ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer during a four-run third, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2 Sunday for their seventh straight win.
James Shields (7-5) gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings to win his third consecutive start. He struck out eight and walked one.
The Rays, with the majors’ best record at 55-32, have won 11 of 12 overall. Their seven-game winning streak is the second-longest in team history; Tampa Bay won 12 in a row in June 2004.
Esteban German drove in both runs for the Royals, who have lost seven of nine.
Carlos Pena hit a two-out, two-run double in the third inning and Longoria followed with a two-run drive off Luke Hochevar (5-7) to give Tampa Bay a 5-2 lead. Longoria has five homers and 17 RBI in his last 13 games.
Twins 4, Indians 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Gomez capped a three-run seventh inning against All-Star Cliff Lee with an RBI groundout, and the Twins handed the Indians to their eighth straight loss.
Lee (11-2) lost for the first time in nine starts, hurt by a rare lack of control in the seventh that helped the resourceful Twins put together another one of their small-ball rallies. They batted eight times that inning and hit the ball out of the infield only twice.
Lee allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings and Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer for Cleveland.
Glen Perkins (5-2) allowed seven hits in seven innings for Minnesota before turning the lead over to Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan. Named to his third All-Star team before the game, Nathan got three outs for his 25th save.
Yankees 5, Red Sox 4 (10)
NEW YORK — Rookie Brett Gardner singled home the winning run off Jonathan Papelbon (3-3) with two outs in the 10th, and the Yankees overcame a two-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox for a four-game split.
Alex Rodriguez hit his 536th homer, tying Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for 13th on the career list, and Robinson Cano had a two-run triple in the seventh off Javier Lopez that tied it 4-4.
New York remained a season-high nine games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and closed within four games of the Red Sox. Boston lost its sixth straight one-run game.
Mariano Rivera (3-3) pitched the ninth and 10th innings for the win.
White Sox 4, Athletics 3
CHICAGO — John Danks set a career high with nine strikeouts, and the White Sox handed Rich Harden his first loss in a year.
Danks (6-4) took a no-hitter into the sixth as the White Sox salvaged a four-game split after dropping the first two. Chicago has won 10 of its last 13 games.
The Athletics got a run against Scott Linebrink in the ninth to pull within one, but Jack Cust flied to right with runners on first and second to end the game. Linebrink got his first save in three chances.
Joe Crede drove in Carlos Quentin with a bases-loaded walk in the first and scored on Alexei Ramirez’s single during a two-run fourth that gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead.
Harden (5-1) struggled with his control in his first loss since last July 7. He allowed two earned runs and five hits in five innings, struck out four and walked four.
Rangers 11, Orioles 10
BALTIMORE — David Murphy hit a three-run homer and Ian Kinsler got three singles to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, leading the Rangers to another win.
Murphy’s fourth-inning shot, which followed a two-out intentional walk to Milton Bradley, gave Texas the lead for good. The Rangers took two of three to improve to 15-4-2 in their past 21 series and complete a six-game swing through New York and Baltimore with a 4-2 record.
Radhames Liz (3-1) gave up six runs, four earned, and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings for the Orioles.
Kevin Millwood (6-4) lasted five innings to get the win and C.J. Wilson ended the ragged affair in appropriate fashion, giving up homers by Kevin Millar and Melvin Mora in the ninth before striking out Brian Roberts to seal his 21st save.
Angels 7, Blue Jays 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jon Garland pitched a six-hitter for his 100th major league victory, Jeff Mathis tied a career high with three RBIs and Juan Rivera homered for the Angels.
Garland (8-5) went the distance for the ninth time in 241 career starts and first in 18 outings with Los Angeles, which obtained the right-hander in a trade that sent two-time Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Chicago White Sox in November.
Rivera homered in the second inning against Jesse Litsch (8-5) and helped cut down a runner at the plate in the fourth.
Litsch was charged with six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
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