TORONTO – Roy Halladay won his AL-leading 17th game as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Barry Zito and the Oakland Athletics 6-3 on Friday night.

Oakland manager Ken Macha held a team meeting before the game to tell his players that ace Mark Mulder has a stress fracture in his right hip, a startling injury that will likely sideline the ace for the rest of the season. Halladay (17-5) outpitched Zito, allowing three runs on eight hits.

Orioles 4, Yankees 3

NEW YORK – Pat Hentgen pitched into the eighth inning, and Brook Fordyce homered and drove in two runs as the Baltimore Orioles ended the New York Yankees’ seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory.

Deivi Cruz hit a tiebreaking double with two outs in the sixth off David Wells, sending the Orioles to their third straight win following an eight-game skid. Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson homered for the Yankees.

Angels 6, Tigers 5

DETROIT – Adam Riggs and Adam Kennedy homered as the Anaheim Angels handed the Detroit Tigers their season-high 10th straight loss, 6-5.

Carlos Pena hit two triples for the Tigers, who are 65 games under .500 at 31-96. Detroit needs to go 12-23 in its final 35 games to avoid tying the 1962 Mets record of 120 losses.

White Sox 7, Rangers 1

CHICAGO – Jose Valentin hit two homers and Frank Thomas and Carl Everett hit one each as the Chicago White Sox won their fifth straight, beating the Texas Rangers 7-1.

The White Sox maintained their lead in the AL Central. They entered play Friday night one-half game ahead of the Twins and one game up on the Royals..

Royals 3, Twins 2

MINNEAPOLIS – Darrell May pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Kansas City threw out two runners at home and the Royals evened an important intradivision series with a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins .

Indians 8, Devil Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -Cliff Lee pitched eight sharp innings, and Ryan Ludwick and Casey Blake hit two-run homers as the Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-3.