Jon Lester pitched eight scoreless innings as the Boston Red Sox stopped the American League West-leading Texas Rangers 3-1 Saturday. On a steamy night, Lester (13-7) was sharp, striking out five and walking none. Texas' Josh Hamilton homered with one out in the ninth and went 2 for 4, raising his major league-high average to .364. Rangers starter Colby Lewis (9-9) lost his fourth consecutive decision despite striking out nine and allowing just one run over 6 2-3 innings. Twins 2, Athletics 0: In Minneapolis, Brian Duensing pitched a shutout in his first career complete game, giving Minnesota victory over Oakland. He outduelled A's starter Trevor Cahill (12-5), who matched a modern major league record with his 20th straight start of five innings or more and allowing six hits or fewer. Nolan Ryan did the same in 1972-73 for the Angels. Cahill surrendered just one run and a walk in seven innings. He struck out five. Duensing (6-1) was a step ahead of him, though, breezing through the light-hitting A's lineup with the help of two double plays in the first three innings. Tigers 3, White Sox 2: In Chicago, Alex Avila hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off substitute closer J.J. Putz, lifting Detroit over Chicago. It was only Avila's fifth homer of the year. He platoons at catcher and is batting .214. The White Sox have gone from leading the AL Central by 1½ games to trailing Minnesota by two. The Tigers remain 10½ games out. Putz (5-4), working the ninth inning as Bobby Jenks sat out with back spasms, opened by giving up a single. After a strikeout, Avila hit Putz's next pitch over the left-field wall. Tigers' reliever Phil Coke (7-2) got the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless ninth, lowering his ERA to 1.46 over his past 30 outings. Angels 7, Blue Jays 2: In Anaheim, Bobby Wilson had his first two-homer game in the major leagues and drove in a career-high five runs as Los Angeles overcame Toronto. The Angels were helped by Hideki Matsui going 4 for 4, including a two-run homer. L.A. starter Ervin Santana (12-8) pitched seven innings and allowed three hits. He is 4-0 with a 2.32 ERA in his past four starts against Toronto, including a pair of complete games earlier this season. Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (9-6) gave up seven runs over 5 2-3 innings, including three home runs. Yankees 8, Royals 3: In Kansas City, Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs in a game for the fourth time in his career, putting on a late power show that led New York past Kansas City. Rodriguez drove in five runs, taking over the major league RBIs lead with 97. He picked on three different pitchers for his deep drives. After striking out on three pitches from Sean O'Sullivan in his previous at-bat, Rodriguez led off the sixth inning with a 412-foot shot against the Royals starter. Rodriguez added a two-run drive off Kanekoa Texeira in the seventh that carried 419 feet and put the Yankees on top 6-3. A-Rod connected in the ninth against Greg Holland for the most impressive drive, a 439-foot shot that landed in the water fountains in left field. Rodriguez has 21 home runs this season and 604 lifetime. It was the 56th multihomer game of his 16-year career. New York's Phil Hughes (14-5) went 5 1-3 innings for the victory. Several Yankees hit fly balls near the warning track against O'Sullivan (1-4) before they finally broke through in the sixth with three long shots. Rays 7, Orioles 3: In St. Petersburg, Kelly Shoppach hit his second career grand slam and a solo homer, leading Tampa Bay over Baltimore. Mariners 9, Indians 3: In Cleveland, Josh Bard hit his first career grand slam and added a double and two singles, leading Seattle over Cleveland.
