Cleveland got a strong performance Friday night from Paul Byrd, who scattered eight hits and continually worked out of jams in a 2-1 victory over the Devil Rays that pushed the Indians ahead of Detroit by a half-game in the division.
The Tigers, meanwhile, lost 6-1 to the New York Yankees in the second of what will be seven games against the Bronx Bombers in an 11-day stretch.
"As a pitcher, you want to pick your team up," said Byrd, who struck out five in six innings. "I think that's what being a good team is all about. People made good adjustments and they pick each other up and they find a way to win the game when it's close."
In other AL games, the Los Angeles Angels beat Boston 7-5 after losing the opener of a doubleheader 8-4. It was Toronto 5, Baltimore 2; Seattle 5, the Chicago White Sox 4; Kansas City 9, Oakland 2; and Minnesota 2, Texas 1 in 10 innings.
Ryan Garko put the Indians ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the first, and Asdrubal Cabrera drove in Franklin Gutierrez with a second-inning sacrifice fly.
Both runs went against Edwin Jackson (3-12), who gave up seven hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked five for Tampa Bay, which is 13-35 since June 25.
Tampa Bay scored in the fifth on Carl Crawford's run-scoring single, but Byrd (11-5) got B.J. Upton to line into a double play to get out of the inning.
"Somebody asked me today if I was pitching well," Byrd said. "I didn't know what to tell them. I didn't know if I was pitching well because when they hit the ball hard it went right to somebody. Sometimes this game doesn't make a lot of sense and you have to give some credit to the guys behind you, and I feel like that's what happened tonight."
At New York, Andy Pettitte pitched eight strong innings to win his fourth straight start, and Jason Giambi homered twice to lead the Yankees past the Tigers.
Andy Phillips hit a two-run double and Alex Rodriguez added an RBI double for New York, which had lost three straight after winning nine of 10. Joe Torre earned his 2,041st victory as a manager, passing Walter Alston for sole possession of eighth place.
"Andy really stepped up for us tonight," Giambi said. "He's been the guy to go to."
Nate Robertson (7-10) allowed 10 hits over six innings and dropped to 1-5 against the Yankees. He hasn't beaten them since July 18, 2004.
Not that the Tigers' offense provided much help against Pettitte (10-7), who is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA this month and 43-16 in August during his career.
