NEW YORK — Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead, three-run homer two innings after Kevin Youkilis’ shot squirted out of Johnny Damon’s glove, bounced off the top of the left-field wall three times, and sat on the fence for several tantalizing seconds.

Youkilis’ ball rolled back to the field for a tying, two-run triple, helping spark the Red Sox to a soggy come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday.

Damon bruised and sprained his left shoulder on Youkilis’ triple and left the game, and the Yankees lost for the fifth time in six games.

Josh Beckett (8-5) recovered from a three-run first inning that included a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez, and a sacrifice fly by Jason Giambi. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 29 chances, completing a six-hitter.

Darrell Rasner (4-7) allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings, losing for the seventh time in eight starts.

Athletics 7, White Sox 1

CHICAGO — Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Joe Blanton pitched seven solid innings to lead the Athletics to the win.

Emil Brown and Wes Bankston both had three hits for Oakland, which finished with 17 hits.

The White Sox dropped their second consecutive game after winning seven straight, and their lead in the AL Central fell to one game with the Twins’ victory over Cleveland.

Blanton (5-11) allowed one run and six hits.

Mark Buehrle (6-7) yielded four runs and 10 hits over 5 2-3 innings for Chicago.

Twins 12, Indians 3

MINNEAPOLIS — Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and finished with a season-high four RBIs to help the Twins win for the 14th time in their last 16 games.

Nick Punto homered and also had four RBIs for Minnesota.

Livan Hernandez (9-5) allowed home runs to Kelly Shoppach and Ben Francisco, but held the Indians to three runs and five hits over six innings.

Paul Byrd (3-10) allowed six runs and eight hits over 5 1-3 innings for slumping Cleveland, which has lost six straight.

The Indians also cut closer Joe Borowski, saying goodbye to last season’s AL saves leader two days after he blew his fourth save in 10 chances in a loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Mariners 4, Tigers 1

SEATTLE — Raul Ibanez clanged a solo home run off the windows of a restaurant in right field and a pair of Seattle relievers helped finish what Erik Bedard started.

Jose Lopez added a key two-run double late to help the Mariners win for the eighth time in 11 games. Ibanez’s 10th homer of the season broke a 1-all tie in the fourth, and Lopez sealed the victory with a two-out, two RBI double off Detroit starter Kenny Rogers (6-6) in the eighth.

It made a winner out of Seattle starter Bedard (6-4) even though he called it a day after five innings. The Mariners bullpen turned in four shutout innings, capped by Brandon Morrow’s sixth save in six chances after getting the final out of the eighth and working the ninth.

Orioles 10, Rangers 4

BALTIMORE — Freddie Bynum tied a career high with three RBIs, and the Orioles roughed up 10-game winner Vicente Padilla.

Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey both drove in two runs and scored twice for Baltimore, which built an 8-1 lead in the third inning. The victory moved Baltimore percentage points ahead of the New York Yankees into third place in the AL East.

Padilla (10-5) allowed a career-high tying eight runs and nine hits in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Milton Bradley went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Texas, and Ian Kinsler had two singles to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Jeremy Guthrie (5-7) permitted four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings for Baltimore.

Rays 11, Royals 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Edwin Jackson took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs to help AL East-leading Tampa Bay win its fifth straight.

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.

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.

Angels 8, Blue Jays 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Howie Kendrick drove in three runs, and Los Angeles got homers from Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson.

Jered Weaver (8-8) recovered nicely from a history-making loss to the Dodgers last Saturday, allowing two runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings while striking out six. The right-hander took a four-hit shutout into the eighth before Joe Inglett followed a one-out leadoff double by Marco Scutaro with a triple under the glove of a diving Gary Matthews Jr. in right field.

A.J. Burnett (8-8) tied a career high by allowing eight runs for the fifth time in 195 big league starts — and the third time in his last six outings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies 18, Marlins 17

DENVER — In a throwback to the pre-humidor days, Colorado homered six times and beat the Florida Marlins 18-17 after trailing by nine runs in the biggest comeback in Rockies history. Chris Iannetta singled home the winning run off Kevin Gregg in the ninth inning.

Garrett Atkins, who had a career-best five hits, drove in the tying run off Gregg (6-4), who blew his second save in 24 hours. After Hanley Ramirez’s error on a potential double-play groundball loaded the bases, Iannetta singled to left through a drawn-in infield.

The last time a team came back to win from nine down was Aug. 23, 2006, when Cleveland rallied for a 15-13 victory at Kansas City, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Colorado scored in every inning but the eighth, yet trailed until Atkins’ tying single in the ninth. Taylor Buchholz (3-2) threw one inning for the win, Colorado’s fourth straight.

The Rockies and Marlins combined for 35 runs on 43 hits, 21 of them for extra bases with eight home runs. Colorado hit a half-dozen homers, two each by Ryan Spilborghs and Matt Holliday, who had his third career grand slam. Atkins and Iannetta also went deep for the Rockies.

Cubs 2, Cardinals 1

ST. LOUIS — The return of Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano trumped the soap opera setting of Jim Edmonds’ homecoming and Albert Pujols’ 300th home run.

Zambrano came off the 15-day disabled list from a shoulder strain with six spotless innings in the opener of a three-game series matching the NL’s top two teams.

Slumping Kosuke Fukudome homered in the first inning and Geovany Soto connected in the fourth to give the Cubs only their third victory in nine games. Both balls came on full-count pitches from Braden Looper (9-6) and were the only damage against the right-hander in seven innings.

Making his first start since June 18, Zambrano (9-3) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out five. Kerry Wood gave up a hit in the ninth before finishing for his 22nd save in 26 chances, and 12th in a row.

Brewers 9, Pirates 1

MILWAUKEE — J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall hit two-run homers, Ben Sheets worked out of several jams to earn his 10th win and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 on Friday.

Sheets (10-2) stranded eight runners in the first five innings, allowing one run and eight hits before departing with two outs in the sixth after throwing 120 pitches. He became the sixth 10-game winner in the NL this season.

Carlos Villanueva picked up his first save by pitching 3 1-3 innings.

Hardy, who struggled with a tight shoulder last month, had four hits for the second straight day to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest active streak in the majors. His homer in the fifth set off Milwaukee’s offensive outburst.

Reds 3, Nationals 0

CINCINNATI — Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run drive for career homer No. 604 and Bronson Arroyo worked six innings to lead the Reds.

Griffey’s 11th homer of the season came on a 1-0 pitch from rookie Jason Bergmann (1-6) and gave the nine-time All-Star 5,001 total bases for his career, becoming 18th player to reach that level.

Arroyo (6-7) was sharp after the game started following a 1-hour, 2-minute rain delay. He gave up five hits to earn his second consecutive win after three straight losses. David Weathers and Jared Burton each pitched an inning before Francisco Cordero finished the eight-hitter for his 17th save in 20 tries.

Washington, which has been shut out 10 times this season, had runners at first and second with one out in the ninth but Cordero got Willie Harris to fly out to right and struck out Cristian Guzman to end the game.

Dodgers 10, Giants 7

SAN FRANCISCO — Andre Ethier homered and hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, Derek Lowe won for the first time in three starts and Los Angeles rallied for its fourth straight victory.

Giants rookie reliever Osiris Matos (0-1) allowed five unearned runs in the sixth. Left fielder Fred Lewis made a costly mistake when he dropped a routine line drive by Nomar Garciaparra to start the inning. Pinch-hitter Delwyn Young hit a tying RBI single two batters later, then one out later Ethier began a stretch of three straight doubles that scored runs.

Los Angeles had nine extra-base hits to help Lowe’s cause — getting two doubles and two RBIs by Garciaparra in his return from the disabled list. Lowe (6-8) won for just the second time in five starts, going five innings for the decision. Takashi Saito worked the ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances.

Phillies 3, Mets 2

PHILADELPHIA — Shane Victorino’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted the Phillies.

Duaner Sanchez (3-1) retired the first two batters before Pedro Feliz doubled to left field. Victorino followed with a liner to right on a 1-2 pitch to score Feliz and send a sellout crowd into a frenzy.

The NL East-leading Phillies have won four straight after losing 13 of 18. Brad Lidge (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth, capping the Philadelphia bullpen’s 4 1-3 scoreless innings.

Braves 6, Astros 2

ATLANTA — Jason Perry hit a run-scoring triple in his first major league at-bat, Tim Hudson gave up only one run in seven innings and Atlanta ended a five-game losing streak.

Mark Kotsay’s run-scoring fly to center field in the second inning gave the Braves a 1-0 lead, and Perry followed with a triple to the right-field wall that drove in Brian McCann from first base.

McCann drove in Chipper Jones with a third-inning single for a 3-0 lead, and Kelly Johnson added a two-run homer.

Hudson (9-6) gave up four hits and one run, with three walks and six strikeouts. Mike Gonzalez pitched a perfect ninth for Atlanta.

Lance Berkman drove in Darin Erstad with a single to left in the sixth, but Johnson answered with his two-run homer off Brian Moehler (4-4) in the bottom of the inning.