Friday’s games
American League
Indians 4, Twins 2: At Cleveland, the surging Indians retained the wild-card lead, beating Johan Santana for the first time behind six strong innings from Jake Westbrook in a victory over Minnesota.
Blue Jays 7, Devil Rays 2: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Josh Towers threw six effective innings, Corey Koskie homered and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Royals 12, Tigers 2: At Detroit, Emil Brown drove in three runs, and Aaron Guiel homered among his three hits as Kansas City handed the Tigers their season-high ninth consecutive loss.
Yankees 8, Red Sox 4: At New York, Derek Jeter turned in two great defensive plays and drove in the go-ahead run, and Aaron Small won his seventh straight decision to lead the Yankees over Boston in the opener of a big three-game series.
Athletics 9, Rangers 8: At Arlington, Texas, former Spokane Indians infielder Mark Ellis homered and had four hits, and Oakland held off Texas.
Angels 6, White Sox 5 (12): At Chicago, Vladimir Guerrero doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a heads-up baserunning play in the 12th inning to give Los Angeles a victory over the White Sox.
National League
Pirates 8, Reds 4: At Cincinnati, former Gonzaga University outfielder Jason Bay hit a pair of two-run homers, and Pittsburgh beat the Reds in Oliver Perez’s first start in more than 10 weeks.
Phillies 12, Marlins 5: At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard each hit a two-run homer, and the Phillies snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Florida.
Nationals 8, Braves 6: At Washington, Jose Guillen broke a tie with a two-run double in the eighth inning for his 1,000th career hit, capping the Nationals’ comeback for a victory over East-leading Atlanta.
Cardinals 3, Mets 2: At St. Louis, Larry Walker hit a tiebreaking home run off the right-field scoreboard with two outs in the eighth inning and Jason Marquis threw eight strong innings, helping the Cardinals beat New York.
Brewers 7, Astros 4: At Milwaukee, Roger Clemens lasted just three innings in his shortest start in more than a year, and the Brewers spoiled Jeff Bagwell’s return from the disabled list with a victory over Houston.
Giants 2, Cubs 1: At San Francisco, Matt Cain pitched an electrifying two-hitter in his third major league start, and fellow rookie Dan Ortmeier got his first RBI with a tiebreaking single in the Giants’ victory over Chicago.
Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 1: At Denver, Shawn Estes pitched six shutout innings for his first win since June 24 and Chad Tracy hit a three-run homer to lead Arizona past Colorado.
Padres 3, Dodgers 1: At Los Angeles, Woody Williams held the Dodgers hitless through five innings and Ramon Hernandez homered in a three-run fourth, giving San Diego a victory.