ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Cliff Lee tied the major league lead with his 15th win and the Cleveland Indians stayed unbeaten against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays this season with a 5-2 victory.
Lee (15-2) went seven innings, giving up two runs and eight hits. The left-hander is 9-2 in 13 road starts.
Tampa Bay's five-game winning streak ended. The Rays began the day three games ahead of Boston in the AL East.
David Dellucci hit his 100th career homer for the Indians, who improved to 20-36 on the road. Cleveland is 5-0 against the Rays this season, including a four-game sweep at home July 10-13.
Rafael Perez pitched the final two innings to record his second save.
Akinori Iwamura drove in both runs for Tampa Bay, which fell to 43-17 at home.
RANGERS 9, YANKEES 5: At Arlington, Tex., Marlon Byrd hit a two-out grand slam in the ninth inning and the Texas Rangers, long after Joba Chamberlain left with a shoulder injury, snapped a 10-game home losing streak to the New York Yankees. Already missing No. 1 starter Chien-Ming Wang and right-hander Phil Hughes from a top-heavy rotation, the Yankees lost Chamberlain when he came out with a stiff right shoulder in the fifth.
It was uncertain whether Chamberlain will be able to make his next scheduled start, but New York is likely to be cautious with the 22-year-old right-hander — even in a tight playoff race.
ANGELS 6, ORIOLES 5: At Anaheim, Chone Figgins drew a bases-loaded walk from All-Star closer George Sherrill with two outs in the ninth inning after Francisco Rodriguez blew a four-run lead, and the Los Angeles Angels beat Baltimore.
MARINERS 11, TWINS 6: At Seattle, Raul Ibanez had a grand slam and six RBIs — all in a wild seventh inning — and Seattle staged its biggest comeback of a lost season to stun the AL Central-leading Twins. Minnesota starter Glen Perkins cruised into the sixth with a 6-0 lead and was still comfortably up 6-1 with one out in the seventh. Seattle looked set to tie its season low of 28 games under .500, until Ibanez triggered a 10-run inning. Ibanez set Seattle's record for RBIs in one frame.
ROYALS 4, RED SOX 3: At Kansas City, Mo., Gil Meche won his fourth straight start and Alex Gordon homered to help surging Kansas City hold off Boston. Joakim Soria allowed a run in the ninth before Sean Casey flied out with runners at second and third to end it.
Meche (10-9) struck out nine in six innings for Kansas City, which won for the seventh time in eight games. The right-hander improved to 4-0 in five home starts against the Red Sox.
Dustin Pedroia had a double and two singles, extending his road hitting streak to 25 games — the most by a Boston player since Hall of Famer Tris Speaker 95 years ago.
BLUE JAYS 6, ATHLETICS 1: At Toronto, Roy Halladay pitched eight strong innings and Toronto handed Oakland its season-high seventh straight loss. Oakland is a major league-worst 2-14 since the All-Star break, and 9-23 since June 28. Halladay (13-8) had retired eight in a row and 16 of 18 overall when Bobby Crosby ended his shutout bid with a homer to left in the eighth. It was Crosby's fifth of the year. Halladay gave up four hits, walked one and struck out eight.
Oakland right-hander Sean Gallagher allowed the first two runs by hitting batters with the bases loaded, plunking Marco Scutaro in the second and Adam Lind in the third. Gallagher (1-1) allowed five runs — four earned — and four hits in three innings, his shortest start of the year. He walked four and struck out four.
National League
REDS 6, BREWERS 3; At Cincinnati, Bronson Arroyo lasted six innings on a muggy night and hit a bases-loaded double on Monday, sending the Reds to a victory that left Milwaukee with a next-to-nothing lead in the NL wild card race. The Brewers seem to be losing their composure, too. After left-hander Manny Parra (9-5) left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, first baseman Prince Fielder went up to him in the dugout and exchanged words. Fielder then shoved Parra twice before teammates pulled him away.
DIAMONDBACKS 13, PIRATES 7: At Phoenix, Mark Reynolds homered and drove in three runs, Chris Young snapped an 0-for-18 skid with three hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Pirates. Reynolds finished 3-for-5 and Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Tony Clark and Orlando Hudson each had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who recorded a season-high 18 hits and snapped a two-game losing streak.
NATIONALS 9, ROCKIES 4: At Denver, Tim Redding settled down after a rough start to strike out six over five-plus innings and Washington won its fourth straight game. Willie Harris homered and had three RBIs for the Nationals, who had lost nine in a row prior to their current streak.
Aaron Cook (14-7) gave up seven runs — four earned — in 5 2-3 innings and lost for the first time since July 6. It was just the third time in 24 starts this season he has failed to pitch at least six innings.
GIANTS 4, BRAVES 2: At San Francisco, Matt Cain beat the Braves for the first time in three career tries, Randy Winn doubled in a run and had three hits and the San Francisco Giants beat Atlanta. Ivan Ochoa and Aaron Rowand each hit RBI singles for San Francisco, which won for the third time in four games and earned just its 21st home victory of 2008 .
Cain didn't allow a baserunner past second until Casey Kotchman's two-out triple in the sixth, then Kotchman scored the Braves' first run on Omar Infante's RBI single moments later.
ASTROS 2, CUBS 0: At Chicago, Brian Moehler pitched five sharp innings before two powerful storms rolled into Wrigley Field, and Houston withstood the wild weather to beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in a rain-shortened game that was called in the bottom of the eighth. The first delay came in the top of the sixth and lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes. As the initial storm hit the Chicago area, fans at Wrigley were advised to take cover on the concourse.