Friday’s A.L. games

White Sox 8, Red Sox 7: Aaron Rowand hit two home runs, the second a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning, to lead Chicago to a win in Boston. It was Rowand’s first career two-homer game and his four RBIs tied a career high. His big night helped Jose Contreras (10-5), making his third start for the White Sox since being acquired from the New York Yankees, earn his first career victory against the Red Sox.

Tigers 5, Angels 3: Craig Monroe drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the ninth, leading Detroit to a win at Anaheim. Brandon Inge broke out of a long slump by going 4 for 4 with three RBIs in the Tigers’ first win at Anaheim in 12 games.

Royals 10, Athletics 3: Abraham Nunez hit a grand slam for his first home run of the season, spoiling Mark Mulder’s bid to become the majors’ first 16-game winner and leading Kansas City to a win at Oakland.

Rangers 5, Devil Rays 3: Laynce Nix and Alfonso Soriano each homered, and Kenny Rogers earned his 14th victory to lead Texas past visiting Tampa Bay. Rogers (14-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in 562/3 innings for the Rangers, who had lost six of their past seven games.

Indians 8, Twins 2: Ben Broussard homered for the second straight night and Cleveland beat visiting Minnesota to pull within two games of the first-place Twins. The Indians have won five straight and nine of 10.

Orioles 4, Blue Jays 0: Sidney Ponson and three relievers combined on a five-hitter, leading Baltimore to a win in Toronto, the Orioles’ 10th win in 11 games. Ponson (8-12) is 5-0 in his last six starts after losing nine straight.