ANAHEIM, Calif. — Glen Perkins pitched eight innings and Denard Span and Delmon Young homered for the Minnesota Twins, who took over first place in the AL Central with a 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

The win was the fourth straight and ninth in 11 games for the Twins, who moved a half-game in front of the Chicago White Sox, who lost 9-4 to Tampa Bay.

Perkins (11-3) held Los Angeles to five hits, struck out three and walked two on the way to winning his fourth consecutive decision. Dennys Reyes pitched the ninth to complete Minnesota’s ninth shutout.

Joe Saunders (14-6) allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. He hasn’t won since July 30, with three no-decisions and a loss over that stretch.



BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles denied Mike Mussina his 17th victory, but the New York Yankees rallied to win 9-4 Friday night behind a 5-for-5 performance by Bobby Abreu.

Xavier Nady singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for the Yankees, who improved to 3-50 when trailing after seven innings.

Abreu led off the eighth with his fourth hit, a single off Jamie Walker (1-1). Alex Rodriguez followed with a double, sending Abreu to third, and Jason Giambi popped out. Rookie Kam Mickolio replaced Walker and immediately threw a wild pitch to score Abreu, and Nady followed with an opposite-field single to right to make it 5-4.

Cody Ransom hit a three-homer in the ninth off Fernando Cabrera and Nady followed with a solo shot. Earlier, Robinson Cano and Jose Molina hit successive home runs.

Jose Veras (4-2) worked the seventh, Damaso Marte got two outs in the eighth and Mariano Rivera finished for his 29th save in 30 tries.



TORONTO — Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek hit solo home runs, Paul Byrd won for the fifth time in six starts and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays.

Alex Rios and Lyle Overbay hit two-run homers for the Blue Jays, who lost for the third time in their past 13 games against the Red Sox.

Byrd (8-11) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.



CHICAGO — Rocco Baldelli hit his first homer in more than a year, Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist also went deep and the Rays opened a weekend showdown against the White Sox with a win.

The Rays maintained a 4 1/2-game lead over Boston in the AL East, and they continued to win even though Troy Percival, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford are on the disabled list.

Edwin Jackson (10-8) became the Rays’ fourth 10-game winner despite six shaky innings. He allowed seven hits and two runs, struck out five and walked five while improving to 5-1 in his last six starts.



ARLINGTON, Texas — Fausto Carmona pitched six strong innings and Ryan Garko had a two-run double as Cleveland continued its late-season surge.

Carmona (6-5) allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and walked three as the Indians won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Marlon Byrd’s three-run homer in the eighth off Rafael Perez got the Rangers within 5-4.

Jensen Lewis allowed a leadoff homer to Brandon Boggs in the ninth to make it 7-5. But Lewis got the final three outs for his fifth save, sending the Rangers to their 12th loss in 15 games.

Rangers rookie Matt Harrison (5-3) was in trouble from the beginning of his ninth major league start. He allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings.



KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs and Justin Verlander pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings as the Tigers sent Kansas City to its sixth straight loss.

Cabrera, who has 11 home runs and 42 RBIs in 34 games since the All-Star break, led off the second with a homer off Brian Bannister. He hit a solo shot with two outs in the sixth, also off Bannister. It was Cabrera’s third two-homer game this season and the 12th of his career

Verlander (10-13) gave up eight hits, all singles, struck out six and walked three.



SEATTLE — Rookie catcher Jeff Clement had two run-scoring doubles to help the Mariners break their seven-game losing streak.

Roy Corcoran (4-0), who allowed one hit in two innings of relief, earned the victory. J.J. Putz put two runners on in the ninth but held on to pick up his eighth save in 15 chances.

Clement, who had three RBIs, hit his second double in the Mariners’ go-ahead two-run rally in the seventh. Adrian Beltre opened with a double to center off Jerry Blevins (1-3) and Raul Ibanez advanced him to third with a right-side groundout. With the infield in, Jose Lopez reached out for a RBI single through the middle for a 6-5 lead.

Clement then hit Blevins’ first pitch for a double off the wall in left-center and Lopez scored from first.