ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mark Kotsay drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single, and the Oakland Athletics increased their lead over the Los Angeles Angels to 1 games in the AL West with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Scot Shields (6-7) relieved Kelvim Escobar after seven innings, giving up a leadoff walk to Mark Ellis and a single by Jason Kendall that put runners at the corners. Kotsay followed with a ground single through the right side that delivered Ellis with the tiebreaking run.

Shields hit Jay Payton on the right hand with a fastball with two outs, and Payton had to be restrained by A’s manager Ken Macha. After a delay of several minutes, Shields struck out Nick Swisher with the bases loaded.

Mariners 2, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE – Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, and the Seattle Mariners held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Wednesday, ending Erik Bedard’s seven-game winning streak.

Beltre’s homer came in the first inning, and Felix Hernandez and the Seattle bullpen made the margin stand up. The Mariners won two of three from Baltimore to capture the season series 6-4.

Rangers 10, Twins 2

MINNEAPOLIS – Kip Wells made a successful first start for Texas, Mark Teixeira homered twice and the Rangers beat Minnesota 10-2 on Wednesday to give the Twins their first losing homestand this season.

Acquired in a deadline-day trade with Pittsburgh, Wells got his first win as an American Leaguer since 2001. He pitched into the sixth inning and was responsible for one run while striking out two.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2

NEW YORK – Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight more shutout innings to win his fifth straight start, and Alex Rodriguez got two key hits in a six-run sixth that broke open the New York Yankees’ 7-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the AL East-leading Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series.

Tigers 8, Devil Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead two-run double and Craig Monroe added a two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning as the Detroit Tigers surpassed last season’s victory total, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-3 on Wednesday night.

Ordonez gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead with his double off reliever Jon Switzer (2-2).

He has nine RBIs in his last seven games.

Monroe made it 6-3 with his 16th homer of the season, off Rudy Lugo.