baseball roundup Saturday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Twins 6, Tigers 2

MINNEAPOLIS — The latest ball lost in the Metrodome’s deceiving roof spoiled Justin Verlander’s stellar start in the eighth inning, and Minnesota rallied past Detroit to move within two games of the AL Central lead. Jason Kubel’s two-run single with the bases loaded sent Verlander (16-9) to the dugout after a season-high 128 pitches, and Michael Cuddyer greeted Brandon Lyon with a three-run homer to break the game open. The Twins won their sixth straight and moved four games above the .500 mark, both season highs, in front of the largest crowd, 43,338, at the Metrodome since opening day. Verlander struck out Nick Punto to start his last inning. But after a single by Denard Span, Orlando Cabrera hit a medium-length fly ball down the left-field line. Defensive replacement Don Kelly misjudged it, and it hit on the turf just under his glove for a double. Joe Mauer was intentionally walked, and then Kubel came through for Minnesota with a bloop that Kelly charged but couldn’t reach. Cuddyer followed with his second homer in as many games. Jesse Crain (6-4) threw a scoreless eighth for the victory.

White Sox 13, Royals 3

CHICAGO — Jake Peavy allowed three runs and three hits over five innings in his first start in over three months as Chicago got a grand slam from Carlos Quentin, scored six times in the eighth and beat the Royals. Peavy (1-0) hadn’t pitched in a major league game since June 8 when he beat the Diamondbacks while with the Padres. Five days later, he went on the disabled list with a strained tendon in his right ankle. Traded to the White Sox on July 31, he’d planned to be pitching sooner but was hit in the pitching elbow with a line drive during a rehab game Aug. 24, setting him back.

Rangers 3, Angels 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Hank Blalock homered to help lift Texas’ slumping offense, Scott Feldman picked up his 17th victory and the Rangers kept their slim playoff hopes alive, beating the Angels. The Rangers, who snapped a five-game losing streak, moved within 61‚Ñ2 games of the division-leading Angels in the AL West. Texas is also 61‚Ñ2 games behind Boston in the wild-card chase. The Red Sox played at Baltimore on Saturday night. Texas had been shutout in four of its previous five games, the first time in club history that happened. The Rangers had scored once in 48 innings before bringing home a run in the third.

Rays 4, Blue Jays 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Matt Garza struck out 10 while stopping a personal nine-game winless streak. Garza (8-10) allowed three hits over 71‚Ñ3 innings in winning for the first time since beating Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay 4-2 on July 24. The right-hander is 3-5 — with all three victories coming against Toronto — over his past 15 starts. Toronto rookie Ricky Romero (12-9) lost for the fourth time in five starts, giving up four runs and seven hits in six innings. The Blue Jays are 4-13 against Tampa Bay this season.

Red Sox 11, Orioles 5

BALTIMORE — Jon Lester pitched into the seventh inning to win his sixth straight decision, and the Red Sox feasted on the Orioles bullpen. Josh Reddick, J.D. Drew and Brian Anderson homered for the Red Sox, who dropped their magic number to clinch the AL wild card below double figures. Any number of Boston victories or Texas defeats totaling nine will put the Red Sox in the playoffs. Lester (14-7) wasn’t at his best, but the left-hander was still plenty good enough to run his career record against Baltimore to 10-0, including 4-0 this season. Despite giving up three runs and 10 hits — at least one every inning — he improved to 6-0 in 11 starts since July 19. Matt Albers (2-6) took the loss.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodgers 12, Giants 1

LOS ANGELES — Ronnie Belliard hit a grand slam, Matt Kemp and James Loney added back-to-back drives off former teammate Brad Penny and Los Angeles routed San Francisco. The Dodgers, who lost the series opener 8-4 on Friday night, began the day with a five-game lead over Colorado in the NL West. The Giants were 21‚Ñ2 back of the wild card-leading Rockies before Saturday’s games. Los Angeles’ victory reduced its magic number to six for clinching its third postseason berth in four years. Jon Garland (11-11) gave up an unearned run and seven hits in eight innings, tying his longest outing of the season. The right-hander is unbeaten in his last six starts, four of those with the Dodgers after he was acquired from Arizona on Aug. 31. Pitching in 87-degree heat, Penny (10-9) gave up seven runs and five hits in 22‚Ñ3 innings — equaling his shortest outing of the season. He lost for the first time in four outings with the Giants. San Francisco’s Randy Johnson made his first relief appearance since pitching for the Yankees in the 2005 American League division series. He faced three batters in the sixth, giving up consecutive doubles to Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier before retiring pinch-hitter Juan Pierre.

Cardinals 2, Cubs 1

ST. LOUIS — Brendan Ryan hit an outfielder-assisted homer and singled in the winning run in the ninth inning, helping St. Louis reduce its magic number for clinching the NL Central to four. The Cardinals beat the Cubs in the ninth inning for the second straight game, this time prevailing after Ryan Franklin’s third blown save in his last five appearances. Franklin (4-3) allowed two hits and a tying sacrifice fly to Jeff Baker in the ninth. St. Louis had three singles off Carlos Marmol (2-4) in the bottom half and Ryan’s liner to left with runners on first and third was his third hit of the game. Left fielder Bobby Scales had Ryan’s drive in his glove in the fifth as he banged into the 8-foot-high fence. But it popped out and over for Ryan’s third homer of the season and the Cardinals’ only run off Ryan Dempster.

Mets 3, Nationals 2

NEW YORK — Tim Redding pitched splendidly into the eighth inning and New York ended its six-game losing streak. The Mets won for only the second time in 12 games and avoided their longest skid since dropping 11 straight Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, 2004, according to STATS LLC. New York scored twice in the seventh to snap a 1-all tie.

Associated Press