MLB roundup \ Monday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Twins 7, White Sox 0

CHICAGO — Nick Blackburn pitched seven innings and Orlando Cabrera led the offense as the Minnesota Twins continued their late surge. The Twins, who have won five of six, moved within 21‚Ñ2 games of first-place Detroit, which was idle, in the AL Central. The fading White Sox lost for the fifth time in six games and are seven back. Blackburn (11-11) allowed eight singles with no walks and six strikeouts to earn his first road win since May 31 against Tampa Bay. He is 4-1 this season against Chicago. Cabrera, who last season helped the White Sox win the AL Central title, had a triple, sacrifice fly, RBI single, reached on an error and scored three times.

Royals 12, Red Sox 9

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Jacobs hit a three-run homer and Alberto Callaspo’s two-run double keyed Kansas City’s biggest inning in almost a year, rallying the Royals past the Red Sox. After falling behind 6-0 in the third and 8-2 in the fifth, the Royals seized an 11-9 lead with six runs in the sixth, the most they’ve scored in one inning since Sept. 24, 2008. Billy Butler had an RBI double off Manny Delcarmen and then Callaspo hit a two-run double. Yuniesky Betancourt finished it off with a two-run single off Daniel Bard (2-2). Butler had another RBI double in the seventh, giving him 49 doubles this season.

Blue Jays 9, Orioles 2

TORONTO — Lyle Overbay and John McDonald homered, David Purcey won for the first time in more than a year and Toronto handed the Orioles their fifth straight loss. Toronto has won 11 of 13 home games against Baltimore and 25 of 35 dating to 2006. Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion and Travis Snider each hit a two-run single for the Blue Jays, who batted around in the third and eighth. Purcey (1-2) had not won since pitching eight shutout innings on Sept. 7, 2008, against Tampa Bay. The left-hander allowed one run and four hits in a season-high 7 2-3 innings. He walked four and struck out four.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cardinals 7, Astros 3

HOUSTON — Mark DeRosa homered twice at Minute Maid Park for the second time this season and St. Louis Cardinals won a few hours after Houston fired manager Cecil Cooper. Third-base coach Dave Clark was named Houston’s interim manager for the last two weeks of the regular season, but the Astros lost their eighth straight game in Clark’s major-league managing debut. DeRosa also had a two-run double for the Cardinals, who reduced their magic number for winning the NL Central to three. Kyle Lohse (6-8) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings to earn his first win since Aug. 10.

Cubs 10, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE — Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez hit consecutive homers and Tom Gorzelanny tied a career high with nine strikeouts. Lee drove in four runs and Ramirez scored twice and drove in two more for the Cubs, who won for the second time since general manager Jim Hendry suspended volatile outfielder Milton Bradley for the season on Sunday. Bradley’s replacement on the roster, Tyler Colvin, made his first career start, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly his first time up as the Cubs built a 7-0 lead in the second.

Braves 11, Mets 3

NEW YORK — Chipper Jones homered and drove in four runs to power the Atlanta Braves. Garret Anderson and Matt Diaz also connected for the Braves, who have won nine of 11 to keep a grip on their faint playoff hopes. They moved within five games of idle Colorado for the NL wild-card lead with 12 games left. Atlanta opened a six-game trip with its most runs since it set a season high in a 15-2 win at New York on Aug. 19.

Associated Press