Rangers 12, Orioles 3

ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Beltre hit three home runs, including two in a nine-run fourth inning, and had five RBIs in the Texas Rangers' 12-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

Beltre hit his first homer leading off the second against former teammate Tommy Hunter. He connected again off Hunter for a two-run shot with none out in the fourth. He then hit another two-run drive with two outs while facing Kevin Gregg.

Mitch Moreland hit his first grand slam in the fourth, when the Rangers sent 12 batters to the plate. He matched Beltre with a career high-tying five RBIs.

The power surge supported a solid effort by Derek Holland. The left-hander pitched seven innings, giving up three runs and five hits. He struck out five and walked three.

White Sox 2, Yankees 1

CHICAGO — Chris Sale struck out 13 in 7 2-3 stellar innings to get his 15th victory, Alex Rios hit a go-ahead homer and the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 2-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep in the meeting of division leaders.

Sale (15-4) outpitched New York's Phil Hughes, allowing one walk and three hits, including Derek Jeter's solo homer in the sixth — the Yankee star's third homer in as many nights. Addison Reed worked the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances.

New York's loss and Tampa Bay's victory over Kansas City reduced the Yankees' lead in the AL East to three games, their smallest since before play on June 26.

The win gave the White Sox their first three-game sweep of the Yankees at home since 1991, the year U.S. Cellular Field (then known as new Comiskey Park) opened.

Mariners 3, Indians 1

SEATTLE — Eric Thames hit a tiebreaking two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians 3-1 Wednesday for their eighth straight win.

Seattle, which completed a three-game sweep, is on its longest winning streak since taking eight in a row from June 23 to July 1, 2007. The Mariners have won 15 of their last 16 home games.

Cleveland has lost eight in a row, which follows an 11-game skid from July 27 to Aug. 7. The Indians have lost 21 of their last 25 and are 10-29 since the All-Star break.

Athletics 5, Twins 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Coco Crisp homered, hit an RBI double and scored three runs, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 on Wednesday for their second straight winning series.

Yoenis Cespedes hit a go-ahead two-run single in the third inning that held up for Tommy Milone, and Crisp also singled and stole his 28th base to give the A's a much-needed boost only a couple of hours after right-hander Bartolo Colon received a 50-game suspension for a positive testosterone test a day before he had been scheduled to start the opener of a series at Tampa Bay.

Milone (10-9) allowed one run and two hits, struck out five and walked one in eight impressive innings to end a five-start winless stretch in which he had gone 0-3 since his last victory, a 9-3 decision at Minnesota on July 14. He lowered his ERA to 3.87 from 4.03 and became Oakland's second 10-game winner after Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner while with the Angels.

Rays 5, Royals 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — James Shields took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, leading Tampa Bay over the Kansas City Royals 5-3 Wednesday for the Rays' 16th win in 21 games.

Shields (12-7) retired 12 in a row after Alcides Escobar's two-out single in the third and allowed three runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one, improving to 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts.

Escobar ended Shields' day with a two-out RBI triple in the eighth that pulled Kansas City to 4-2. Jake McGee allowed a run-scoring single to Alex Gordon, and Kyle Farnsworth retired Billy Butler on a grounder.

Angels 7, Red Sox 3

BOSTON — Jered Weaver rebounded from a terrible start by pitching seven solid innings, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the fading Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Wednesday night.

Howie Kendrick hit a solo homer and Torii Hunter had a two-run single for the Angels, who have won the first two in a three-game set at Boston after getting swept in a four-game home series against Tampa Bay over the weekend.

Los Angeles slugger Albert Pujols left in the fourth inning with tightness in his right calf.

Ryan Lavarnway and Mike Aviles had RBI doubles for Boston, which lost for the sixth time in eight games and fell to 6-14 in August.