Teixeira’s blast lifts Yankees

Teixeira, who also had a tiebreaking homer against the Red Sox Sunday, nailed a fastball from Mark Lowe (1-5) that landed just below the second deck well beyond right field to break a 2-2 tie that had stood since the fifth. The Yankees’ dugout, where Rodriguez watched because of back spasms, went wild. Teixeira exhaled deeply and took a celebratory crow hop while watching his 30th home run, second most in the AL, soar away.

A subsequent double by Robinson Cano and RBI single by Nick Swisher capped New York’s major league-leading 38th comeback win and 11th victory in 12 games. They stayed 6 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East.

Mariano Rivera closed it out for his major league-leading 34th save in 35 chances, and 30th consecutive conversion - another major league best. New York reached 30 games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2006 regular season 32 games over. They are 22-6 since the All-Star break, their best start to a second half since 1941.

Orioles 16, Angels 6 - Felix Pie became the fourth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle, and host Baltimore tied club records for extra-base hits and doubles in a rout of Los Angeles.

Pie doubled in the first, homered in the third, then rounded out the feat during a seven-run seventh. He opened the inning by beating out an infield single, then tripled to drive in two runs.

White Sox 8, Athletics 7 - Alexei Ramirez led off the 10th inning with a home run and Chicago overcame blowing a six-run lead to triumph in Oakland, Calif.

Ramirez hit an 0-2 pitch from Craig Breslow (4-4) over the fence in left field to lift Chicago to just its fourth win in its last 16 road games.

Cubs 17, Pirates 2 - Derrek Lee matched a career high with seven RBIs and capped a 10-run outburst in the second inning as host Chicago snapped its five-game losing streak with a romp over Pittsburgh.

Twins 11, Indians 0 - Scott Baker pitched a two-hitter, Jason Kubel homered and had five RBIs, and host Minnesota shut out Cleveland.

Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1 - Dan Haren had his best outing in a month, allowing only one run in six hits in eight innings and striking out eight as Arizona overcame a three-hit night by Manny Ramírez to beat Los Angeles in Phoenix.

Brewers 11, Astros 2 - Ryan Braun homered in each of the first two innings and Felipe Lopez hit a three-run shot in an eight-run first off Wandy Rodriguez, lifting Milwaukee over visiting Houston.

Cardinals 9, Padres 2 - Adam Wainwright joined the Red Sox’ Josh Beckett as the only 14-game winners in the majors and contributed his fifth career homer to a 15-hit attack in St. Louis’s home victory over San Diego.

Mets 3, Giants 0 - Bobby Parnell pitched six crisp innings in his second major league start and New York opened an important homestand with a victory over San Francisco.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 2 - Roy Halladay gave up two runs over eight innings for his 13th win and Toronto beat Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Marlins 6, Rockies 5 - Josh Johnson allowed one hit and had a career-high 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings in Miami, and Florida tightened the NL wild-card race by beating Colorado.

Nationals 2, Reds 0 - Rafael Belliard and Wil Nieves hit solo home runs to back Garrett Mock’s seven solid innings and Washington snapped a three-game losing streak with a win in Cincinnati.

Phillies 3, Braves 2 - Ryan Howard led off the ninth inning with a homer and visiting Philadelphia won its fourth straight game, beating Atlanta.

Tigers 1, Royals 0 - Brandon Inge’s home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Detroit the victory over Kansas City.