American League roundup

[September 02, 2009]  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Boston has an opportunity to put a serious crimp in Tampa Bay's playoff chances, so the Red Sox were determined to not let a rare victory at Tropicana Field slip away.

Jonathan Papelbon retired all six batters he faced Tuesday night, bailing the AL wild-card leaders out of an eighth inning jam before pitching a perfect ninth to finish an 8-4 victory that hurt the Rays' hopes of returning to the postseason.

"You know it's a big game whenever you bring your closer in in the eighth inning with no outs," said center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who made the defensive play of the game -- a diving catch that preserved a three-run lead.

"(Papelbon) did a great job tonight, and we got a win here. For some reason it's been tough for us," Ellsbury added. "Any time you play head to head, those are big games. It's nice to come in and get that first win."

Papelbon entered with two runs in and the bases filled after Hideki Okajima allowed five consecutive batters to reach base. He struck out B.J. Upton before Ellsbury snared Jason Bartlett's sinking liner and scrambled to his feet to keep a runner from tagging up at third.

The closer got Carl Crawford to foul out to end the eighth. He retired Ben Zobrist on a liner to first in the ninth, then struck out Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena to notch his 33rd save and fifth of more than one inning.

"Those are pressure situations. The guy that's the coolest will come out on top," Papelbon said. "You get into situations like that, it boils down to focus."

The victory was the 11th in 14 games for Boston, which got a strong start from Jon Lester (11-7) and home runs from Jason Bay, J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis.

Tampa Bay dropped a season-high six games behind in the wild-card race.

The Red Sox, who lost to the Rays in a seven-game AL championship series last year, remained 6 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.

Lester allowed two runs and seven hits, walked one and struck out nine. The left-hander gave up an RBI single and solo homer to Pena, who hit his AL-leading 39th leading off the fourth.

Yankees 9, Orioles 6

At Baltimore, Jorge Posada homered twice, and Nick Swisher and Eric Hinske hit successive drives in a three-run seventh inning that carried New York to its fifth straight win.

Robinson Cano also connected for Yankees, who trailed 6-5 in the sixth before rallying for their 22nd win in 28 games. The victory put New York 36 games over .500 (84-48).

Mariners 2, Angels 1

At Seattle, Jose Lopez's two-out double in the seventh inning made Mariners rookie Doug Fister a winner.

Fister (2-1), making his fifth major league start, held what was the highest-scoring team in the majors entering the game to just one run and five hits in 7 1-3 innings.

It was the 43rd time in 133 games the AL's lowest-scoring team managed two runs or fewer. Yet Seattle improved to 29-16 in one-run games, the most such decisions and wins in baseball.

Rangers 5, Blue Jays 2, 1st game

Rangers 5, Blue Jays 2, 2nd game

At Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton snapped out of his extended power drought with two home runs and Brandon McCarthy (6-2) pitched into the seventh inning of his first start in nearly three months, leading the Rangers to a doubleheader sweep.

Hamilton had gone 23 games and 99 at-bats since his previous homer Aug. 7 until a 435-foot drive on the first pitch of the fourth. An inning later, Hamilton hit a two-run shot.

Chris Davis, who had a tiebreaking, two-run single to help the Rangers win the opener by the same 5-2 score, added a solo homer and an RBI single in the nightcap.

Tigers 8, Indians 5

At Detroit, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen homered on successive pitches and Brandon Inge also went deep to lift the Tigers.

Aubrey Huff added three RBIs for Detroit, which won its second straight.

Twins 4, White Sox 3

At Minneapolis, Pinch-hitter Jose Morales singled home Nick Punto with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Twins their ninth win in 11 games.

Michael Cuddyer hit two homers and Jeff Manship was sharp in his first big league start for the Twins.

Royals 4, Athletics 3

At Oakland, Calif., Alberto Callaspo hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth and Kyle Davies (6-9) struck out six and won consecutive starts for the first time all season for Kansas City.

Joakim Soria pitched two innings for his 21st save in 24 opportunities for the Royals, who won for only the second time in five games.

[Associated Press; By FRED GOODALL]

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