AROUND THE HORN Friday's other games
American League
Twins 6, Tigers 2
MINNEAPOLIS -- Eric Milton won a regular-season game for the first time in more than a year and the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins posted their seventh straight victory.
The Twins cut their magic number to six over Chicago. Detroit lost its seventh in a row. The Tigers (38-115) need at least five wins in their last nine games to avoid matching the modern era record of 120 losses by the 1962 New York Mets.
White Sox 8, Royals 5
CHICAGO -- Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh inning as Chicago broke a three-game losing streak. Chicago remains 31/2 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central. Kansas City broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the seventh off Mark Buehrle (14-13). Then the White Sox, who struggled to score when they were swept three games by the Twins this week, responded against Royals reliever D.J. Carrasco (6-5).
Yankees 2, Devil Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Alfonso Soriano tied a major league record with his 12th leadoff homer of the season, sending Jose Contreras and New York over Tampa Bay. The Yankees won for the 11th time in 13 games and reduced the magic number for clinching their sixth straight AL East title to five. Soriano hit his 33rd homer, connecting against Doug Waechter (3-1) on the third pitch of the game. Soriano matched the single-season mark for leadoff homers set by Baltimore's Brady Anderson in 1996. It was the 20th leadoff homer of Soriano's career and extended New York's major league mark for leadoff homers in a season to 14.
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2
BALTIMORE -- Vernon Wells went 4-for-4, and Carlos Delgado drove in two runs to back a solid pitching effort by Kelvim Escobar for Toronto. Needing a home run for the cycle, Wells singled in a three-run eighth that gave the Blue Jays their fourth straight victory and clinched third place in the AL East for a sixth straight season. Larry Bigbie homered for the Orioles, who have lost seven of 10.
Rangers 3, Angels 2
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Mark Teixeira drove in two runs and Michael Young had three hits for Texas.
National League
Astros 8, Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS -- Roy Oswalt dominated for seven innings and the Houston Astros got home runs from Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo, maintaining their NL Central lead. The Cardinals are nearly out of the race, trailing by six games with seven to play. Houston has won six of seven and is a season-best 15 games above .500.
Braves 1, Marlins 0
ATLANTA -- Russ Ortiz won his 20th game in style, pitching a three-hitter and driving in the only run for Atlanta. The Braves' win bumped the Marlins out of the lead in the NL wild-card race. Ortiz (20-7) reached 20 wins for the first time in his career and gave Atlanta its first 20-game winner since Tom Glavine in 2000. It was Ortiz' second career shutout, the first coming in 2001 with San Francisco.
Phillies 7, Reds
PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Lieberthal homered twice and drove in four runs as Philadelphia reclaimed the NL wild-card lead. Randy Wolf (16-9) won his fourth straight decision, giving up two runs and four hits in six shaky innings. He worked around four walks, striking out eight.
Expos 7, Mets 1
NEW YORK -- Jose Vidro hit a grand slam and a solo home run for Montreal. The All-Star second baseman helped send the Mets to their sixth straight loss and 14th in 15 games. Zach Day (9-7) went six innings for the Expos before leaving with muscle soreness in his back.
Rockies 6, Padres 5
DENVER -- Scott Elarton won for the first time in three months, and Juan Uribe and Pablo Osuna drove in two runs each for Colorado. Elarton (4-4) allowed one run and three hits over six innings in his first victory in six starts since June 8.
Diamondbacks 3, Brewers 2
MILWAUKEE -- Randy Johnson hit his first major league home run, and Steve Finley's solo shot broke a ninth-inning tie. Matt Kata also homered for the Diamondbacks. Eddie Perez went deep for Milwaukee.