ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Edwin Jackson took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs Friday night, helping the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 11-2 for their fifth straight victory.
Jackson (5-6) matched his win total for last season, limiting the Royals to David DeJesus' first-inning single and Mark Grudzielanek's solo homer in the seventh before giving up two singles and an unearned run in the eighth.
Tampa Bay won for the ninth time in 10 games, improved baseball's best record to 53-32, and maintained a three-game lead in the AL East over second-place Boston, which beat the New York Yankees 6-4.
The Rays are a franchise-record 21 games over .500. Before this year, they had never been more than four games over at any point in a season.
Pena's first homer since June 3 was a three-run shot off Brian Bannister (7-8) that made it 7-0 in the fifth. He also had a RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third against the Kansas City starter, who allowed seven runs and eight hits in five innings.
Jackson didn't get his first win in 2007 until June 24. The 24-year-old right-hander was 1-9 after losing to the Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 4 and finished 5-15 with a 5.76 ERA in 31 starts. Full story
Orioles 10, Rangers 4
BALTIMORE -- Freddie Bynum tied a career high with three RBI, and the Baltimore Orioles roughed up 10-game winner Vicente Padilla in a win over the Texas Rangers.
Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey both drove in two runs and scored twice for the Orioles, who built an 8-1 lead in the third inning. It was a stark contrast to the last time Texas visited Baltimore, when the Rangers beat the Orioles 30-3 and 9-7 in a doubleheader sweep on Aug. 22.
Bynum was a late replacement for Brian Roberts, who was scratched after feeling ill. Bynum hit a two-run single in the third inning and drove in a run with a grounder in the eighth.
The victory moved Baltimore percentage points ahead of the New York Yankees into third place in the AL East.
Athletics 7, White Sox 1
CHICAGO -- Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Joe Blanton pitched seven solid innings to lead the Oakland Athletics to a win over the Chicago White Sox.
Emil Brown and Wes Bankston both collected three hits for Oakland, which had 17 hits.
The White Sox dropped their second straight game after winning seven consecutive games and their lead in the AL Central dropped to one game with the Minnesota Twins victory over Cleveland.
After allowing seven runs over four innings in a 11-1 loss to the Giants on Sunday, Blanton (5-11) bounced back by holding the White Sox to one run and six hits with five strikeouts.
