Hours after learning beloved Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell had died, Detroit lost 4-3 to the Minnesota Twins in a clash of the American League Central's two top teams Tuesday. Brennan Boesch's homer in the ninth tied it for the Tigers, then Alex Avila hit a two-out double. But Minnesota shortstop J.J. Hardy made a brilliant, sliding stop on grounder by Ramon Santiago and threw out Avila after he rounded third base too quickly. In the bottom of the inning, Hardy hit a triple and scored the winning run when a pitch from Ryan Perry (1-2) zipped past catcher Avila and into the dugout. Minnesota pitcher Nick Blackburn (2-1) gave up three runs in his fourth career complete game. Rays 5, Mariners 2: In Seattle, Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields won his fourth consecutive start while striking out 10, steering the Rays past Seattle. Shields (4-0), who has 22 strikeouts across his past two starts, allowed two runs in eight innings. Evan Longoria homered for the second straight game and had three hits for Tampa Bay, which is off to the best start by an AL team since the Chicago White Sox also started 19-7 in 2005. The Rays have won 10 of 11 on the road. Seattle has scored just five runs across its past four games, all home losses. Athletics 7, Rangers 6: In Oakland, California, Ryan Sweeney drove in a career-high five runs on three hits, including a homer, as Oakland edged Texas. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Daric Barton drove in runs for the A's, who had lost six of the previous seven. Brad Ziegler (1-2) got the win after pitching 1 1-3 innings in relief, and was one of six Oakland pitchers. Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam and had five RBIs for the Rangers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Rangers starter Scott Feldman (1-3) gave up seven runs over seven innings. Athletics closer Andrew Bailey recorded the final four outs for his fourth save in as many chances. Red Sox 5, Angels 1: In Boston, Jeremy Hermida's bases-loaded double broke an eighth-inning tie and lifted Boston over Los Angeles. Yankees 4, Orioles 1: In New York, A.J. Burnett outpitched Brian Matusz again to guide New York past Baltimore. Blue Jays 8, Indians 5: In Cleveland, Jose Bautista homered for the second straight game and Toronto benefited from nine walks to beat Cleveland. Royals 7, White Sox 2: In Chicago, Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer to help power Kansas City past Chicago.
