baseball roundup \ Monday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 5, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE — Andy Pettitte retired his first 20 batters before a lamentable seventh-inning sequence spoiled both his perfect game and no-hit bid, and the Yankees beat Baltimore. Pettitte (12-6) was poised to finish the seventh without allowing a baserunner, but former Oriole Jerry Hairston Jr. let a two-out grounder by Adam Jones slip through his legs for an error. Hairston was playing in place of Alex Rodriguez, who was given the night off. Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field single inside the third-base line.

Rays 11, Tigers 7

DETROIT — Carlos Pena hit his AL-best 38th homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay beat Detroit for a split of their four-game series. Tampa Bay scored six times in the first inning against the AL Central leaders, capped by Pena’s two-run drive. James Shields (9-10) pitched seven innings and Jason Bartlett added a solo homer as the Rays moved within five games of idle Boston in the wild-card race.

Twins 4, White Sox 1

MINNEAPOLIS — Home runs by Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel in the third inning lifted Nick Blackburn and the Twins to yet another Metrodome victory over the collapsing White Sox. The Twins crept within 31‚Ñ2 games of the first-place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, leaving the White Sox six games back. Minnesota has won 15 of 17 against Chicago in its soon-to-be-vacated domed home.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 5, Marlins 2

MIAMI — Omar Infante hit a two-run triple in the seventh and Kenshin Kawakami pitched six effective innings to carry the Braves in a matchup between NL wild-card contenders. Marlins ace Josh Johnson did not allow a hit until the sixth inning when Matt Diaz lined a 2-2 slider to center field with two outs. David Ross, Adam LaRoche, and Yunel Escobar each drove in a run for the Braves in the opener of a four-game series.

Astros 5, Cubs 3

CHICAGO — Carlos Lee hit a two-run home run and drove in four runs, leading the Astros over the Cubs on Monday night. Lee has hit 20 of his 31 homers against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He added a two-run single to give up 85 RBIs against the NL Central division rival. Roy Oswalt pitched seven strong innings for Houston, who won for just the second time in eight games. Oswalt (8-5) bounced back after giving up a season high-tying 10 hits in six innings of Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to St. Louis. Oswalt is 5-1 since June 29.

Associated Press