BOSTON — Derek Jeter hit the first pitch of the game for one of New York's five homers off Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia became the majors' first 15-game winner, and the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 Sunday night.
The expected pitchers duel between the AL's only 14-game winners never materialized as the Yankees scored in each of the first five innings and the Red Sox had four runs off Sabathia before he left with two outs in the seventh.
The aces of their pitching staffs figured to shut down streaking offenses, but that prospect faded early when the score was tied at 2 after two innings.
RANGERS 4, RAYS 0: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Scott Feldman struck out a career-high 11 to win his fifth consecutive road start, and the Texas Rangers avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Sunday. Michael Young and Ivan Rodriguez each drove in two runs. Feldman (13-4) is the first Texas pitcher with victories in five straight starts away from home since Rick Helling accomplished the feat in 1998. The right-hander, 9-1 this season on the road, allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings. Darren O'Day struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth before closer Frank Francisco pitched the ninth in a non-save situation. David Price (6-6) gave up three runs and three hits in seven innings. The left-hander had won five starts in a row at home.
BLUE JAYS 8, ANGELS 3: At Toronto, Ricky Romero won for the first time in four starts, Travis Snider hit a solo homer and Toronto beat Los Angeles. Snider went 3 for 3 with a walk as the Blue Jays earned a split in their eight-game season series with the Angels. Toronto has lost the season series just once in the past seven years. The AL West-leading Angels have lost three of four following a five-game winning streak and are 10-18 in Toronto since the start of the 2003 season. Romero (11-5) moved into a tie with Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann for the AL rookie lead in wins by allowing two runs and eight hits in six innings. Making just his third major league start, Angels right-hander Trevor Bell failed to get out of the second, allowing six runs and six hits in 1 2-3 innings. Bell (1-1) walked four, one intentionally.
ATHLETICS 9, TIGERS 4: At Oakland, Calif., Jack Cust hit two homers and drove in four runs, Landon Powell added a three-run shot and Oakland beat Detroit. Brett Tomko (3-2) allowed three hits in six innings, striking out eight. He's won both his starts for the Athletics after appearing in 15 games with the Yankees. Cliff Pennington also homered for the A's. Miguel Cabrera had three hits, including his 200th home run, and drove in two as the Tigers lost their second straight. Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff homer and Marcus Thames added a pinch-hit RBI single.
ORIOLES 5, WHITE SOX 4: At Chicago, Brian Roberts had three hits and Nolan Reimold hit a two-run homer to help Baltimore beat Mark Buehrle. Jason Berken (3-11) won for the second time since May 26. The rookie right-hander allowed three runs, two earned, and five hits in 52/3 innings. Buehrle (11-7) yielded five runs and 11 hits in 51/3 innings. He is 0-4 with a 6.22 ERA in six starts since his perfect game against the Rays on July 23. The White Sox split their six-game homestand against the Royals and Orioles and open an 11-game road trip in Boston on Monday.
TWINS 10, ROYALS 3: At Kansas City, Mo., Michael Cuddyer homered twice in Minnesota's eight-run seventh inning, and Denard Span added a three-run triple, helping the Twins break open a close game against Kansas City. A pitching duel between Twins starter Carl Pavano (11-9) and Royals right-hander Brian Bannister (7-10) got messy in a hurry in the seventh, when Cuddyer hit the first pitch for a homer, then added a two-run shot that put Minnesota up 9-1. Playing his sixth straight game at first base in place of Justin Morneau (ear infection), Cuddyer became the first Twins player to hit two homers in an inning and the first in the majors since Boston's David Ortiz did it against Texas last August.
INDIANS 6, MARINERS 1: At Cleveland, Fausto Carmona pitched seven innings for his first win in more than three months and Cleveland beat Felix Hernandez. Jhonny Peralta homered and drove in two runs. Carmona (3-8) gave up Ken Griffey Jr.'s 624th homer, but otherwise was in command while winning for the first time in nine starts since beating Tampa Bay on May 14.