Wednesday's American League Capsules

Aug 28, 2008 - 6:15 AM By PA SportsTicker

TAMPA BAY 1, TORONTO 0 ----------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Matt Garza pitched 7 2/3 stellar innings and Carlos Pena homered as the Tampa Bay Rays edged the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0.

Pena's homer on the first pitch of the fourth inning was enough offense against Blue Jays rookie lefthander David Purcey, who struck out a career-high 11.

The Rays halted a two-game losing streak and avoided their first three-game losing streak since dropping the final seven games prior to the All-Star break.

Garza (11-7) allowed six hits with five strikeouts and three walks - two in the eighth inning.

With runners on first and second, Grant Balfour struck out Adam Lind on three pitches for the final out of the eighth. Dan Wheeler pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Purcey (2-5) allowed only five hits, including a bunt single and an infield hit.

Pena was the only Ray with two hits against the lefthander, who pitched his first complete game. He had never gone past the sixth inning in eight previous starts.

Garza improved to 3-1 in his last six starts. In all three of those wins, he has not allowed a run.

Joe Inglett had two of the six hits for the Blue Jays, who were shut out for the first time eighth time this season and second by Tampa Bay.

On the final out of the game, Rod Barajas was robbed of extra bases by a spectacular catch against the left field wall by Justin Ruggiano, who had moved over from right field when the inning started.

MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 5 ----------------------

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Pinch hitter Brian Buscher lined a two-run single to snap a 4-4 tie and cap a three-run eighth inning as the Minnesota Twins rallied to edge the Seattle Mariners, 6-5.

The win snapped the Twins' four-game losing streak and prevented the Mariners from winning their season-high fourth consecutive game.

Minnesota improved to 3-4 on its 14-game road trip, the club's longest since 1969. It avoided being swept in Seattle for the first time since 2001.

Lefthander Glen Perkins (12-3) went seven innings, allowing four runs, eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts in winning his fifth consecutive game and 10th in 12 decisions since June 1.

After blowing each of his last two of his last four opportunities against the Mariners, Joe Nathan worked a perfect ninth inning for his 36th save.

BOSTON 11, NY YANKEES 3 -----------------------

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Dustin Pedroia belted his first career grand slam to cap a seven-run eighth inning as the Boston Red Sox posted an 11-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

Jason Bay drove in four runs for the Red Sox (77-55), who remained 3 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays (80-51) for first place in the American League East Division. In the process, they also pulled away from the Yankees (70-62) in the wild card race thanks to their late-game outburst.

Leading by two runs entering the eighth, Boston broke open the game by battering New York relievers Jose Veras and Dave Robertson and collecting six hits in the frame, none bigger than Pedroia's towering blast to left field which made it 11-2.

One night after getting booed off the field, Alex Rodriguez had two hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who have lost the first two games of this crucial three-game set to fall seven games behind the Red Sox for the AL's final playoff berth with just 30 games to play.

BALTIMORE 11, CHI WHITE SOX 3 -----------------------------

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora and Kevin Millar all homered as the Baltimore Orioles avoided a three-game sweep with an 11-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Brian Roberts drove in three runs for the Orioles, who rapped out 16 hits in snapping a five-game skid.

Jermaine Dye homered for Chicago (76-57), which had its lead over the Minnesota Twins (75-58) in the American League Central reduced to one game.

CLEVELAND 9, DETROIT 7 ----------------------

DETROIT (Ticker) -- Kelly Shoppach homered and drove in three runs to propel the Cleveland Indians to their 10th straight victory, a 9-7 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers jumped all over Fausto Carmona (7-5) in the first two innings, but the 24-year-old righthander settled down thereafter. He tossed six innings, giving up four runs and seven hits while striking out three and walking three.

The Indians took the lead on Shoppach's two-run blast in the fourth inning and never looked back. Justin Verlander (10-14), who had not allowed an earned run in his previous two starts, struck out eight but yielded five runs and seven hits in six frames.

Magglio Ordonez's two-run home run in the ninth inning pulled the Tigers within two, but Miguel Cabrera struck out to end the game.

TEXAS 3, KANSAS CITY 2 ----------------------

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia had three hits to key the Texas Rangers' 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

After Chris Davis doubled with two outs in the seventh inning, Saltalamacchia followed with his second double of the game to tie it at 2-2. Saltalamacchia then scored the decisive run on an error by Royals starter Brian Bannister.

Texas starter Matt Harrison (6-3) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, and seven hits. The lefthander also struck out four and walked two as the Rangers finished off the three-game sweep.

Brandon Boggs was plugged into the lineup just before the first pitch for Josh Hamilton, who was a late scratch because of an abscessed tooth, and had a pair of hits, including a solo home run in the fourth.

Bannister (7-14) allowed three runs, two earned, six hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings. The loss was the eighth straight for the righthander, who has not won since June 23.

OAKLAND 6, LA ANGELS 5 ----------------------

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Emil Brown homered and drove in three runs as the Oakland Athletics held off the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 6-5.

After Brown's RBI single put the A's on the board in the first inning, Eric Patterson began a string of four straight hits off Joe Saunders (14-7) with a run-scoring single.

Rajai Davis followed with a single of his own before Bobby Crosby drove in both runners with a double. Brown ended Saunders' shortest start since September 30, 2006, four pitches later when he hammered the lefthander's 1-2 fastball over the center field wall for his 13th home run.

The Angels answered with a four-run rally in the fourth and Erick Aybar added an RBI single in the fifth, but they could get no closer as Huston Street (4-5) tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless to collect the win. Brad Ziegler worked the final 1 2/3 frames to post his sixth save.