Nelson Cruz homered on the first pitch thrown by Tim Wakefield in the 11th inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 10-9 Friday night to cap their biggest comeback victory this season. Cruz hit the ball deep into the left-field seats on a knuckleball thrown by Wakefield (3-9), the seventh Boston reliever. Darren O'Day (4-2) worked a perfect 11th inning against Boston's Nos. 2-4 hitters, extending a team record with his 29th consecutive scoreless appearance. Orioles 5, Rays 0: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jeremy Guthrie scattered two hits over six innings and Adam Jones hit a two-run triple for Baltimore. Guthrie (7-11) struck out three and walked four in his third consecutive win. It was also his first victory (1-4) in seven career starts at Tropicana Field. Luke Scott hit his 22nd homer this season, helping Baltimore improve to nine wins and two losses under new manager Buck Showalter. Koji Uehara gave up one hit in two scoreless innings before Michael Gonzalez pitched the ninth to complete a three-hitter. James Shields (10-11) allowed four runs and 10 hits over five-plus innings for the Rays, who have lost seven of nine. Twins 4, Athletics 3: At Minneapolis, Carl Pavano pitched into the seventh inning for his 15th win and Danny Valencia had two hits and two RBIs as Minnesota held on to beat Oakland. Pavano (15-7) allowed two runs and 10 hits over 6 1-3 innings and matched the Yankees C.C. Sabathia and the Rays David Price for the most wins in the American League. Matt Capps allowed an unearned run in the ninth, but held on for his third save with the Twins and 29th overall. Gio Gonzalez (10-8) allowed four runs, two earned, and struck out seven over six innings. It was the first time in six games that an A's starter has failed to pitch at least seven innings. Royals 4, Yankees 3: At Kansas City, Billy Butler homered in the fifth inning to help the Royals end a five-game losing skid. Butler's homer hit the right-field foul pole on a 2-1 pitch from Dustin Moseley with one out. After a walk, rain delayed the game for 2 hours, 10 minutes. The game was also delayed 31 minutes in the third inning. The Royals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run double and Jason Kendall hit a sacrifice fly. Mariners 3, Indians 2: At Cleveland, David Pauley earned his first career win, helping make Daren Brown's road debut as Seattle's interim manager a success. Pauley (1-4) gave up two runs and seven hits over six innings in his 11th start and 19th career appearance. The right-hander worked in nine games for the Boston Red Sox in 2008 and entered his sixth start of the season for Seattle with a career record of 0-7 and 6.40 ERA. The Mariners beat Cleveland's Fausto Carmona (11-10) to snap a seven-game road losing streak. David Aardsma pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances to give Brown a 3-1 record since replacing Don Wakamatsu, who was fired Monday. White Sox 8, Tigers 4: At Chicago, Gordon Beckham hit a three-run homer and Mark Teahen, fresh off the disabled list, added a two-run shot for the Sox. Blue Jays 3, Angels 0: At Anaheim, Marc Rzepczynski pitched two-hit ball over seven innings in a spot start for a resting Brandon Morrow, and Toronto beat the Angels.
