Tampa Bay’s Akinori Iwamura slides into third base with a lead-off triple off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie during the first inning Friday. Associated Press Photo.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam, Cliff Floyd drove in five runs and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed their first-ever winning season with a 14-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

Floyd had a two-run double, Zobrist hit his slam and Gabe Gross added a solo shot during a seven-run fourth that made it 10-0.

Scott Kazmir (10-6) allowed three hits and three walks over 5 1-3 scoreless innings. The left-hander has won 10 games or more in four straight seasons. Tampa Bay joined the 1968 Oakland Athletics as the only teams to have five pitchers 26 years old or younger with 20 starts and 10 wins in the same season.

Tampa Bay (82-51) is 41⁄2 games ahead of second-place Boston, which beat the Chicago White Sox 8-0. The Rays, an AL-best 50-19 at home, had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year.

Carlos Pena and Floyd drew bases-load walks — the last two of four consecutive two-out walks by Jeremy Guthrie (10-11) — to give the Rays a 3-0 lead in the second.

Twins 12, Athletics 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Joe Mauer matched his career high with five hits and had a season-best four RBIs, and Kevin Slowey won his fourth straight decision for Minnesota.

Cleanup hitter Justin Morneau doubled twice among his four hits and scored twice as the Twins pulled within a half-game of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox,who lost 8-0 in Boston. Mauer had a two-run single in Minnesota’s six-run second. He also had five hits on June 26, 2006, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Twins wasted little time jumping on A’s starter Dan Meyer (0-3), who is still searching for his first major league win after 16 appearances and six starts. The lefty didn’t make it out of the second inning.

Red Sox 8, White Sox 0

BOSTON — Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed two hits in eight innings, Dustin Pedroia had four hits and Jason Bay drove in three runs to lead Boston past Chicago.

Coming off a 6-3 road trip and with Josh Beckett placed on the disabled list, Boston used Matsuzaka (16-2) in his place against the AL Central leaders. He pitched one of his most efficient games of a season in which he’s been among the AL ERA leaders while giving up the most walks in the AL.

He struck out seven, walked two and threw 104 pitches. His 16 wins tied Hideo Nomo’s single-season record for the most by a native of Japan.

Bay’s three-run double in the sixth put Boston ahead 7-0 and gave him 27 RBIs in 25 games since a three-way trade on July 31 that brought him from Pittsburgh and sent Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1

NEW YORK — Carl Pavano held down Toronto in his first start at Yankee Stadium since opening day last year, and New York managed just enough offense to beat A.J. Burnett.

Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu drove in runs for the Yankees, who won for the 18th time this season when scoring three runs or fewer. They were 6-36 in those games last year.

Pavano (2-0) drew a smattering of applause from a sellout crowd when he stepped to the mound for just his 21st start with the Yankees since signing a four-year contract worth nearly $40 million before the 2005 season. He gave up three hits and a run over six innings, and Mariano Rivera got the final five outs for his 32nd save.

Burnett (16-10) allowed only seven hits in a complete game, but lost for the first time in four starts this season against New York. His winning streak ended at six.

Angels 3, Rangers 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Garret Anderson hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and center fielder Torii Hunter robbed Marlon Byrd of a two-run shot to help Los Angeles increase its AL West lead over Texas to 17 games.

Ervin Santana (14-5) allowed a run and five hits over eight innings and struck out seven as the Angels reduced their magic number to 11.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 52nd save in 57 chances, putting him within five of Bobby Thigpen’s single-season record with the 1990 Chicago White Sox.

Anderson, the Angels’ all-time leader in hits and RBIs, drove a pitch by Dustin Nippert (1-4) to right field with one out in the sixth for his 14th homer after a single by Chone Figgins.

Tigers 6, Royals 3

DETROIT — Curtis Granderson and Jeff Larish both drove in two runs and Detroit scored all its runs in the fifth inning to beat Kansas City.

Zach Miner (8-4) allowed a run and six hits in six innings as the Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak.

Mark Teahen homered for Kansas City, which has lost 11 of 12. The Royals’ only win in that stretch was over the Tigers last Sunday.

Mariners 3, Indians 2

CLEVELAND — Felix Hernandez stopped baseball’s hottest team, Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs and lowly Seattle ended Cleveland’s 10-game winning streak.

Hernandez (9-8) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings for his first win in six road starts. The right-hander held the Indians to 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Seattle closer J.J. Putz, who had blown four of his previous six save chances, worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save.

One of baseball’s best hitters in August, Ibanez put the Mariners ahead 3-0 in the third off Jeremy Sowers (2-7) with his 22nd homer. He’s hitting .396 with seven homers and 28 RBIs this month.