ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ted Lilly pitched six solid innings and Mark Ellis had an RBI double as the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-1 Friday night.

Lilly (9-9) allowed one run and four hits, struck out seven and walked two, improving to 4-0 against the Devil Rays.

Jim Mecir, Chad Bradford and Keith Foulke completed the four-hitter. Foulke got four straight outs for his 39th save in 44 chances.

Blue Jays 8, Tigers 6

TORONTO – Mike Maroth became the first major league pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 games in a season as the Detroit Tigers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 on Friday night.

Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, becoming the first 20-game loser since Oakland’s Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.

Kingman, who wanted to remain baseball’s last 20-game loser, attended the game and brought a voodoo doll with him. It’s the same doll he took to four other starts in which a major league pitcher could have lost his 20th game but didn’t.

Braves, Pirates split

ATLANTA – Craig Wilson hit a three-run homer and Mark Corey struck out Chipper Jones with the bases loaded in the sixth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 Friday night to split a doubleheader.

In the opener, Jones homered off Corey with one out in the 10th inning, giving the Braves a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. Wilson’s home run off Shane Reynolds (11-8) capped a four-run first for the Pirates in the second game, and they hung on to stop a three-game losing streak. Reggie Sanders, who hit a go-ahead homer in first game, added an RBI double in the first.

Phillies 1, Mets 0

PHILADELPHIA – Vicente Padilla kept up his mastery over New York, striking out a season-high 10 in eight innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the Mets 1-0 Friday night.

Marlon Byrd drove in the only run in the eighth inning with a single just off the outstreched glove of shortstop Jorge Velandia, scoring Nick Punto.

The Phillies, who entered the game tied for the NL wild-card lead, have won four straight and seven of eight after a miserable August.

Cubs 4, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE – Sammy Sosa hit his 33rd home run and Juan Cruz outdueled Ben Sheets as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in a tense matchup 4-2 Friday night.

The Cubs began the day a half-game behind NL Central-leading Houston, which played at San Diego.

Chicago won its fifth in a row at Miller Park.

Twins 10, Rangers 7

MINNEAPOLIS – Cristian Guzman hit a three-run triple and Juan Rincon pitched three outstanding inning off relief as the Minnesota Twins hung on to beat the Texas Rangers 10-7 Friday night.

Rincon (4-6) threw three perfect innings after starter Johan Santana faltered for the first time in a month, nearly squandering an early 8-2 lead. But Guzman drove in a career-high four runs as the Twins stayed tied with the White Sox atop the AL Central.

The Twins play a four-game series at Chicago starting Monday.

White Sox 5, Indians 3

CHICAGO – Paul Konerko and Magglio Ordonez homered Friday night as the Chicago White Sox held off the Cleveland Indians 5-3 to stay tied with Minnesota atop the AL Central.

Konerko hit a three-run homer in the second inning and Ordonez added a solo shot in the fifth off Billy Traber (6-8) as the White Sox built a five-run lead and survived Cleveland’s eighth-inning rally.

Mariners 6, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE – Kerry Ligtenberg hit Bret Boone with a pitch in the 13th inning, forcing in the tiebreaking run Friday night as the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-4. Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run homer and Carlos Guillen drove in three runs for the Mariners, who remained two games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West and a half-game behind Boston in the wild-card race.

Seattle, coming off consecutive shutout losses at Tampa Bay, blew a three-run lead before winning.