NEW YORK – Bobby Abreu hit a game-winning double off Grant Balfour in the 10th inning, and the New York Yankees cooled off the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-1 victory Wednesday.
Derek Jeter scored twice and Jason Giambi singled in a run for the Yankees, who gave out 20,000 replica mustaches to fans to support the slugger’s All-Star candidacy.
New York has won four straight after losing five of six, closing within 6 games of the surprising Rays, who lead the AL East. The Rays have lost three in a row for the first time since they were swept at Boston from June 3-5.
Jeter walked with one out against Balfour (2-1), who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 10 appearances. Abreu fell behind 0-2, then doubled to right-center as Jeter scored without a throw to the plate. It was Abreu’s first game-ending hit with the Yankees.
Mariano Rivera (4-3) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena hit a tying homer off Sidney Ponson in the sixth.
Marlins 5, Padres 2
SAN DIEGO – Scott Olsen allowed four hits over eight innings, and Mike Jacobs and Hanley Ramirez homered to lead Florida to a 5-2 victory over San Diego on Wednesday.
Olsen appeared to be in line for his first major league complete game, but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth as the Marlins sent eight batters to the plate and scored twice.
Olsen (5-4) allowed one run and broke his career-worst winless streak of 11 games, during which he was 0-3 with a 5.31 ERA.
Joe Nelson allowed Chase Headley’s RBI single before Kevin Gregg got two outs for his 17th save.
Tigers 8, Indians 6
DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers rallied from an early six-run deficit, sendings the Indains to their 10th straight loss.
Down 6-0 in the sixth, the Tigers came back. Cabrera won it when he connected with one out for his third home run in two games.
Nationals 5, D-backs 0
WASHINGTON – Jesus Flores’ three-run, pinch-hit homer helped Washington to a 5-0 victory over Arizona.
The win ended the last-place Diamondbacks’ six-game losing streak, dropped first-place Arizona back below .500 and denied Arizona its first three-game winning streak in nearly two months.
Blue Jays 9, Orioles 8
TORONTO – Alex Rios and David Eckstein each drove in two runs, A.J. Burnett won for the third time in four starts and the Toronto Blue Jays used a seven-run fourth inning to beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 on Wednesday night.
Eckstein went 2-for-4 with two doubles and Rios finished 2-for-5 with a pair of singles as the Blue Jays won back-to-back games for the first time in July.
Burnett (9-8) improved to 6-1 in eight career starts against the Orioles, even without his best stuff. He allowed seven runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts.
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