Casey Kotchman and Torii Hunter homered in a six-run sixth inning and the Los Angeles Angels improved baseball's best record with a 7-5 win over Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox in the American League on Monday. Kotchman's two-run homer gave the Angels a 3-2 lead. Hunter's three-run shot drove Matsuzaka (11-2) from the game and equaled the total number of runs he had allowed in his previous five starts. Matsuzaka hadn't given up a homer in any of those games. Manny Ramirez singled home the Red Sox first two runs and homered off Francisco Rodriguez for the last run in the ninth. It was his 20th homer, making him the eighth player in baseball history to hit that many in 14 consecutive seasons. Twins 7, White Sox 0: At Minneapolis, Kevin Slowey pitched a six-hitter, Denard Span hit his first major league home run and Minnesota beat Chicago, striking first in this key AL Central series. Slowey (7-7) struck out five and walked one, and the Twins moved within 11/2 games of the first-place White Sox. These teams play six more times this season, three more this week and all at the Metrodome. Span and Justin Morneau hit two-run shots in the third inning against Mark Buehrle (8-9), and Brendan Harris later had a two-run double. Buehrle was done after five innings, allowing eight hits and five runs. Orioles 13, Yankees 4: At New York, Adam Jones hit a grand slam and an RBI triple to back Jeremy Guthrie's strong start, leading Baltimore to a blowout that ended New York's 10-game home winning streak. Kevin Millar hit a three-run drive in the second and Ramon Hernandez followed another homer off an ineffective Mike Mussina (13-7), who failed to last at least six innings for the first time since May 24. Guthrie (7-8) shut out New York on two hits through six innings. Aubrey Huff hit his 21st homer and had three RBIs as Baltimore set a season high for runs and matched its top hit total with 17. Xavier Nady homered for his first hit with the Yankees, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped with a 9-2 loss Sunday night in Boston. Johnny Damon added a three-run shot to make it 11-4 in the seventh. Indians 5, Tigers 0: At Cleveland, Paul Byrd pitched into the eighth inning and combined with Edward Mujica on Cleveland's four-hit shutout of Detroit. Blue Jays 3, Rays 1: At Toronto, A.J. Burnett matched a career-high with his 12th win, Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer and Toronto won for the sixth time in seven games, beating Tampa Bay. Mariners 7, Rangers 5: At Arlington, Texas, Adrian Beltre homered twice, including the go-ahead shot in the eighth inning, to lead Seattle past short-handed Texas. Royals 4, Athletics 2: At Oakland, California, Jose Guillen hit his first home run in more than a month and Alex Gordon also had a two-run homer for Kansas City, helping Zack Greinke get his first win in July.
