A’s increase West lead to 3

Rich Harden pitched seven strong innings, Eric Byrnes hit a two-run homer and the Oakland Athletics took a three-game lead in the West with a 6-3 victory over the Anaheim Angels at Anaheim, Calif.

Anaheim remained tied for second with Texas, six games back of Boston in the wild-card race.

Devil Rays 4, Blue Jays 2: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Aubrey Huff hit his 29th homer and Mark Hendrickson pitched seven solid innings, leading Tampa Bay past Toronto.

Twins 8, Indians 2: At Cleveland, Johan Santana became the second 20-game winner in the major leagues with his 13th consecutive victory, leading Minnesota over the Indians.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 4: At Boston, with an eerie similarity to last year’s postseason debacle, Pedro Martinez took a lead into the eighth before tiring and New York rallied past the Red Sox to open a 5 1/2 -game advantage in the East.

Orioles 7, Tigers 5: At Baltimore, Miguel Tejada hit a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Orioles to a victory over Detroit.

Royals 8, White Sox 6: At Chicago, John Buck homered twice to lead Kansas City to a win over the White Sox.