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BALTIMORE — CC Sabathia allowed one run in seven innings to earn his AL-leading 16th victory, Alex Rodriguez got his 2,500th hit and drove in four runs, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-2 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.
Eric Hinske homered and Johnny Damon had four hits for the Yankees, who used a seven-run ninth inning to turn a tight game into a rout. New York has won six straight and is 34-11 since the All-Star break.
Rodriguez got his milestone hit in the fifth inning, a single off Jason Berken, and lined a two-run single up the middle in the seventh against Kim Mickolio (0-2) to break a 1-1 tie.
Sabathia (16-7) struck out nine, gave up seven hits and walked one.
White Sox 4, Twins 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Nathan gave up consecutive home runs to Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Chicago White Sox got to Minnesota’s four-time All-Star closer in a victory.
Nathan’s fifth blown save this season in 40 chances ruined rookie Brian Duensing’s seven shutout innings. In their final game at the Metrodome, where they finished 2-7 this year and 3-16 since the summer of 2007, the White Sox rallied for just their second victory in 10 games on their road trip.
Tigers 4, Indians 2
DETROIT — Magglio Ordonez had three hits, and Detroit took advantage of five Cleveland errors to open a 4 1/2 -game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central.
Rookie Rick Porcello (12-8) got the win, giving up two runs on five hits in seven-plus innings. The 20-year-old rookie has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts, and has now won more games than any Tigers pitcher before the age of 21.
Mariners 3, Angels 0
SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez pitched eight scoreless innings to spoil Scott Kazmir’s Angels pitching debut.
Hernandez (14-5) gave up four hits, walked three and struck out six to lower his ERA to 2.65 — second best in the American League.
Athletics 10, Royals 4
OAKLAND, Calif. — Landon Powell hit his first career grand slam to help Oakland score five runs in the second inning, and Trevor Cahill (8-12) won consecutive starts for the first time in more than two months.
Rays 8, Red Sox 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pat Burrell snapped an eighth-inning tie with a RBI single and Evan Longoria followed with a two-run homer to help Tampa Bay avoid falling farther back in the AL playoff race with a victory over Boston.
A night after playing poorly in the opener of a series crucial to their hopes of returning to the postseason, the defending AL champions rebounded with a solid effort to nudge back within five games of the wild card-leading Red Sox.
J.P. Howell (7-4) pitched one inning to earn the victory, despite allowing Boston to tie the game 5-all in the eighth on his wild pitch with the bases loaded. Dan Wheeler got the final two outs for his second save.