Baseball roundup \ Saturday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Orioles 5, Rangers 4

BALTIMORE — Melvin Mora homered and drove in three runs, rookie Brian Matusz (4-2) earned his third straight win. Mora hit a solo homer in the second inning, a two-out RBI single in the third and snapped a 4-all tie with a two-out single in the fifth. Besides his sparkling performance at the plate, the third baseman also made an outstanding catch of a foul bunt by Ian Kinsler in the eighth inning. David Murphy homered for the Rangers, denied their first five-game winning streak since July 19-24. Texas did not get a hit after the third inning and remained two games behind Boston for the AL wild card. Kevin Millwood (10-9) gave up five runs, seven hits and four walks in five innings. He has won only two of his last 11 starts.

White Sox 5, Red Sox 1

CHICAGO — Gavin Floyd retired his first 17 batters, gave up only three hits in eight innings and struck out a career-high 11. Floyd (11-9), who issued no walks, had a perfect game going before Nick Green lined a single to center with two outs in the sixth on a 1-1 pitch. After Green’s clean single, fans gave Floyd a standing ovation. Once he retired the side, teammate Mark Buehrle, who pitched a perfect game against the Rays in July, went up and gave him a hug in the dugout. Floyd lost his shutout in the eighth when Jason Bay led off with his 31st homer to make it 4-1. Chicago scored three times in the first off Tim Wakefield (11-4) and went on to its fourth straight victory. Mark Kotsay homered for the second consecutive day against his former team and Paul Konerko added a solo shot in the eighth to finish with three RBIs.

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 4

TORONTO — Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano homered and Andy Pettitte won his fourth straight start. The AL East leaders, who had a seven-game winning streak snapped Friday, have won 15 of 19 on the road. Both homers came off rookie left-hander Brett Cecil (6-4), who allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings while losing for the third time in four starts.

Pettitte (13-6) extended his unbeaten streak to eight starts despite not making it past the sixth inning in this one.

Tigers 8, Rays 6

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinch-hitter Marcus Thames came through with a tiebreaking single during a two-run eighth inning and Alex Avila had a two-run homer to lead streaking Detroit. Detroit, which overcame a three-run deficit, went ahead 8-6 when Thames hit a bases-loaded single and Adam Everett drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt. The AL Central leaders, who also got a homer from Placido Polanco, have won five in a row. Evan Longoria hit his 27th homer — matching the total from his AL Rookie of the Year season in 2008 — for the Rays, who have lost seven of 10. Tampa Bay remained six games behind Boston for the wild card.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants 3, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE — Matt Cain outpitched Yovani Gallardo (12-11) for his first win in more than six weeks. Juan Uribe homered to spark a two-run rally in the fourth inning and San Francisco won for the sixth time in eight games. The Giants began the day one game behind Colorado for the NL wild card. The Rockies hosted Arizona later. Cain (13-4) scattered four hits and pitched into the eighth inning, matching his career high for wins after going seven starts without one.

Cubs 5, Mets 3

NEW YORK — Derrek Lee homered twice and drove in three runs in his return to the lineup. Rich Harden struck out 10, all swinging, and Aramis Ramirez also had a two-run homer for Chicago, which scored its most runs since beating the Mets 11-4 on Aug. 29. Harden (9-8) pitched five effective innings and the Cubs won for the third time in seven games. The right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, and seven hits to improve to 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA since the All-Star break. Figueroa (2-4) collected eight more strikeouts but was undone by two big swings from Ramirez and Lee, back in the lineup after missing two games to be with his wife following the birth of their second child early Thursday morning.

Reds 3, Braves 1

ATLANTA — Joey Votto hit a two-run homer and Kip Wells pitched six innings of one-hit ball to win his first game in more than 16 months and Cincinnati Reds beat Atlanta for its season-high sixth straight win. The fading Braves, who began the night five games behind Colorado in the NL wild-card race, have lost four straight. Wells (1-3), who had not won since April 17, 2008, when he was with Colorado, allowed only a single to Garret Anderson in the second inning. The right-hander walked four, struck out four and hit a batter. Votto hit a two-run homer off Jair Jurrjens (10-10) in the sixth inning to put the Reds up 2-0. Brandon Phillips followed with a double to left and scored on an RBI single by Scott Rolen.

Marlins 9, Nationals 5

WASHINGTON — Hanley Ramirez homered, Josh Johnson earned his 14th win and Florid beat Washington, handing the woeful Nationals their season-high eighth consecutive loss. Brett Hayes also homered for the Marlins and Johnson (14-4) allowed two hits over five innings. The right-hander walked three, struck out one and retired his final 11 batters in Florida’s fourth straight victory. He is 7-2 in his last 10 starts, and 5-0 in his career against the Nationals. Washington’s losing streak is the longest since the team dropped 12 straight from Aug. 8-20, 2008. Ramirez had three RBIs and Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross two each for the Marlins. Chris Coghlan had three hits.

Associated Press