Thursday’s games

American League

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1: At Toronto, Scott Downs and two relievers combined on a two-hitter to lead the Blue Jays to a victory over struggling Detroit.

Athletics 5, Angels 4: At Oakland, Calif., Jason Kendall alertly dashed home from third base with the winning run when Los Angeles’ closer, Francisco Rodriguez, flubbed the easy return throw from the catcher, and the A’s took sole possession of first in the West with a come-from-behind victory.

Orioles 4, Devil Rays 2: A Baltimore, Bruce Chen pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Javy Lopez homered and scored twice to lead the Orioles past Tampa Bay for a three-game sweep.

Yankees 9, Rangers 8: At New York, Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning after the Yankees’ bullpen blew a strong spot start by Scott Proctor, lifting New York over Texas.

Indians 4, Royals 2: At Kansas City, Mo., Jeff Liefer hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to help Cleveland beat Kansas City for the Royals’ franchise-record 13th consecutive loss. The Royals broke the team record of 12 straight losses set in 1997. The Indians have won 14 of their past 18.

National League

Pirates 11, Rockies 3: At Denver, Jose Castillo had a two-run triple among his three hits, and Jason Bay had three hits and scored three times to lead Pittsburgh over Colorado.

Padres 2, Mets 1: At San Diego, Joe Randa singled to center to score David Ross with the go-ahead run in San Diego’s victory over New York.

Cubs 11, Cardinals 4: At Chicago, Greg Maddux pitched his first complete game in more than a year, Derrek Lee hit two home runs and the Cubs snapped their eight-game losing streak with a victory over St. Louis.

Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 1: At Miami, Troy Glaus and Chad Tracy homered in the eighth inning to support a strong outing by Brandon Webb and lead Arizona to a victory over Florida.

Giants 5, Braves 3: Randy Winn hit a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning and San Francisco avoided a sweep in Atlanta, rallying for a victory over the Braves.

Astros 6, Nationals 3: At Houston, Andy Pettitte won for the sixth time in eight starts and the Astros beat Washington. Washington has dropped five of its last six to fall three games behind Houston in the wild-card race.

Dodgers 5, Phillies 1: At Los Angeles, Odalis Perez pitched eight solid innings, Jeff Kent provided the go-ahead runs with a two-run double and the Dodgers beat Philadelphia.