New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira hits a solo home run as Detroit Tigers' catcher Alex Avila (L) watches in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Detroit Thursday. — AP DETROIT — New York's Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez hit solo home runs on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning to put the Yankees ahead and they held on to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in the American League Thursday. Detroit pitcher Joaquin Benoit (1-3) retired the first batter in the eighth before Teixeira and Chavez connected, the eighth time the Yankees have hit consecutive homers this season. Benoit has given up nine hits — seven for homers — in his past 10 games. Clay Rapada (3-0) got the last two outs with one runner on base in the seventh inning to take the win, while Rafael Soriano escaped a first-and-third, no-outs jam in the ninth inning to record the save. Rays 7, Blue Jays 1: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Matt Moore pitched six strong innings to guide Tampa Bay past Toronto. Moore (9-7) gave up just two hits, retiring 14 straight batters during one stretch. He won his third straight start, striking out six. The rookie is 8-2 with a 2.92 ERA since the end of May. Tampa Bay has won 16 straight series against Toronto at Tropicana Field. The Rays have won six of eight overall while the Blue Jays have lost 15 of 19. Jose Lobaton drove in three runs for the Rays, who completed the three-game sweep. Blue Jays starter Henderson Alvarez (7-9) gave up 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings. Royals 8, Orioles 2: In Baltimore, Billy Butler came within a single of hitting for the cycle as Kansas City ended Baltimore's five-game winning streak. Butler homered in a four-run first inning, doubled in the third and tripled in the fifth. Needing only a single to become the first Kansas City player in 22 years to hit the cycle, Butler struck out in the seventh and again the ninth. He finished with three RBIs and scored three runs. Butler is 11 for 24 (.458) with three homers and five RBIs in six games against Baltimore this season. Baltimore rookie Wei-Yin Chen (10-7) allowed a career-worst seven runs in 4 2-3 innings. Will Smith (3-4) gave up two runs in seven innings for the Royals. Indians 5, Red Sox 3: In Cleveland, Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 for his first win in more than a month as Cleveland downed Boston. Jimenez (9-11) allowed three runs over six innings. He had been 0-4 with an 8.41 ERA in his previous five starts. Jason Donald hit a leadoff homer against Felix Doubront (10-6) and drove in two runs for the Indians, who took a 4-3 lead with a three-run fifth. — AP
