Dustin Pedroia had three hits and five RBIs, and David Ortiz went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs for Boston in a 14-2 victory over Baltimore on Tuesday. Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and took a four-game lead in the American League wild-card race. The Red Sox moved within four games of Tampa Bay in the AL East. Jon Lester (13-5) allowed one run and six hits, striking out five and walking four in five innings. Coco Crisp had three hits for Boston. Pedroia has hit in seven straight games, and is batting .600 (18-for-30) during that stretch. He leads the American League in hitting at .330. Radhames Liz (5-4), who was called up from Triple-A before the game, gave up nine runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings. The Orioles lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Baltimore has allowed 55 runs and 42 walks in the last five games, all losses. Yankees 7, Rays 2: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Mike Mussina earned his 17th win, and New York got home runs from Alex Rodriguez and Xavier Nady to beat Tampa Bay. Joba Chamberlain came off the disabled list for New York and pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Seeking his first 20-win season, Mussina (17-7) allowed two runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings. He matched a season high with eight strikeouts, improving to 3-0 against the Rays, who had won five straight. Nady hit a two-run homer off Matt Garza (11-8). Rodriguez hit home run No. 548, tying Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for 12th place on the career list. The eighth-inning solo shot off Jason Hammel was his 30th of the year, giving A-Rod 11 seasons with 30 or more. Indians 9, White Sox 3: At Cleveland, Victor Martinez hit his first home run in nearly a year as Cleveland downed Chicago. The White Sox remained tied with Minnesota for the AL Central lead despite losing for the fifth time in six games. Fausto Carmona (8-5) pitched 5 2-3 innings to win his third straight start and Asdrubal Cabrera broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with three hits for the Indians, winners of 12 of 15. Chicago's Nick Swisher snapped his 0-for-19 slide with an eighth-inning double. Martinez put Cleveland ahead 2-0 in the second against John Danks (10-8) with his first homer in 57 games and 203 at-bats since Sept. 29. Franklin Gutierrez's two-run double made it 4-0 in the fifth. Other results: Blue Jays 7, Twins 5; Angels 5, Tigers 4; Rangers 6, Mariners 4; Royals 5, Athletics 2. Ramirez, Ethier lead Dodgers over Padres Manny Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers closed in on Arizona in the National League West with an 8-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. Andre Ethier had three hits, including a homer, and rookie Clayton Kershaw allowed a run and three hits in seven innings to help the Dodgers win their fourth straight and reduce the Diamondbacks' NL West lead to 1 1/2 games. The four wins come after an eight-game losing streak. Kershaw (3-5), who struck out six, was pulled after walking his first two batters in the eighth. Both runners scored when Ramon Troncoso gave up an RBI double to Luis Rodriguez and a two-run single to Kevin Kouzmanoff, making it 8-4. Joe Beimel retired the next three batters and pitched the ninth. Ramirez's 520th career homer put him one behind Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and injured Oakland A's DH Frank Thomas, who are tied for 17th place. He has 30 this season, 10 since the trade that sent him from Boston to Los Angeles on July 31. Other results: Cardinals 8, Diamondbacks 2; Phillies 4, Nationals 0; Braves 16, Marlins 14; Pirates 3, Reds 2; Astros 9, Cubs 7, 11 innings; Rockies 6, Giants 5, 12 innings.
