Jackson helps Rays hold off Blue Jays
The Tampa Bay Rays reached another milestone in their unexpected run toward the playoffs.
Edwin Jackson took a shutout into the eighth inning, Cliff Floyd and Willy Aybar homered, and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2, last night in St. Petersburg, Fla., to guarantee they will finish no worse than .500 for the first time in franchise history.
"Hopefully, getting past these barriers, mentally and numbers-wise, we can put that in the past and become the organization we're envisioned on becoming," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
Tampa Bay, 81-51 and an AL-best 49-19 at home, took two of three from Toronto and is 11-0-1 in series play since the All-Star break. The Rays extended their lead in the AL East over the Red Sox to 4 1/2 games.
"It's just another day at the office," Floyd said. "Every day, someone's doing something to win a ballgame."
Jackson (11-8) gave up one run and six hits over seven-plus innings in winning for the sixth time in his last seven starts. He departed after allowing Alex Rios&'s double to start the eighth.
"Every game we take now is a big one,"Jackson said.
Rios scored on Adam Lind's infield single and Rod Barajas added a two-out RBI double later in the eighth, cutting the Toronto deficit to 3-2. Jose Bautista, mired in an 0-for-24 slide, struck out to end the inning.
"I think you have to give those guys some credit over there, "Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. "They've got a pretty good pitching staff that will shut you down."
Athletics 3, Twins 2 - Pinch hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning, and Oakland won back-to-back games for first time since July 10-11.
Joey Devine (4-0) pitched the eighth to pick up the victory for the A's, who went 40 games without a winning streak. Suzuki's double marked Oakland's ninth walkoff hit of the season and just the 11th victory since the All-Star break.
Ryan Sweeney led off the ninth with a single off loser Craig Breslow (0-2), then moved to second on Daric Barton's sacrifice. Suzuki hit a 3-1 pitch from Jesse Crain off the wall in left-center.
Barton hit a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth for the A's, only to see Nick Punto tie it in the top of the seventh with an RBI single.
The Twins had runners aboard in all but the second and eighth innings but were hurt by four double plays.
They missed a chance to pull within a half-game of the idle and first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and 1 1/2 of the Red Sox for the wild card.
Angels 7, Rangers 5 - Pinch hitter Juan Rivera doubled off the wall in right-center to drive in three runs in a five-run eighth inning and help host Los Angeles Angels rally past Texas.
The Angels' Jon Garland (12-8) pitched eight innings, allowing five runs and eight hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Cubs 6, Phillies 4 - Aramis Ramirez's grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning, and Chicago won its sixth straight game in dramatic fashion, rallying past Philadelphia.
The surging Cubs moved to 34 games over .500. Ramirez sent the roaring 40,362 fans at Wrigley Field into a tizzy when he drove reliever Chad Durbin's pitch into the center-field bleachers to complete the comeback.
With the loss, the Phillies dropped a full game behind the idle Mets in the NL East.
Braves 4, Marlins 2 - Brian McCann hit a three-run homer, Charlie Morton finally figured out how to pitch at home, and host Atlanta beat slumping Florida.
Morton (4-8) had been 0-6 with an 8.18 ERA this season at Turner Field, but the rookie righthander went six innings and allowed only four hits and two runs.
Nationals 11, Dodgers 2 - Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle and Elijah Dukes had two home runs, helping host Washington romp over struggling Los Angeles.
Astros 3, Reds 2 - Ty Wigginton homered twice off Aaron Harang, Brandon Backe (9-12) was sharp into the seventh, and host Houston won. 