David Wells allowed three hits in eight innings, and the Boston Red Sox got a three-run homer from Jason Varitek in an 8-0 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night in Baltimore.
Wells (2-2) struck out five and walked one, coming within three outs of his first shutout in 63 starts since blanking Minnesota for the New York Yankees on April 10, 2003. The burly left-hander has rattled off 15 consecutive scoreless innings since losing his first two starts with Boston.
Baltimore's Brian Roberts went 0-for-3 with a walk, ending a 14-game hitting streak. Bruce Chen (1-1) allowed five runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings for the Orioles, who failed to hit a home run for the first time in 10 games.
WHITE SOX 9, TIGERS 1: At Detroit, Joe Crede hit a three-run homer, Jermaine Dye had a two-run drive and Jon Garland pitched eight solid innings for Chicago.
The AL Central-leading White Sox (11-4) have won three straight and are off to their best 15-game start since 1981. Garland allowed one run and five hits, improving to 3-0 for the first time. He has won three straight starts for the first time in three years.
Wilfredo Ledezma (1-1) gave six runs and eight hits.
YANKEES 11, BLUE JAYS 2: At Toronto, Carl Pavano scattered seven hits over eight innings to get his first win with the Yankees.
Jorge Posada hit a three-run homer for New York, which went ahead 7-1 in the fourth inning.
Pavano (1-2), who signed a $39.95 million, four-year contract, allowed two runs, just one of them earned. He struck out three, walked none and was backed by 14 hits. Former Yankee Ted Lilly (0-2) allowed six runs and six hits — including five doubles — in 3 1/3 innings.
RANGERS 12, DEVIL RAYS 10: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Rod Barajas hit his first career grand slam and Kevin Mench had a bases-loaded triple for the Rangers, who nearly blew an eight-run lead.
Barajas was mired in a 1-for-14 slide before putting the Rangers up 6-1 with a homer on the first pitch off John Webb (0-1) during a five-run fourth inning. Mench drove in three runs in a four-run fifth.
Charles Johnson, Carl Crawford and Aubrey Huff had two RBIs each for the Devil Rays, who trailed by eight in the fifth inning and lost for the fifth time in six games.
A night after beating the New York Yankees 6-2, the Devil Rays outhit Texas 15-11 but lost for the fifth time in six games.
Texas starter Ryan Drese (2-1) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his major league-leading seventh save.
TWINS 5, ROYALS 4: At Minneapolis, Shannon Stewart had an RBI single through a drawn-in infield in the eighth inning.
Juan Rincon (2-0) earned the victory with one inning of relief of Johan Santana, and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Santana, unbeaten in 19 starts since July 17, started the game less than an hour after the birth of his second child. Santana led 3-0 and was removed after seven innings with the score tied 4-all. Stewart's RBI grounder to left off Nate Field helped the Twins end a three-game losing streak.
ANGELS 2, INDIANS 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Bartolo Colon pitched four-hit ball over eight innings and Chone Figgins homered to lead the Angels over Cleveland. Colon (3-1) threw 115 pitches, striking out six and walking two before Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 6: At Seattle, Greg Dobbs drove in three runs with a pinch-hit double off rookie Huston Street in the seventh inning, leading Seattle over Oakland.