Craig Gentry of the Texas Rangers connects on a seventh-inning two-run single against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Rangers 10, Yankees 6
NEW YORK — Craig Gentry turned a spot start into a tiebreaking hit and the Texas Rangers avoided a four-game sweep in a matchup of AL division leaders, rallying past the New York Yankees 10-6 Thursday.
Texas had lost eight straight at Yankee Stadium overall. The hard-hitting Rangers had done little in this series, too, totalling only four runs before the finale.
Gentry started for the first time in two weeks, and his two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning put the Rangers ahead 7-5. Adrian Beltre also had three RBIs while Josh Hamilton doubled twice and scored three times.
Taking no chances, Texas manager Ron Washington summoned closer Joe Nathan for the first time in more than a week to finish it out in a non-save situation.
Ichiro Suzuki got three hits for the Yankees.
White Sox 7, Blue Jays 2
TORONTO — Left-hander Francisco Liriano allowed three hits over 6 1/3 innings and Alex Rios hit a three-run homer as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Thursday.
It was the third win in a row for the White Sox after losing the opener of the four-game series.
Rios, a former Blue Jay, hit his 19th homer in the eighth inning against left-hander Darren Oliver to give Chicago a four-run lead. The White Sox (65-52) had five home runs in the game.
Blue Jays left-hander Aaron Laffey (3-4) allowed three runs on three hits — home runs by Dewayne Wise, Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers — in six innings.
Both Blue Jays runs against Liriano (4-10) came on a two-run homer in the second by Moises Sierra, recently called up from triple-A Las Vegas. Liriano was making his fourth start for the White Sox since he was obtained in a trade with Minnesota on July 28. His three previous starts were no decisions.
Sierra started the scoring for Toronto (55-63) with a two-run homer in the second inning. His second major-league homer followed a one-out single by David Cooper.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE — Clay Buchholz shook off a rocky start to earn his 11th win, Dustin Pedroia singled in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.
Adrian Gonzalez had two RBIs and Cody Ross chipped in with three hits to help Boston to its third win in nine games. Serving as designated hitter for the first time this season, Jacoby Ellsbury went 0 for 4 to end his 38-game hitting streak against Baltimore.
After giving up three runs and six hits over the first two innings, Buchholz (11-3) kept the Orioles at bay while the Red Sox rebounded from a 3-1 deficit. The right-hander ended up allowing three runs, eight hits and three walks over eight innings.
Athletics 3, Royals 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes homered, and Dan Straily picked up his first major league victory as the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 on Thursday night.
Crisp, who played for the Royals in 2009, was 2 for 27 this season against Kansas City before the home run.
Crisp drilled a 2-0 pitch from Luke Hochevar deep to right. The ball hit high off a green wall beyond the fence and caromed back onto the field. It was first ruled a double, but manager Bob Melvin disputed that. After the umpires viewed replays, it was changed to a home run.
Straily (1-0), a 24th-round draft pick in 2009, held the Royals to three singles over 6 1-3 innings in his third major league start. Straily, who walked two and struck out two, pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning.
Hochevar (7-11) gave up three runs and four hits in seven-plus innings. Hochevar is 0-8 with a 6.52 ERA in nine career starts against Oakland.
Rays 7, Angels 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. — David Price pitched three-hit ball over seven innings for his AL-leading 16th victory and the Tampa Bay Rays got home runs from Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist in a 7-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Burke Badenhop and Wade Davis each worked one inning in the Rays' third straight shutout against the Angels. The Halos have gone 32 consecutive innings without scoring against a staff that leads the AL in ERA, opponents' batting average and strikeouts.
Price (16-4) struck out eight, walked two and lowered his ERA to 2.39, third in the AL behind the Angels' Jered Weaver and Detroit's Justin Verlander. The left-hander allowed only two runners to third base in this one, striking out Chris Iannetta to end the fifth inning and fanning Vernon Wells to escape the seventh.
With files from The Canadian Press
