TEXAS 9 SEATTLE 3
The Texas Rangers left it late against American League West rivals Seattle on Friday but exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning to secure a 9-3 win over the Mariners.
Yu Darvish (15-9) won the battle of Japanese rookie pitchers against Hisashi Iwakuma, allowing just two hits and one run in seven innings for the division-leading Rangers.
Darvish struck out nine to take his season total to 205 strikeouts, becoming the 16th rookie to fan at least 200 since 1900.
Leading just 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth thanks to solo home runs by Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton in the first and third innings, the Rangers notched up seven runs to take control.
Seattle (69-76) were held to two runs in the ninth as the Rangers moved to 86-58 on the season.
RED SOX 8, JAYS 5
TORONTO - Mauro Gomez hit a two-run triple in a three-run ninth inning and Ryan Lavarnway had four RBIs Friday as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5.
Jacoby Ellsbury led off the ninth with a single against Darren Oliver (3-3) who was replaced by Casey Janssen.
Cody Ross then singled to left with one out before Gomez tripled to the gap in right centre to put the Red Sox into a 7-5 lead.
Lavarnway then added a sacrifice fly to score Gomez from third as the Red Sox snapped a six-game losing streak against Toronto.
Reliever Chris Carpenter (1-0) entered the game in the eighth inning and got the win. Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth for his third save.
Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka held the Blue Jays to three hits, but allowed four runs in 5 1 /3 innings. He gave up three walks, hit a batter and had two wild pitches that scored runs.
Toronto left-hander Aaron Laffey lasted just 3 2 /3 innings, allowing three runs and four hits, including Lavarnway's fourth-inning homer to tie the game 3-3.
RAYS 6, YANKEES 4
NEW YORK - New York's Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez reached milestone moments in their careers on Friday but a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays could see the Yankees fall out of first place in the American League East.
The loss dropped the Yankees (81-63) out of a tie with Baltimore (81-62) for the AL East lead but they would rejoin them at the top of the division if the Orioles lose to Oakland later Friday.
Rodriguez smashed a homer in the eighth inning to give him 1,889 runs for his career, moving him past former Yankee's Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig into ninth place on Major League Baseball's all-time list.
Jeter broke his tie with Hall of Famer Willie Mays for 10th place on the all-time hits list with a single in the fifth and he lined another single ahead of ARod's home run to boost his career total to 3,285.
However, it was the Rays who earned the win, starter David Price helping Tampa Bay bounce back after being swept three games by the Baltimore Orioles.
METS 7, BREWERS 3
MILWAUKEE - Lucas Duda homered and doubled, Jonathon Niese pitched six strong innings and the New York Mets snapped a six-game losing streak, beating the surging Milwaukee Brewers 7-3.
The loss dropped Milwaukee back to .500 at 72-72 - four games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second National League wild-card spot.
Niese (11-9), who had lost three straight starts, settled down after giving up two second-inning runs, allowing six hits, three walks and the two runs. He also had two hits and scored a run, helping the Mets to their biggest offensive output since a 9-5 extra-inning victory over Philadelphia on Aug. 28.
