MLB ROUNDUP \ Wednesday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 5, White Sox 1

NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez became the first player with 35 homers and 100 RBIs in 12 seasons — one more than Babe Ruth — and the New York Yankees slowed the Chicago White Sox’s pursuit of the AL Central crown. Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer, Robinson Cano had three hits and Xavier Nady had a tying RBI single in the seventh inning. Jermaine Dye had an RBI groundout off Phil Hughes, who was making his first start since April 29. That was all the White Sox could muster against Hughes and four relievers, who threw five shutout innings.

Rays 10, Red Sox 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Willy Aybar, Gabe Gross and Fernando Perez homered off Tim Wakefield and AL East-leading Tampa Bay beat Boston to move closer to its first playoff berth. Matt Garza gave up two long home runs to David Ortiz, but the Rays otherwise held the Red Sox in check to extend their division lead over them to two games.

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 7

TORONTO — Travis Snider drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. Scott Rolen led off the eighth with a double against Kam Mickolio (0-1) and advanced on Curtis Thigpen’s sacrifice. Snider followed with a flyball to left to give Toronto an 8-7 lead.

Royals 5, Mariners 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jose Guillen hit a key two-run single after being sick the night before, helping the Royals to their sixth straight win.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Mets 9, Nationals 7

WASHINGTON — Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also went deep, and the New York Mets built a big lead then barely held on. Brandon Knight (1-0), a 32-year-old journeyman back from the Olympics, earned his first major league victory with five solid innings.

Phillies 6, Braves 1

ATLANTA — Ryan Howard drove in the first run in Philadelphia’s four-run first inning, and rookie J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings to help the Phillies earn their season-high sixth straight win. Howard, bidding to win his second NL MVP award in three years, has 29 RBIs in his last 21 games and 137 this season to lead the majors.

Marlins 14, Astros 2

MIAMI — Hanley Ramirez homered twice before departing with an injured shoulder, Jorge Cantu hit a grand slam and Florida beat slumping Houston. Hunter Pence homered twice for the Astros, who have lost four straight and fell four games back of NL wild card-leading New York.

Reds 3, Cardinals 0

CINCINNATI — Aaron Harang pitched a six-hitter and Cincinnati hit back-to-back homers to send the Cardinals to their seventh straight loss. Andy Phillips and Jay Bruce opened the fourth inning with consecutive home runs and Paul Janish added the first of his career later in the inning to help Harang (5-16) to his first win since Aug. 22.

Rockies 1, Padres 0

DENVER — Joe Koshansky homered and five Colorado pitchers combined for a five-hitter in the Rockies’ win over San Diego. Starter Livan Hernandez (2-3) and relievers Glendon Rusch, Ryan Speier, Manny Corpas and Brian Fuentes shut down the Padres’ offense. Koshansky, Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart had two hits each for the Rockies, who won the last two games of the three-game series.

Associated Press