the Red Sox are chasing, not the New York Yankees.
The Rays were swept over the weekend by the Toronto Blue Jays, who finished the job with a 1-0 shutout.
Boston (84-58) is the closest it has been to division-leading Tampa Bay since July 28. Six of the next nine games are against the skidding Rays, starting Monday night at Fenway Park.
“Now we get to go home and play hopefully some of the most exciting baseball of the year,” manager Terry Francona said. “We’ve played ourselves into a position where these games are really important. It’s exciting. We feel good about ourselves, about how we’re playing.”
ork Yankees 2; Detroit 7, Minnesota 5; and Cleveland 3, Kansas City 1.
At Toronto, Matt Garza and David Purcey locked up in another great pitching matchup, but this time it was Purcey who picked up the win for the Blue Jays.
Tampa Bay lost for the fifth time in six games heading into a three-game series at Fenway Park, where they’ve lost eight straight.
“We might be putting a little bit of pressure on ourselves right now,” outfielder B.J. Upton said. “We’ve just got to loosen up and go play our game, play the way we’ve been playing all year.”
Garza (11-9), who allowed one run and six hits in seven innings, isn’t troubled by the Rays’ stumbling start to September.
“We know what we’ve got to do and we know what they’ve got to do,” Garza said. “Right now, we’re up top and they’re chasing us. If we can keep playing our ball, this thing will turn around. Right now we’re in a little bit of a rut. It’s nothing bad. We’ll turn it around.”
The Rays have never won a series in 25 tries at Fenway, losing 21 and splitting four.
“It’s going to be a big crowd, big series,” Upton said. “We just can’t let it get to us.”
eat Purcey and the Blue Jays 1-0 on a solo homer by Carlos Pena.
“It’s a give and take game,” Garza said. “Last time I faced him I did the same thing.”
At Arlington, Texas, Jason Bay also homered and Alex Cora had an RBI triple for the Red Sox, who have won 14 of 18 games. Boston, the AL wild-card leader by 6 1/2 games over Minnesota, has been second in the division for 52 days since holding a half-game lead over Tampa Bay at the All-Star break.
“They’re as good as anybody out there,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said of the defending World Series champs. “One thing they’ve got is they’ve been there. … Tampa Bay’s never been in that situation. The Angels are the Angels. If you’re asking me to make a pick, it’s Boston.”
Ortiz had last homered Aug. 14 and the 19-game homerless streak matched the longest in his six seasons with Boston. But his 415-foot, two-run shot to right-center in the fifth off Brandon McCarthy (1-1) put Boston up 4-0. It was his 18th homer, fifth in 10 games against Texas.
“That was a nice swing,” Francona said, shaking his head.
Ortiz said the partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist that caused him to miss 45 games in June and July is still bothering him.
“My hand is not OK,” Ortiz said. “But we’re winning so I don’t pay attention to it. You try not to think about it. You just play.”
rd (11-11) is 4-1 in five starts. The right-hander has won eight of nine overall since a five-game losing streak before the All-Star break.
Byrd allowed three singles, walked three and struck out four before leaving after 102 pitches. Two walks came in the seventh, but Javier Lopez struck out Chris Davis to end the inning.
When Byrd walked to the dugout after being pulled, he saluted cheering Red Sox fans, who were the majority in the crowd of 28,644 in a game played opposite the Dallas Cowboys’ season opener.
“I’ve never come out of a game on the road where I got a standing ovation. … I didn’t know whether to tip my hat, what to do,” Byrd said. “I’m fired up, coming from Cleveland where the games didn’t mean anything after a while and being in the thick of a pennant race.”
Angels 3, White Sox 2
At Chicago, Joe Saunders (15-7) flashed his All-Star form while earning his first win in over a month, and the Angels rallied to avoid a three-game sweep.
The AL West leaders moved a step closer to their fourth division title in five years, thanks to a solid effort by Saunders and a questionable decision by Jermaine Dye to catch pinch-hitter Garrett Anderson’s sacrifice fly in foul territory in the eighth.
Mariners 5, Yankees 2
Jose Lopez hit two homers and the Mariners sent the visiting Yankees tumbling into fourth place in the AL East.
all in left field off Mike Mussina (17-8) gave Seattle a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
Tigers 7, Twins 5
At Minneapolis, Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez and Dusty Ryan homered to help Detroit.
Ryan, a rookie catcher, hit a two-run homer in his first major league start. Chris Lambert (1-1) earned his first career win and the Tigers won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 22-23.
Indians 3, Royals 1
At Kansas City, Mo., Cliff Lee (21-2) won his 10th straight decision for Cleveland, the longest winning streak in the majors this season.
Lee, who leads the majors in wins, is unbeaten in 11 starts since a July 6 loss at Minnesota. In those starts, Lee has a 1.84 ERA, and has lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.28.
Victor Martinez drove in all three Indians runs.
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