Andy Pettitte retired his first 20 batters before a lamentable seventh-inning sequence spoiled both his perfect game and no-hit bid in the New York Yankees' 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Monday. Pettitte (12-6) was poised to finish the seventh inning without allowing a baserunner, but former Oriole Jerry Hairston Jr. allowed a two-out grounder by Adam Jones slip through his legs for an error. Hairston was playing in place of Alex Rodriguez, who was given the night off. Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field single inside the third-base line. After Melvin Mora led off the eighth with a home run, Pettitte completed his masterful effort by getting three straight outs. The 37-year-old lefty moved into sole possession of third place on the Yankees career wins list. Pettitte allowed one run and two hits, struck out eight and walked none to improve to 4-0 in his last seven starts. He's 26-6 lifetime against the Orioles, including 16-4 in Baltimore. Nick Swisher homered and had three hits for the AL East-leading Yankees, who have won four straight and 21 of 27. Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (9-13) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. Blue Jays 18, Rangers 10: At Arlington, Texas, Adam Lind and Rod Barajas each homered twice, with Lind's first career grand slam helping power Toronto to a big early lead before the Blue Jays held on for a victory over Texas. Lind had a career-high eight RBIs, matching the most in the majors this season when he hit a solo homer and a three-run double in Toronto's seven-run ninth that finally put the game out of reach after Texas had rallied from an 11-run deficit to make it 11-10. The Rangers (72-58), who came up short of their largest comeback victory in team history, wrapped up a losing August and dropped four games behind idle Boston in the AL wild-card race. Rays 11, Tigers 7: At Detroit, Carlos Pena hit his AL-best 38th homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay beat Detroit for a split of their four-game series. In other games it was: Twins 4, White Sox 1; Angels 10, Mariners 0; Athletics 8, Royals 5.
