Yankees beat A's, take over first in AL East

The victory moved the Yankees back into sole possession of first place in the AL East. Tampa Bay and New York had shared the lead for eight days.

The Yankees, who came back from a three-run deficit to win 11-5 the night before, jumped on A's starter Vin Mazzaro right away. Brett Gardner led off the first with a single, and the Yankees scored three runs in the inning, helped by second baseman Mark Ellis's fielding error and Jorge Posada's triple.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes (16-6) walked five but only gave up two runs and four hits in five innings.

Blue Jays 13, Rays 5 At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 43rd homer during a 10-run sixth inning for Toronto.

Tampa Bay lost for only the fifth time in 17 games but fell a game behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.

Bautista capped the sixth-inning outburst with a three-run shot off reliever Lance Cormier that put the Blue Jays up 11-3. It was the most runs scored in one inning by Toronto since an 11-run sixth on July 25, 2007, at Minnesota.

White Sox 4, Indians 3 At Cleveland, With Manny Ramirez standing in the on-deck circle ready to pinch-hit, A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer off Frank Herrmann in the ninth inning to lift the White Sox to a win over the Indians.

Ramirez, who arrived earlier in the day to help Chicago's playoff push, was poised to make his White Sox debut and bat for Brent Lillibridge before Pierzynski came through.

He drove an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right field, and as he rounded the bases, Ramirez retreated to Chicago's dugout, where the fun-loving slugger celebrated his new teammate's heroics by high-fiving the rest of the White Sox.

Orioles 5, Red Sox 2 At Baltimore, Brian Matusz won his third consecutive start as the Orioles beat Josh Beckett and the fading Red Sox to cap a memorable first month under manager Buck Showalter.

Luke Scott hit his career-high 26th homer, had two RBIs and scored twice to help the Orioles extend their winning streak to four. Baltimore went 17-11 in August, 17-10 with Showalter in the dugout.

The Orioles last had a winning August in 1997 — the most recent season in which they finished above .500.

Matusz (7-12) allowed two runs, six hits and a walk in six-plus innings. The left-hander struck out six, including David Ortiz three times.

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