MLB ROUNDUP Thursday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tigers 3, White Sox 2.

DETROIT — One inning from another costly loss, the Detroit Tigers rallied against Bobby Jenks. Sean Casey and Placido Polanco hit run-scoring singles off the White Sox closer in the ninth inning. Detroit, which closed within three games of the wild card-leading New York Yankees, trailed 2-1 entering the ninth. Gary Sheffield, who hadn’t played since Aug. 21 because of an injured shoulder, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. Pinch-hitter Timo Perez reached on an infield single off Jenks leading off the ninth and advanced when the throw from second baseman Danny Richar went into Chicago’s dugout for an error. Mike Rabelo sacrificed and Casey, another pinch hitter, dribbled a single through the drawn-in infield to score pinch-runner Cameron Maybin. Brandon Inge grounded to the catcher, Jenks hit Curtis Granderson with a pitch and Polanco singled to left, triggering a home-plate celebration as pinch-runner Omar Infante came across.

Red Sox 7, Orioles 6.

BALTIMORE — Pinch-hitter Jason Varitek singled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, and the Boston Red Sox got home runs from David Ortiz and Coco Crisp. Crisp had three hits and scored three runs, including the tiebreaker in the ninth, to help the Red Sox extend their AL East lead to 61⁄2 games over the idle New York Yankees.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodgers 7, Cubs 4

CHICAGO — Pinch-hitter Andre Ethier connected for a go-ahead, three-run homer off Ryan Dempster in the ninth inning. Alfonso Soriano hit two homers for the Cubs, including a three-run drive in the seventh that put Chicago ahead 4-2. But it wasn’t enough to avoid a deflating defeat that dropped the Cubs into a first-place tie with idle Milwaukee in the NL Central. Matt Kemp’s homer off reliever Bobby Howry closed the gap to 4-3 in the eighth, and the Dodgers took the lead in the ninth against Dempster (2-5), who blew a save for the third time in 28 chances. Joe Beimel (4-1) pitched 12⁄3 innings of hitless relief and Takashi Saito got three outs for his 37th save in 40 chances.