Rays sting BoSox for a 5-4 victory
The Tampa Bay Rays don't need to brawl to prove they are no longer pushovers.
Avoiding a repeat of their benches-clearing skirmish June 5, the Rays and Red Sox squared off Monday night as the top two teams in the AL East. The surprising Rays held on to beat Boston 5-4 to increase their division lead to 1Z\x games.
James Shields scattered five hits over 6⅓ innings and B.J. Upton and Gabe Gross homered, helping the Rays remain unbeaten (4-0) at home this season against the Red Sox.
"It's no fluke. They're a talented group," Boston's Mike Lowell said. "I think a lot of times when you have a lot of young guys, you don't know how they measure up. There's no track record. But I think the talent is there. You've got to respect that."
It was the first meeting between the combative division rivals since their much talked about brawl at Fenway that led to the suspensions of eight players, including Shields (6-5).
The Rays scored four runs off Justin Masterson (4-2), three of them following two-out walks. Upton homered on the right-hander's first pitch of the game, and Gross added a two-run shot after the Boston starter walked Dioner Navarro in the fourth.
J.D. Drew hit his 16th homer for Boston, cutting Shields' lead to 4-2 in the sixth. It gave him 12 homers in June, third most by a player in Red Sox history behind Jackie Jensen (14 in 1958) and Ted Williams (13 in 1950).
Rangers 2, Yankees 1
At New York, Scott Feldman (2-4) and a reshuffled Texas bullpen shut down New York on four hits.
Royals 6, Orioles 5
At Baltimore, Miguel Olivo homered off George Sherrill with two outs in the ninth to force extra innings, and Jose Guillen singled in the tiebreaking run in the 11th for Kansas City, winners of six straight on the road.
Tigers 5, Twins 4
At Minneapolis, Curtis Granderson's go-ahead RBI single capped Detroit's two-run eighth inning and the Tigers won their sixth in a row.
White Sox 9, Indians 7
At Chicago, Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate, hitting his second grand slam in four games, off Jeremy Sowers (0-4), and adding a solo shot to lead surging Chicago.
Athletics 6, Angels 1
At Anaheim, Calif., Rookie Greg Smith threw a four-hitter and Eric Chavez hit a two-run double for Oakland.
Blue Jays 2, Mariners 0
At Seattle, Roy Halladay (9-6) pitched his 10th career shutout, limiting Seattle to just four singles in Toronto's third straight win.
