AMERICAN LEAGUE

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 1

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 5

BOSTON — Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the go-ahead run on a 30-foot single when pitcher Scott Downs fell going after the ball and the Boston Red Sox rallied to split their day-night doubleheader. Toronto led 5-2 in the nightcap with five runs in the second inning. Then Boston chipped away with a run in the sixth and another in the seventh before going ahead with three in the eighth.

Rays 7, Yankees 1

Yankees 6, Rays 5

NEW YORK — Xavier Nady hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and the Yankees rallied to beat Tampa Bay and salvage a split of the day-night doubleheader. James Shields (13-8) got the AL East-leading Rays off to a fast start in the opener, tossing eight shutout innings. Mike Mussina (17-9) threw five shaky innings and first baseman Jason Giambi committed an unseemly error that led to another run. In the second game, four New York relievers combined to throw 52‚Ñ3 innings after Sidney Ponson struggled in the makeup of Friday night’s rainout. Damaso Marte (1-3) pitched a scoreless seventh, Joba Chamberlain worked the eighth and Mariano Rivera got three outs for his 34th save in 35 opportunities.

Twins 12, Orioles 2

BALTIMORE — Carlos Gomez had a career-high four RBIs, Denard Span homered twice and drove in four runs and Minnesota moved within a half-game of the AL Central Division lead by routing Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader. The Twins, who began the day a game behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox, can force a tie atop the Central by completing a sweep of the twinbill, which was necessitated by a rainout Friday night. Scott Baker (9-4) walked three, struck out four and allowed only one hit over his final five innings.

Athletics 7, Rangers 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jack Cust homered and Bobby Crosby hit a three-run double, helping Josh Outman earn his first major league victory. Outman (1-0) allowed one run and four hits over five innings in his first big league start. The rookie lefty had made two appearances out of the bullpen since being called up from Triple-A this month.

Huston Street, Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler combined for four shutout innings. Aaron Cunningham hit a two-run single off Scott Feldman (5-7) and Crosby greeted reliever Luis Mendoza with a bases-loaded double to right-center to make it 7-1. Feldman has just one win in his last eight starts.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 7, Brewers 3

PHILADELPHIA — Cole Hamels pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings, Jimmy Rollins homered for Philadelphia. The Phillies can tie Milwaukee for the top spot of the wild-card race by sweeping today’s day-night doubleheader. Philadelphia moved within 21‚Ñ2 games of the NL East-leading New York Mets, who split a twinbill against the Atlanta Braves.

Hamels (13-9) allowed two runs and six hits, rebounding from a poor outing at Shea Stadium last Sunday. Hamels had a chance to put the Phillies in a tie with the Mets, but gave up five runs in a 6-3 loss.

Braves 3, Mets 2

Mets 5, Braves 0

NEW YORK — Jonathon Niese pitched eight poised innings in his second major league start, David Wright hit the first of three Mets homers for a doubleheader split. In the first game, Jeff Francoeur hit a tying single in the eighth inning and Atlanta rallied against Johan Santana and the Mets’ bullpen, beating New York for its first one-run road win in more than a year. Atlanta had lost 22 one-run games in a row this season and 29 overall — the longest streak of its kind in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In the nightcap, Niese (1-0) allowed six hits and struck out seven after getting roughed up in his debut Sept. 2 at Milwaukee. Jo-Jo Reyes (3-11) gave up four runs and five hits in two innings for the loss.

Nationals 4, Marlins 2

MIAMI — Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu homered to help Florida beat the Washington and the Marlins became the second major league team to have three infielders with 30 homers.

Associated Press