Rays continue winning ways
Zobrist, Tampa Bay blow out Baltimore
Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam, Cliff Floyd drove in five runs, and the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed their first winning season with a 14-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles last night at St. Petersburg, Fla.
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 lefthander 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 or younger with 20 starts and 10 wins in the same season.
Tampa Bay (82-51) is 4 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the division. The Rays, an AL-best 50-19 at home, had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year.
Carlos Peña and Floyd drew bases-loaded walks to give the Rays a 3-0 lead in the second.
Mets 5, Marlins 4 - Carlos Beltran hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kevin Gregg, and New York's bullpen held on to win at Miami.
Before Beltran's homer, the Mets were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Trailing, 2-1, they left the bases loaded in the seventh and stranded two in the eighth.
Gregg (6-8) retired the first two batters in the ninth, and New York was down to its final strike when Luis Castillo singled on a 1-and-2 pitch. David Wright also singled, Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch, and Beltran pulled the first pitch over the wall.
Beltran's homer was his 20th, and he drove in all the New York runs.
Twins 12, Athletics 2 - Joe Mauer matched his career high with five hits and had a season-best four RBIs, Kevin Slowey (11-8) won his fourth straight decision, and visiting Minnesota beat Oakland.
Cleanup hitter Justin Morneau doubled twice among his four hits and scored twice.
Mariners 3, Indians 2 - Felix Hernandez stopped baseball's hottest team, Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs, and Seattle ended host Cleveland's winning streak at 10 games.
Hernandez (9-8) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings to win for the first time in six road starts.
Cubs 3, Phillies 2 - Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and host Chicago won its seventh in a row.
Soriano's first homer in 15 days and 23d of the season came off Clay Condrey (3-4). Chicago made the most of four hits and improved its record to a major league-best 85-50, including 51-19 at Wrigley Field.
Tigers 6, Royals 3 - Curtis Granderson and Jeff Larish both drove in two runs and host Detroit scored all of its runs in the fifth inning.
Zach Miner (8-4) allowed a run and six hits in six innings as the Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak.
Angels 3, Rangers 1 - Garret Anderson hit a go-ahead two-run homer, center fielder Torii Hunter robbed Marlon Byrd of a two-run shot, and host Los Angeles beat Texas.
The Angels increased their AL West lead over the Rangers to 17 games and reduced their magic number to 11.
Ervin Santana (14-5) allowed a run and five hits over eight innings and struck out seven. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 52d save.
Reds 11, Giants 7 - Edwin Encarnacion hit his second career grand slam off Barry Zito, and Chris Dickerson homered and drove in four runs to help host Cincinnati post just its ninth win in the last 32 games.
Nationals 7, Braves 3 - Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman both drove in two runs and host Washington beat Atlanta for a season-high fourth straight win.
Brewers 3, Pirates 1 - Ryan Braun hit a three-run home run, his 34th, and visiting Milwaukee handed Pittsburgh its eighth straight loss.
Astros 3, Cardinals 2 - Lance Berkman hit a walkoff solo home run off former teammate Russ Springer to lift Houston.
Rockies 9, Padres 4 - Garrett Atkins hit two home runs and had a season-high five RBIs to lift visiting Colorado.
Diamondbacks 9, Dodgers 3 - Stephen Drew, Adam Dunn, and Conor Jackson each drove in two runs and host Arizona dropped Los Angeles 4 1/2 games back in the NL West. 