Seattle heads to Boston 1-2 on its current road trip.
By The Associated Press

TORONTO – Mark Hendrickson took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3.

The AL West-leading Mariners opened a seven-game road trip by losing two of three at SkyDome. Seattle starts a four-game series at Boston on Friday night.

Hendrickson (8-9), who grew up in Mount Vernon, Wash., and played baseball and basketball at Washington State, allowed two runs on four hits.

Twins 4, Royals 3

MINNEAPOLIS – Shannon Stewart hit a tying, three-run homer in the sixth inning and the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh to help the Minnesota Twins knock the Kansas City Royals out of first place with a 4-3 victory.

The Royals, Chicago White Sox and Twins all began the day within a half-game of each other in the AL Central. The last time Minnesota was ahead of Kansas City was June 30.

The Royals, who have lost four straight and seven of nine, play the Twins three more times this weekend.

Kansas City starter Paul Abbott took a no-hit bid and a 3-0 lead into the sixth but faded fast and gave up the tying home run to Stewart.

Stewart then knocked in A.J. Pierzynski with a single in the seventh off Al Levine (3-6) to give the Twins the lead.

Angels 10, Tigers 7

DETROIT – Scott Spiezio hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning as the Anaheim Angels sent the Detroit Tigers to their ninth straight loss, 10-7.

Detroit dropped to 31-95 and is just 6-28 since the All-Star break. The Tigers matched their longest losing streak this season – they opened with nine straight loses and also dropped nine in a row from June 21-29.

Orioles 5, Devil Rays 4

BALTIMORE – Tony Batista homered leading off the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles hammered the Tampa Bay bullpen in a 5-4 comeback victory.

Baltimore trailed 4-0 in the seventh before rallying for its second straight win after an eight-game skid.

White Sox 7, Rangers 3

CHICAGO – Frank Thomas and Joe Crede homered to back Bartolo Colon as the Chicago White Sox moved into first place in the AL Central by beating the Texas Rangers 7-3.

Chicago, which won its fourth straight, moved one game ahead of Kansas City and remained a half-game ahead of Minnesota in the tight race. The White Sox had not led the division since Aug. 8 and had been in first place for just three days previously this season.

National League

Dodgers 2, Expos 1

LOS ANGELES – Cesar Izturis hit a pair of RBI doubles and Odalis Perez won his fourth straight start as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos 2-1 Thursday.

Vladimir Guerrero hit his 226th home run for Montreal, taking over from Andre Dawson as the Expos’ career leader. Astros 9, Cubs 3

HOUSTON – Craig Biggio hit a two-run homer and the Houston Astros beat Kerry Wood for the third time this season with a 9-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

The NL Central-leading Astros took two of three in a key series against the Cubs, who dropped 11/2 games out of first place. Houston finished with 16 hits, one short of its season high.

Ron Villone (5-2) threw five solid innings and benefited from Houston’s early offense.

Mets 5, Padres 1

SAN DIEGO – Ty Wigginton hit a three-run homer and Roger Cedeno added a two-run shot, leading the New York Mets over the San Diego Padres 5-1.

Wigginton hit his ninth homer of the season in the first inning off Oliver Perez (4-7) as New York avoided the three-game sweep. Cedeno’s sixth homer made it 5-0 in the second. Jae Seo (7-8) allowed one run and six hits in six innings.

Brewers 5, Phillies 2

MILWAUKEE – Keith Ginter hit a go-ahead homer off Vincente Padilla in the sixth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

After a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of St. Louis last weekend, the Phillies are 0-3 on a season-high 13-game, four-city road trip.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 3

ST. LOUIS – Jim Edmonds hit his second homer of the game, a three-run shot in the ninth inning that sent the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3.

Edmonds won it with his 32nd home run, connecting with one out. He got a break two pitches earlier when third baseman Jose Hernandez muffed his foul pop near the stands, though no error was charged.

Rockies 5, Marlins 4

DENVER – Todd Helton led off the ninth inning with a home run against Braden Looper, giving the Colorado Rockies a 5-4 win over the Florida Marlins and a three-game sweep.

Florida rallied for two runs in the eighth and tied it in the ninth on Alex Gonzalez’s homer before Helton hit the fourth game-ending homer of his career. Preston Wilson and Chris Stynes also connected for Colorado.

, and Jose Jimenez pitched six impressive innings in his first start since 1999.