Francisco Liriano threw six scoreless innings in his return to the Minnesota rotation Sunday, helping the Twins move into first in the American League Central with a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Denard Span and Brendan Harris homered for Minnesota, which moved a half-game ahead of the White Sox. Chicago lost 14-3 at Kansas City.
Liriano missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery and went 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in three starts before being sent down in April. He dominated at Triple-A Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last 11 starts, and was openly frustrated as the Twins waited until Friday to call him up.
Span went 2-for-4, and Nick Punto and Mike Lamb each had run-scoring triples for the Minnesota.
After breezing through two innings on 19 pitches, Liriano was tested in the third, facing a bases-loaded situation after two walks and a throwing error by shortstop Harris. Liriano threw 34 pitches in the inning but struck out Ben Francisco to end the threat.
Rays 6, Tigers 5, 10 innings
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Carl Crawford hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning and Carlos Pena drew a game-ending, bases-loaded walk to give AL East-leading Tampa Bay a victory of Detroit.
Tampa Bay took advantage of Fernando Rodney's wildness to put together the winning rally. Pinch-hitter Willy Aybar led off with a walk, bringing Jason Bartlett to the plate. Bartlett squared to bunt and left when Rodney (0-3) plunked him on his right index finger.
Shawn Riggans batted for Bartlett, and Rodney hit him with the next pitch.
Both runners advanced on Akinori Iwamura's sacrifice and B.J. Upton walked before Crawford hit a tying single into left field. One out later, Pena won it when took a 3-2 pitch to force in the winning run.
Yankees 14, Angels 9
At New York, Xavier Nady homered and had a career-high six RBIs, rallying New York past sloppy Los Angeles in a wild, back-and-forth game.
Mark Teixeira hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning for his first home run with Los Angeles, but New York took advantage of uncharacteristically poor defense by the Angels to score six times in the bottom half and complete its largest comeback of the season.
Ivan Rodriguez hit his first homer for the Yankees, starting their improbable rally from a five-run deficit against ace John Lackey. New York scored 10 unearned runs in its final two at-bats as the Angels matched a season high with four errors.
Royals 14, White Sox 3
At Kansas City, Missouri, Mike Aviles went 4-for-4 with a home run, Zack Greinke pitched well into the seventh inning, and Kansas City defeated Chicago in a game featuring five ejections.
There was a bench-clearing brawl in the fifth inning when Royals catcher Miguel Olivo was hit by a pitch from D.J. Carrasco and charged the mound. Olivo, Carrasco and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were sent to the clubhouse once order was restored.
Greinke (9-7) held the White Sox to three hits and no runs the first six innings, then allowed two runs in the seventh before hitting Nick Swisher with a pitch. Greinke was ejected along with Royals manager Trey Hillman.
Red Sox 5, Athletics 2
At Boston, Jed Lowrie's two-run triple highlighted a three-run fourth inning that helped Daisuke Matsuzaka to his 12th win and Boston completed a three-game sweep of Oakland.
Matsuzaka (12-2), allowed two runs, four hits, walked two and struck out eight in six innings.
Daric Barton hit a two-run homer for the Athletics, who lost their sixth straight and 15th in 17 games.
Dallas Braden (2-2) took the loss for the Athletics.
Mariners 8, Orioles 4
At Seattle, Raul Ibanez's two-run single off reliever Jamie Walker capped a three-run seventh inning to help Seattle down Baltimore and snap a seven-game home losing streak.
Ibanez finished with three RBIs as the Mariners avoided being swept at home by the Orioles for the first time since 1997.
J.J. Putz (3-4) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the victory, as he continues working back into form after missing more than a month with a hyperextended right elbow.
Daniel Cabrera (7-7) allowed six earned runs and struck out six in six innings.
Rangers 8, Blue Jays 4
At Arlington, Texas, Gerald Laird homered twice and drove in four runs as Texas beat Toronto.
Laird had his third career multihomer game, second this season, with two-run shots in the fourth and fifth innings.
Texas starter Luis Mendoza (3-4) recovered from a three-run first inning to allow four runs and six hits in seven innings. Mendoza struck out two and walked one in his 12th major league start, retiring his final nine batters.
Rookie Chris Davis also homered for the Rangers, his 11th in 33 games.
