Evan Longoria hit a solo homer and drove in four runs to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 Wednesday, completing a sweep of the three-game series between potential American League playoff opponents. Longoria also had a pair of RBI doubles and a sacrifice fly, a night after getting three RBIs in a 10-1 win. Rays starter James Shields (11-11) allowed four hits over seven innings. Tampa Bay, which remains tied with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead, has won five straight. Texas' Derek Holland (2-2) got the loss. Twins 7, White Sox 6: In Minneapolis, Minnesota opened a season-high five-game lead over Chicago atop the AL Central. Joe Mauer had four hits, two RBIs and his first regular season home run at Target Field. The Twins trailed 5-3 entering the bottom of the fifth inning against Gavin Floyd (8-10). Mauer's solo shot cut into the lead before a three-run sixth sealed it. The Twins have won nine straight at home. Mauer, the reigning AL MVP, has been a huge part of that, raising his batting average more than 30 points during his midsummer surge. This was his eighth homer of the season. Minnesota closer Matt Capps gave up a run the ninth but got his fifth save, a night after blowing his second save chance since arriving in a trade last month. Jeff Manship (1-0) and Jesse Crain relieved struggling starter Francisco Liriano with stellar relief. Andruw Jones hit a three-run homer for the second-place White Sox, who have lost 10 of 14 this year to the Twins. Yankees 9, Tigers 5: In New York, Mark Teixeira homered in New York's ill-tempered win over Detroit. Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman (6-9) hit Brett Gardner in the leg with his first pitch. That was a response to an incident in Monday's game, when Gardner's hard slide took out Detroit second baseman Carlos Guillen, who suffered a bruised knee. One out after Gardner was hit, Teixeira made it 2-0. In the eighth, Yankees reliever Chad Gaudin hit Miguel Cabrera in the back. Tigers manager Jim Leyland was ejected for arguing against no punishment for Gaudin. Detroit reliever Enrique Gonzalez threw behind Derek Jeter in the bottom of the eighth. Gonzalez later came inside to Teixeira and Robinson Cano. New York starter Dustin Moseley (3-2) pitched well enough to overcome the two home runs he gave up to Cabrera. Red Sox 7, Angels 5: In Boston, the hosts took the lead on a wild pitch and a hit batsman to beat Los Angeles. Athletics 5, Blue Jays 4: In Oakland, Cliff Pennington hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to bail out Oakland's bullpen and beat Toronto. Royals 9, Indians 7: In Kansas City, Yuniesky Betancourt homered and drove in three runs as Kansas City beat Cleveland. It was the Royals' highest-scoring game since getting 10 against St. Louis on June 27. Mariners 6, Orioles 5: In Baltimore, Matt Tuiasosopo extended his unlikely power surge with a three-run homer as Seattle beat Baltimore for its season-high fourth straight series win.
