Rays pull ahead of Boston

mtrevisan

Associated Press

Rays 2, Red Sox 1

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Dioner Navarro singled with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning, enabling Tampa Bay to beat Boston and remain in first place in the AL East.

Navarro delivered his second game-winner in a week against the defending World Series champions, lifting a fly ball that sailed over the head of center fielder Coco Crisp on a 2-2 pitch from Justin Masterson (6-5).

A night after Boston hit six homers to rout Rays ace Scott Kazmir 13-5 and pull within percentage points of the division lead, Tampa Bay wiped out a 1-0 deficit on Carlos Pena's seventh-inning homer off Josh Beckett.

The Rays, who have led the division for the past 54 days, moved one game ahead of the Red Sox, who have lost seven of eight at Tropicana Field this season. Dan Wheeler (5-5) struck out the only batter he faced to bail Tampa Bay out of a ninth-inning jam and get the victory before 32,079.

Beckett limited the Rays to Carlos Pena's 29th homer and two singles in eight innings, and Andy Sonnanstine held the Red Sox to three hits and an unearned run on Kevin Youkilis' sacrifice fly in six innings.

White Sox 6, Yankees 2

At New York, Gavin Floyd pitched seven innings and Paul Konerko had two hits and an RBI in his return from a knee injury for AL Central-leading Chicago.

Alexei Ramirez homered and Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in two runs for Chicago, which began the night with a 1 1/2-game lead over Minnesota. Ken Griffey Jr. had an RBI single and Brian Anderson added an run-scoring double for the White Sox.

Floyd (16-7) put runners in scoring position in four of his seven innings but gave up just two runs for his first win in three starts this month. Floyd gave up nine hits, including Jason Giambi's 31st homer, and struck out three without walking a batter.

Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for most career hits at the soon-to-close Yankee Stadium with his 1,270th, a sharp single in the first inning.

Konerko, who was injured on Sept. 9, singled in the second and drove in a run with a double off Andy Pettitte (13-14) in a three-run fourth.

Rangers 5, Tigers 4

At Arlington, Texas, Marlon Byrd hit a two-run triple in the ninth and scored the winning run on Chris Davis' single as Texas extended Detroit's losing streak to six games.

Fernando Rodney (0-6) took over to start the ninth, but walked Michael Young after the count was 0-2 and allowed Josh Hamilton's single before Byrd tripled into the right-field corner.

The Tigers intentionally walked consecutive batters to load the bases for Davis, and the rookie singled over the head of drawn-in left fielder Matt Joyce.

Detroit went ahead with three runs in the seventh off Kevin Millwood, after the Texas starter had retired 16 consecutive batters. The Tigers led 4-2 going to the ninth when Rodney came on for his sixth blown save in 17 chances.

Jamey Wright (7-6) worked the ninth, getting a double-play grounder after allowing a single.

Royals 6, Mariners 3

At Kansas City, Mo., Ryan Shealy, John Buck and David DeJesus homered and the Royals extended their winning streak to five games.

The Mariners are 0-6 to start an 11-game three-city trip and have lost 10 of their past 13.

Shealy and DeJesus homered in the four-run fifth as the Royals batted around. DeJesus led off the inning with a home run off Brandon Morrow. It was DeJesus' first in 178 at-bats. His previous was on July 12, a game-winner in the ninth, also off Morrow.

Shealy's two-run homer was his fifth in nine games since a Sept. 2 promotion from triple-A Omaha.

Morrow (2-4) gave up six runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.

Brandon Duckworth (3-1) went six innings, allowing two runs and five hits, striking out two and walking two.

Indians 12, Twins 9 (11 innings)

At Cleveland, Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer with one out in the 11th and Cleveland hurt Minnesota's post-season chances.

The Twins, who rallied from an early seven-run deficit, lost their third straight and fell 2 1/2 games behind Chicago in the AL Central with 11 games remaining.

Franklin Gutierrez opened the 11th with a single off Joe Nathan (0-2) and went to second on a sacrifice. Jhonny Peralta walked and Martinez hit a 1-1 pitch for his second homer of the season.

Tom Mastny (2-2) gave up one hit in the 11th and earned the win.

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