By The Associated Press
Chicago – Mark Buehrle pitched a four-hitter and Paul Konerko homered as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Sunday to push their Central lead back to 2 1/2 games with a week left.
“There are good vibes right now. We’ve kind of turned it around a little bit,” Konerko said. “We know it’s in the driver’s seat and it’s there for the taking as long as we just do our job.”
Ahead in the Central race by 15 games Aug. 1, the White Sox reduced their magic number to five.
“When you are in second place, it’s a different way. When you are in first, you can take care of yourself before somebody else does it,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.
Buehrle (16-8) is just 6-5 since the all-star break, but he retired his first nine batters Sunday before Jason Tyner singled leading off the fourth. The left-hander struck out six and walked none.
Konerko gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead with a two-run shot in the third inning, his 38th homer of the year and first since Sept 9.
Red Sox 9, Orioles 3
Baltimore – Manny Ramirez hit his 41st homer in a five-run first inning and Johnny Damon connected in a four-run fifth, leading Boston to a three-game sweep at Camden Yards.
It was the fifth homer in five games for Ramirez, who moved into a tie with former Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. for 34th place on the career list (431).
The victory enabled the defending World Series champions to remain tied atop the East with the New York Yankees. Boston plays four home games against Toronto before closing with three against the Yankees at Fenway.
Boston’s 50-24 record at home is the best in the major leagues.
“We’re going home. We have a lot of business to tend to, but at home we hope to be a force,” manager Terry Francona said. “We have an important week; it’ll be fun.”
Yankees 8, Blue Jays 4
New York – Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning, Gary Sheffield added a three-run shot in the eighth and New York won its regular-season home finale.
Chien-Ming Wang (8-4) allowed three runs in seven innings to kelp the Yankees win for the 12th time in 14 games.
The Yankees head to Baltimore for a four-game series starting today.
“We need to go out and win all the games, as Boston does,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “A week from today, the smoke clears. Hopefully, we’re standing tall.”
Royals 5, Indians 4
Kansas City, Mo. – Cleveland center fielder Grady Size- more lost Paul Phillips’ ninth- inning double in the sun, allowing Angel Berroa to score the winning run for Kansas City.
The heavy-hitting Indians lost for only the third time in 20 games, trimming their wild-card lead to a half-game over the Red Sox and Yankees, who are tied atop the East race.
Devils Rays 8, Angels 4
Anaheim, Calif. – Jorge Cantu and Aubrey Huff homered on consecutive pitches from Bartolo Colon (20-8) and Tampa Bay ended Los Angeles’ eight-game winning streak.
Mark Hendrickson (11-7) won his seventh straight decision, denying the West-leading Angels a chance to reduce their magic number of five for clinching the division title.
Rangers 6, Athletics 2
Oakland, Calif. – Rod Barajas hit a three-run homer and Michael Young extended his career-best hitting streak to 22 games with an RBI double as Texas took two of three in the series.
Dan Johnson hit a two-run homer in the second for Oakland, which remained four games behind the West-leading Angels.
Tigers 8, Mariners 1
Detroit – Mike Maroth pitched seven strong innings, and Curtis Granderson scored twice and drove in two runs.
Carlos Peña’s two-run homer in the eighth off Jeff Harris traveled 461 feet, the longest in Comerica Park’s six-year history.
