AL Roundup: Rangers Down Angels

ANAHEIM, California - Andruw Jones homered in his first three at-bats as the Texas Rangers routed the Los Angeles Angels 8-1 on Wednesday to take the outright lead in their American League West division race.

Jones hit home runs in the first and third innings, the latter giving Texas a 4-0 lead. He added a solo shot in the fifth. With a chance to tie the major league record for home runs in a game, Jones popped out in the sixth and struck out in the ninth.

The Rangers hit five homers in all, matching their season high.

It was the second three-homer game for Jones, who did it in 2007 against Philadelphia.
Yankees 4, Twins 3

In Minneapolis, pitcher A.J. Burnett won his third straight start, steering New York to a narrow win over Minnesota.

Burnett pitched 6-1/3 innings, walking four and giving up seven hits.

Brett Gardner's two-run single helped New York build an early lead.
Rays 10, Blue Jays 9

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Ben Zobrist hit a three-run homer and the winning RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to help Tampa Bay edge Toronto.

Zobrist homered in the fourth inning. His winning hit with two outs drove in Carl Crawford, who earlier singled before stealing second and third.

Toronto wiped out deficits of 5-2 and 9-6 before wasting an opportunity to go ahead when it stranded two runners in the eighth.
Red Sox 5, Athletics 4

In Boston, veteran pitcher Tim Wakefield earned his AL-leading 11th victory as Boston squeezed past Oakland.

Wakefield left to a standing ovation in the seventh inning in his final scheduled start before the All-Star game, for which he has been elected for the first time. The 42-year-old knuckleballer is 9-0 in his past 11 starts at Fenway Park.

Boston tied the game 1-1 in the sixth, then David Ortiz connected for a three-run shot later in the inning.

Oakland's Jack Cust struck out with two runners on base to end the game.
Tigers 3, Royals 1

In Detroit, rookie pitcher Lucas French, making his second major-league start, outdueled Kansas City ace Zack Greinke to guide Detroit to victory.

French held the Royals to one run in 6 1-3 innings while Greinke gave up three runs, all in the first two innings, while striking out nine.
Orioles 5, Mariners 3

In Seattle, Baltimore took advantage of two errors by Seattle second baseman Jose Lopez to rally for five runs in the ninth inning.

Entering the ninth with a 3-0 lead, Mariners closer David Aardsma gave up a double, a walk and a single to load the bases.

After an infield single narrowed the deficit to 3-1, Baltimore's Nick Markakis hit a potential double-play ball to Lopez, who dropped it, allowing a second run to score. A subsequent two-run single put the Orioles up 4-3.

Lopez had a throwing error later in the inning that let the last run score. He had given the Mariners a 2-0 lead in the first with a homer.
White Sox 5, Indians 1

In Chicago, pitcher Jose Contreras allowed just one run over 6 1-3 innings, directing Chicago's win over Cleveland,

Contreras walked only one and struck out nine.

Chicago's Jermaine Dye had an RBI double in the first inning and a run-scoring single in the third, then singled home another run in the seventh.