NEW YORK, N.Y. - CC Sabathia steadied New York's rocky rotation with eight sharp innings, Alex Rodriguez passed Willie Mays for eighth on the career RBIs list and the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 6-2 on Sunday despite leaving 14 men on base in the first six innings.
Rodriguez drove in two runs without hitting the ball out of the infield, leaving him with 1,904 RBIs. He singled on a dribbler down the third-base line with the bases loaded in the second, the Yankees' only hit in six plate appearances with three men on. Chris Stewart slid under catcher Gerald Laird's tag on Rodriguez's grounder to shortstop in the seventh.
Curtis Granderson walked to force in the game's first run in the second, one of a career-high seven walks by Detroit starter Max Scherzer (1-3).
The Yankees walked nine times and left 15 on base overall, but won the three-game series. Sabathia (3-0) allowed two runs and four hits.
Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher left with a tight left hamstring.
RAYS 5, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — David Price beat Texas for the first time in 10 career starts and Tampa Bay became the first team to win a series against the Rangers this season.
Ben Zobrist had three hits and an RBI and Price earned his fourth victory in five starts. Tampa Bay touched up Derek Holland (2-2) for five extra-base hits in a nine-hit outburst.
Price (4-1) struck out six and walked one in 6 1-3 innings. He gave up two runs and six hits.
Fernando Rodney loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, then jammed Ian Kinsler on a soft liner back to the mound for his seventh save.
Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton left in the third with back stiffness and is day to day. Texas manager Ron Washington was ejected on his 60th birthday.
Tampa Bay took two of three in Texas, marking the first loss in seven series this season for the Rangers, who had won a team-record 12 consecutive series dating to last year.
INDIANS 4, ANGELS 0
CLEVELAND (AP) — Derek Lowe pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning and the Indians scored three runs on Angels errors.
Lowe (4-1) retired 12 batters on ground balls, including Albert Pujols three times. Pujols also struck out against Chris Perez, extending his career-long homerless streak to 117 at-bats.
Ervin Santana (0-5), in his first start against Cleveland since throwing a no-hitter at Progressive Field last July 27, allowed two unearned runs over seven innings. The runs scored when nine-time Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter lost a routine two-out fly ball in the sun for an error in the fifth.
Los Angeles has totalled only 11 runs while losing six of seven.
The Indians scored twice in the eighth off Kevin Jepsen, whose throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Jack Hannahan made it 3-0.
WHITE SOX 4, RED SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Gavin Floyd carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer and the White Sox snapped a five-game losing streak.
Floyd (2-3) struck out nine in 6 2-3 innings, yielding one run and three hits. He improved to 7-0 with a 3.21 ERA in nine career appearances against Boston.
Dustin Pedroia singled with one out in the seventh for Boston's first hit of the game. Cody Ross had an RBI single for the Red Sox, who had won six straight.
Red Sox starter Josh Beckett (2-3) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out eight and allowed six hits while matching a career high with 126 pitches.
ORIOLES 5, ATHLETICS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Wilson Betemit hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning after Matt Wieters doubled in two runs, giving the Orioles an unlikely victory.
Oakland starter Bartolo Colon took a four-hit shutout into the ninth without allowing a runner past second base.
After J.J. Hardy led off with an infield hit and Nick Markakis struck out, Adam Jones hit a chopper down the third-base line that Colon collected before throwing wildly to first. The single and error put runners at second and third and ended Colon's afternoon.
Grant Balfour (0-1) entered and promptly gave up a double to left by Wieters that tied it. After Chris Davis received an intentional walk, Betemit hit a liner to right-centre that bounced off the top of the wall — a home run, according to the ground rules at Camden Yards.
Pedro Strop (3-1) got three outs for the Orioles, who moved six games over .500 (14-8) for the first time since July 20, 2005.
TWINS 7, ROYALS 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Josh Willingham had three hits and the Twins snapped a six-game losing streak.
Jason Marquis (2-0) threw six strong innings for Minnesota, which also got three hits and a pair of RBIs from Danny Valencia.
Kansas City starter Bruce Chen (0-3) had his worst outing of the season, giving up six runs and six hits in 2 2-3 innings. It was Chen's shortest outing since lasting 3 1-3 innings on July 9, 2010.
Kansas City had won three straight.
Willingham drove in two runs in his first game back from the paternity list following the birth of his son last week.
BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion hit his third home run in three games for Toronto, and Henderson Alvarez won for the first time since August.
Jeff Mathis added a two-run homer as the Blue Jays broke open a close game with a five-run eighth inning.
Chone Figgins and Miguel Olivo homered for the Mariners, who lost their second straight.
Alvarez (1-2) allowed one run and six hits in six-plus innings to win for the second time in 15 major league starts. Alvarez, whose only other victory came at Baltimore last Aug. 31, walked a career-high three and struck out one.
Seattle starter Jason Vargas (3-2) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
