Yankees Keep Rolling, Rip First-Place Red Sox

American League

The Boston Red Sox aren’t used to getting shut down by a left-handed starter. Yankees rookie Andy Pettitte almost shut them out.

Pettitte came within one out of becoming the first lefty to pitch a complete game against the Red Sox this season as the Yankees cruised to a 9-1 victory Saturday in New York.

“I used all my pitches and I was throwing them for strikes, getting ahead in the counts. If you can do that, you have a pretty good chance to win,” said Pettitte (9-8).

After John Valentin’s RBI double in the third, Pettitte allowed only one hit until the ninth and retired 16 of 17 Red Sox in one stretch before Tim Naehring singled with two outs in the ninth.

“I wanted to finish it, but I got a bit tired at the end,” Pettitte said. “I threw a couple of curveballs to (Mike) Greenwell, but I had to come back with a fastball and he got a base hit.

“That happens when you get that high in the pitch count,” said Pettitte, who threw 140 pitches.

Pettitte won his third straight decision, walking one and striking out seven before Bob Wickman got the final out with two runners on.

The Yankees scored four runs in the second inning off Zane Smith (7-8), with Don Mattingly’s two-run single being the big blow in the uprising.

Angels 6, Twins 5

Anaheim, Calif.

Tim Salmon hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to lead California past Minnesota. With the Twins leading 5-4, Salmon greeted reliever Pat Mahomes (3-7) with his 33rd homer of the season.

Rangers 10, Brewers 4

Milwaukee

Mickey Tettleton hit a grand slam and Juan Gonzalez had a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Texas beat Milwaukee. Kevin Gross (8-14) snapped his three-game losing streak in winning for the first time since Aug. 19.

Athletics 8, White Sox 2

Oakland, Calif.

Geronimo Berroa and Terry Steinbach homered to back the strong pitching of Steve Ontiveros, who won for the first time in more than two months, as Oakland beat Chicago. Ontiveros (9-5) hadn’t won since being named to the All-Star team, going 0-3 in six starts and spending five weeks on the disabled list with a sore right elbow.

Indians 2, Orioles 1

Cleveland

Rookie Chad Ogea gave up two hits in seven innings and Cleveland extended its league-high home winning streak to 13 games with a victory over Baltimore.

Playing with a jumbled lineup following Friday night’s clinching of the A.L. Central title, the Indians won their fifth straight and their 15th in the last 17 overall. They are 26-13 in one-run games. Ogea (8-3) has gone 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last four appearances.

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 2

Toronto

Sean Bergman pitched 7-2/3 innings of five-hit ball, and Chad Curtis and Cecil Fielder homered to lift Detroit.

In winning his third straight decision, Bergman (7-8) struck out a career-high nine - including the side in the sixth - and walked three. Toronto scored twice in the eighth to pull within a run, but John Doherty got the final out of the inning and Dwayne Henry pitched the ninth for his second save.

Clearing the bases

The A’s honored former pitcher Dave Stewart, who retired in July, in a pregame ceremony featuring speeches from teammates past and present. Many of the White Sox stood on the dugout steps and applauded along with the crowd of 25,450, Oakland’s best turnout in several weeks… . Toronto must win its last 20 games in order to finish at .500. If they don’t, they’ll suffer their second straight losing season for the first time since 1981 and 1982… . John Olerud’s single extended his hitting streak to 12 games and drove in career RBIs 400 and 401.