Tuesday’s games

American League

White Sox 8, Tigers 2: At Detroit, Jose Contreras won his eighth straight start, leading the White Sox over the Tigers and opening a three-game lead for Chicago over Cleveland in the Central.

Yankees 2, Orioles 1: At Baltimore, Alex Rodriguez homered and Derek Jeter singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning, and New York used a fine pitching performance by Shawn Chacon to beat the Orioles and move a game ahead of Boston in the East.

Devil Rays 1, Indians 0: At Cleveland, Seth McClung pitched eight shutout innings and Julio Lugo’s sacrifice fly drove in the game’s only run as Tampa Bay beat the Indians for the second straight night. Cleveland and Boston are tied for the wild-card lead.

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 2: At Boston, Frank Catalanotto doubled, tripled and homered to lead Toronto past the Red Sox. Bronson Arroyo allowed three home runs and all seven runs for Boston.

Athletics 6, Angels 1: At Oakland, Calif., Eric Chavez hit a two-run homer to lead Oakland past Los Angeles.

Twins 6, Royals 3: At Minneapolis, Jacque Jones hit a go-ahead triple in a three-run eighth to lead Minnesota over Kansas City.

National League

Padres 9, Giants 1: At San Diego, Pedro Astacio took a shutout into the eighth to help the Padres clinch their fourth division title in their 37-year history with a victory over San Francisco. San Diego climbed back to the .500 mark.

Astros 7, Cardinals 6: At St. Louis, Morgan Ensberg had a tiebreaking double in the ninth off Jason Isringhausen, his fourth hit of the game, and Houston beat the Cardinals to maintain a 2 1/2 -game lead over Philadelphia in the wild-card race.

Phillies 16, Mets 6: At Philadelphia, Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs to give the Phillies a win over New York.

Rockies 10, Braves 5: At Atlanta, Clint Barmes ripped a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth to lift Colorado over the Braves in a game that saw 14 rookies starting.

Pirates 3, Cubs 2: At Chicago, rookie Nate McLouth homered for the third straight day to propel Pittsburgh past the Cubs.

Reds 11, Brewers 4: At Milwaukee, Adam Dunn hit his 39th home run and Felipe Lopez drove in three runs to lead Cincinnati past the Brewers.

Nationals 11, Marlins 7: At Miami, Preston Wilson homered and had five RBIs as Washington beat Florida.

Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 3: At Los Angeles, Luis Gonzalez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth, and Arizona beat the Dodgers.