Coming off two tight wins over their traditional rival, and about to head into the All-Star break, the New York Yankees turned to two of their veterans to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
Derek Jeter came through with his bat and glove, backing a stellar effort by Andy Pettitte that helped the Yankees beat the Rays 5-0 on Tuesday night.
"We knew the importance of the game," manager Joe Girardi said.
Meanwhile in Boston, the Red Sox rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to top the Minnesota Twins 6-5.
For the second straight night, Manny Ramirez came through with a clutch hit in the eighth inning. A day after hitting a go-ahead single, Ramirez connected for a two-run homer.
"We had a terrific inning, a lot of good things happened," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Last night was what we needed, but sometimes you need a home run."
Jeter didn't homer, but had a key two-run double off All-Star Scott Kazmir, then made a stellar spinning play in the seventh inning that preserved a two-run lead and prompted the crowd to chant his name.
With men on first and third and two out, the Yankees captain snared a grounder by Willy Aybar deep in the shortstop hole, leaped and twisted in the air to throw to second baseman Robinson Cano for a force out that saved a run.
Girardi said, "I look at the play Jeter made in the hole. That would have made it 2-1. The play Jeter made was a huge play.
"It's a great play and he makes it as good as anybody - the control with which he's able to do it, to jump and spin and make the throw right on the money."
Elsewhere in the American League, it was: Detroit 9, Cleveland 2; Toronto 7, Baltimore 6; Texas 3, Los Angeles 2; Chicago 8, Kansas City 7, 13 innings; and Oakland 2, Seattle 0.
In the National League, it was: Pittsburgh 4, Houston 3; St. Louis 2, Philadelphia 0; NY Mets 7, San Francisco 0; Arizona 2, Washington 0; Milwaukee 7, Colorado 3; Chicago Cubs 7, Cincinnati 3; San Diego 10, Florida 1; Atlanta 9, LA Dodgers 3.
In New York, Rays manager Joe Maddon noted before the first pitch the increased attention on this two-game set created "an October feel." He said his team would merely treat it as another series - the Yankees, in their 90th game this season, saw it as chance to make up ground.
The Rays, who had the worst record (66-96) in the major leagues last season, dropped to 55-34 with the loss, but still have the best record in the majors so far this season.
Three-game lead
The Yankees improved to 48-42, 7 1/2 games behind the Rays, who still hold a three-game lead over the second-placed World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Pettitte (10-6) pitched eight innings, gave up four hits and struck out five for the win, while Edwar Ramirez finished up with a one-two-three ninth inning.
Kazmir (7-4) struck out five of the first six batters he faced, but gave up a two-run double by Jeter in the third.
The game stayed at 2-0 until the Yankees broke it open in the eighth inning with three runs off two relievers, the first on a lead-off homer by Melky Cabrera.
Pettitte said the Yankees were stepping up at the right time, adding Tuesday's win over Tampa Bay after taking the last two games of their series against Boston.
"Boston is ahead of us, and these guys are ahead of us," Pettitte said. "So it was important. They have been extremely hot and as good as anybody in baseball."
In Boston, Nick Blackburn pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing two runs and six hits for Minnesota. Despite the loss, the Twins starting pitching is 16-1 in the last 23 games with an ERA of 2.99.
"It's a tough loss, one we thought we had," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We made a lot of mistakes, they blooped one to left, blooped one to right and next thing you know Manny hits one into the seats."
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily July 10, 2008)