Friday’s A.L. results

Yankees 8, Red Sox 7: At Boston, Alex Rodriguez capped a six-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking single off Jonathan Papelbon, and New York overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Red Sox. Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano started the comeback with home runs off Hideki Okajima.

Indians 5, Royals 4: At Cleveland, Casey Blake homered on David Riske’s first pitch in the ninth inning to rally the Indians to a win over Kansas City, moving Cleveland closer to a Central Division title.

Orioles 6, Blue Jays 2: At Toronto, Brian Burres pitched seven shutout innings to win for the first time since July 28, leading Baltimore to a victory over the Blue Jays. Brian Roberts homered for Baltimore, which won back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 14-15.

Tigers 4, Twins 2: At Minneapolis, Timo Perez drove in three runs, Nate Robertson won for the first time in six starts and Detroit started a crucial road trip with a victory over Minnesota. Robertson surrendered five hits, three walks and two runs while striking out five in seven innings.

White Sox 5, Angels 3: At Chicago, Jose Contreras limited the West Division leaders to three runs in 7 1/3 innings for his third consecutive victory as the White Sox defeated Anaheim.

Athletics 11, Rangers 9: At Oakland, Calif., Sammy Sosa’s 608th home run and five RBIs weren’t enough for Texas. Nick Swisher hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning after Oakland rallied from a six-run deficit, and the Athletics beat the Rangers.

Associated Press