Boston Red Sox's second baseman Dustin Pedroia throws to first base to complete a double play after forcing out New York Yankees' runner Alex Rodriguez at Yankee Stadium in New York Tuesday. — Reuters NEW YORK — Chris Davis homered for the sixth straight game and the Orioles overcame a club-record 15 strikeouts by James Shields to beat the Rays, pushing the AL East race to the final day of the season. Baltimore trails the New York Yankees by one game. Orioles rookie Miguel Gonzalez (9-4) limited the Rays to two singles over 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out seven before manager Buck Showalter turned the game over to the bullpen. Davis joined Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson as the only Baltimore players to homer in six consecutive games, connecting off Shields (15-10) in the fourth. The Orioles managed only one other hit — Nate McLouth's sixth-inning single — in Shields' third complete game. Athletics 3, Rangers 1: Travis Blackley allowed one run over six innings in a strong bounce-back performance that helped the Athletics move into a first-place tie in the AL West with Texas and set up a one-game showdown for the division title. A night after holding a raucous celebration after clinching their first playoff berth since 2006, the A's erased the last piece of what had been a 13-game deficit in the division race on June 30 to take a share of first place for the first time since March 29. Blackley (6-4) gave up three hits and struck out five a week after the Rangers knocked him out with a five-run first inning in the shortest start of his career. He allowed only an RBI double to Josh Hamilton in what was the latest surprising performance in an improbable season for the low-budget A's. Royals 4, Tigers 2: Miguel Cabrera had two hits and drove in two runs before leaving in the fifth inning, and the Royals rallied to beat his AL Central champion Tigers. With one game remaining in the regular season, Cabrera leads the American League in average (.331), home runs (44) and RBIs (139), putting him on the brink of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Alcides Esocbar and Jeff Francoeur went deep for Kansas City, and Salvador Perez provided the go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning. Jeremy Guthrie (5-3) lasted six innings to improve to 5-0 with six no-decisions in his final 11 starts, the Royals winning 10 of them. Doug Fister (10-10) allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 1-3 innings for Detroit. Indians 4, White Sox 3 (12 innings): Jason Donald singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Indians over the White Sox. Lonnie Chisenhall doubled with one out against Matt Thornton (4-10), who then intentionally walked Russ Canzler. Right-hander Nate Jones came on to face announced pinch hitter Matt LaPorta, who was then replaced by lefty swinging Jack Hannahan. Jones struck him out before Donald hit a liner into the left-field corner. Blue Jays 4, Twins 3: Chad Jenkins earned his first major league win, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run home run and the Blue Jays beat the Twins. Making his third career start, Jenkins (1-3) allowed two runs and five hits in five-plus innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out two. Mariners 6, Angels 1: Kyle Seager became the first Seattle batter to hit 20 home runs in a season since 2009 with a solo shot in the first inning and the Mariners beat Mike Trout and the Angels. Yankees 4, Red Sox 3: Raul Ibanez tied it with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning then had an RBI single in the 12th, helping the Yankees remain a game up on Baltimore in the AL East with one game to go by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-3. — Agencies
