MLB ROUNDUP \ Thursday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 3, Devil Rays 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A day after the Yankees clinched a playoff berth, Phil Hughes kept alive New York’s slim hopes in the AL East. Hughes (5-3) allowed four hits in seven innings, and Jose Molina delivered a two-run single. Joba Chamberlain pitched on consecutive days for the first time, striking out B.J. Upton to escape a jam with runners at first and second in the eighth inning.

Twins 5, Red Sox 4

BOSTON — Michael Cuddyer and Garrett Jones homered off 20-game winner Josh Beckett in his last start before the playoffs, preventing the Red Sox from closing in on an AL East title. Boston has already clinched a playoff berth, but it needs two more wins — or Yankees losses — to clinch its first AL East title since 1995. David Ortiz was 4-for-4 with his 34th homer and his 51st double. Beckett (20-7) allowed five runs and 10 hits in six innings, striking out six. Boof Bonser (8-12) allowed three runs and six hits and two walks, striking out two in five innings. Joe Nathan got four outs for his 36th save.

Orioles 8, Blue Jays 5

BALTIMORE — Luis Hernandez hit his first major league homer in the sixth inning to give Baltimore the lead, and the Orioles beat the Blue Jays to avoid a three-game sweep. Jay Payton and J.R. House also homered for the Orioles, who blew a four-run lead before coming back. Toronto led 5-4 before Hernandez hit a two-run drive off Brian Tallet (2-4). Miguel Tejada added a run-scoring grounder in the seventh, and House led off the eighth with his second big league home run.

Jim Hoey (3-4) got the win despite allowing two runs in 12⁄3 innings. Jamie Walker worked the final two innings for his seventh save.

White Sox 10, Royals 0

CHICAGO — Lance Broadway allowed two hits over six innings for his first major league win and the White Sox defeated the Royals. Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer for the White Sox, who have won seven of their last 11 games. Staked to an early 3-0 lead in his first career start, Broadway (1-1) fooled Kansas City hitters with a sharp breaking ball. The 24-year-old right-hander ended his impressive performance by striking out Billy Butler to end the sixth inning. Broadway struck out eight and walked two. Billy Buckner (1-2) took the loss for Kansas City.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 6, Braves 4

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard hit his 44th homer, Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up John Smoltz, before hanging on for a victory over the Braves. Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira hit consecutive homers for the Braves, who were mathematically eliminated from the division race.

Marlins 6, Cubs 4

MIAMI — Struggling to avert another collapse, the Chicago Cubs stranded 10 runners and lost to the last-place Florida Marlins for the third game in a row. Chicago began the day with a two-game lead in the division over second-place Milwaukee. The Cubs’ magic number for clinching the division remained three. Florida beat Chicago for the 10th straight game over the past two seasons. That’s the longest active streak between major league teams.

Astros 4, Reds 3

CINCINNATI — Carlos Lee’s RBI single in the ninth inning broke a tie and the Astros beat Cincinnati to complete a three-game sweep of the Reds. Ty Wigginton doubled off the wall in left field with one out against Gary Majewski (0-4) and he scored on Lee’s single to left that gave the Astros’ cleanup hitter a career-high 117 RBIs. Lee went to second on the throw home and advanced to third on Majewski’s throwing error before scoring on Eric Bruntlett’s single.

Associated Press