A's top Royals behind clutch blast from Byrnes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Kansas City closer Mike MacDougal, boosting the Oakland Athletics over the error-plagued Royals 7-6 Saturday.
Shortstop Angel Berroa, whose fielding error had allowed an unearned run earlier in the game, fumbled a potential double-play grounder with one out in the ninth and the Royals ahead 5-4.
Byrnes extended his hitting streak to 21 games when he connected against MacDougal (1-3) for a 7-5 lead. MacDougal has blown four of 16 save chances.
A's shortstop Miguel Tejada made a diving catch on Ken Harvey's liner up the middle for the final out with runners on first and third. Tejada also hit a three-run homer.
Blue Jays 10, Red Sox 7
TORONTO Dave Berg homered and tied a career high with four RBIs as the Toronto Blue Jays set a franchise record for victories in any month by beating the slumping Boston Red Sox.
Mike Bordick hit a two-run homer in a five-run sixth inning for the Blue Jays, who went 21-8 in May. Toronto had twice won 20 games in a month.
Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar homered for the Red Sox, who lost their season-high fourth in a row.
Mariners 5, Twins 2
MINNEAPOLIS Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki hit solo home runs, leading Ryan Franklin and the Seattle Mariners over the Minnesota Twins for their fifth straight victory.
Franklin (4-3) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings. Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 13 chances.
Suzuki homered, doubled, singled and scored twice as the Mariners won for the 12th time in 15 games.
Tigers 4, Yankees 2
DETROIT Dmitri Young hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning to lead the Detroit Tigers over the New York Yankees.
The loss was New York's second in its last 11 games against the Tigers and ended its three-game winning streak.
On Sunday, Roger Clemens will try for his 300th career victory when he starts for the Yankees at Comerica Park.
Adam Bernero (1-6) ended his team-record 17-start winless streak, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk in seven innings. He matched a career high with seven strikeouts in his first win since beating Montreal on June 10, 2002.
Angels 6, Devil Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Kevin Appier came within one strike of his first shutout since 2001, pitching the Anaheim Angels past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Travis Lee hit an RBI double on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth inning for Tampa Bay's only run.
Appier (4-2) improved to 8-0 lifetime against the Devil Rays, giving up eight hits while walking four and striking out one.
Appier came close to his first complete game since Sept. 25, 2001, when he beat the Montreal Expos 2-0 while pitching for the New York Mets.
After Lee doubled, Francisco Rodriguez relieved and got the final out.
Benji Gil had two RBIs, while Chone Figgins went 2-for-4, drove in one run, stole two bases and scored three times for the Angels.
Orioles 7, Rangers 1
BALTIMORE Rick Helling stymied his former team over seven innings, and Luis Matos went 3-for-4 with two runs scored as Baltimore beat Texas.
Geronimo Gil homered for the Orioles, who reached .500 (27-27) for the first time since May 10 with their eighth victory in 10 games. Four of those wins have come against Texas.
Helling (3-4) allowed one run, six hits and a walk in winning for just the second time in seven starts since April 16. Joaquin Benoit (2-2) took the loss.
Einar Diaz homered for the Rangers.
The Orioles benefited from Alex Rodriguez's third error of the year at shortstop, a dropped popup that produced two unearned runs.
The start of the game was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 42 minutes.