Monday September 10, 2012

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Slumping Curtis Granderson came off the bench to hit his 35th homer and drive in five runs, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-3 Sunday to regain sole possession of first place in the AL East and earn an important split of the season series.

Derek Jeter also homered for the Yankees, who lead the Orioles by one game with 22 left. Each team won twice in a four-game set that drew 173,572 fans, including 40,346 in the finale.

New York finished 9-9 against Baltimore this season. Now, if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, record within the division will serve as the tiebreaker.

Pitching in relief of ineffective starter Freddy Garcia, Joba Chamberlain (1-0) entered in the fourth and worked 1 2-3 hitless innings to earn his first win since May 2, 2011.

Wilson Betemit had two RBIs for the Orioles, who were seeking to win the season series from New York for the first time since 1997.

Orioles starter Zach Britton (5-2) allowed five runs, five hits and five walks in 3 1-3 innings. The left-hander was 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA in his previous four starts.

BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 3

BOSTON -- Omar Vizquel hit a pair of sacrifice flies, including one in the ninth inning that lifted Toronto over free-falling Boston.

Toronto entered the series in last place in the AL East but left Fenway Park two games ahead of the Red Sox. The Blue Jays have won four straight

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overall and six in a row against Boston.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia homered for the Red Sox, who have lost 10 of 11.

Reliever Brandon Lyon (2-2) got the win and Casey Janssen picked up his 20th save.

Clay Buchholz (11-6) allowed four runs on seven hits over 8 2-3 innings, retiring 13 straight batters before Rajai Davis blooped a single with one out in the ninth.

RAYS 6, RANGERS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- B.J. Upton hit three home runs and James Shields threw a two-hitter to lead Tampa Bay past Texas.

Upton hit solo homers in the first, fourth and sixth innings. He struck out in the second, and received a standing ovation before hitting a broken-bat grounder to third in the eighth. TWINS 8, INDIANS 7

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota over Cleveland.

With one out in the ninth, Morneau hit the first pitch from Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano (3-2) just inside the right field foul pole for his 19th homer of the season. Morneau, who has four two-homer games this season, also hit a two-run shot to right in the bottom of the third.

Brian Duensing (4-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory for the Twins. Minnesota’s Joe Mauer singled, doubled and tripled, and scored twice.

Carlos Santana had three hits, including a home run, and scored twice for Cleveland.