Choate's error helps Royals beat Rays

An error by reliever Randy Choate helped Kansas City score twice in the ninth inning, and the Royals held on to beat the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2, on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Alberto Callaspo had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Mitch Maier a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Royals.

Scott Podsednik reached safely when Choate (0-2) misplayed his comebacker to start the ninth. After Billy Butler singled and Jose Guillen was hit by a pitch by closer Rafael Soriano, Callaspo gave the Royals a 2-1 lead with his sacrifice fly. Maier's RBI single made it 3-1.

Evan Longoria homered and had two RBIs for the Rays.

Orioles 5, Red Sox 4

Adam Jones doubled and scored on a two-out single by Miguel Tejada in the 10th inning for host Baltimore. Tejada had three RBIs, including a tying homer in the eighth. J.D. Drew hit two solo homers and Dustin Pedroia had a homer and two RBIs for Boston, (11-12) which had its first losing April since 1996.

Blue Jays 10, Athletics 2

Alex Gonzalez hit two home runs and Vernon Wells also connected for host Toronto.

Gonzalez has seven home runs, a team record for a shortstop in April. Marco Scutaro, now with Boston, hit five last April.

Morrow (2-2) struck out nine in six innings.

Tigers 10, Angels 6

Scott Sizemore and Brennan Boesch hit their first career homers in an eight-run fourth inning for host Detroit.

Sizemore's homer, which came one pitch after Gerald Laird's first of the season, tied the score at 4. Miguel Cabrera added an RBI single later in the inning before Boesch's grand slam to centerfield.

A third Tigers rookie, Austin Jackson, went 5-for-5, making him the first Tigers rookie with five hits in a game since the player he replaced, Curtis Granderson, did it Sept. 18, 2005.

Rick Porcello (2-2) won despite allowing five runs and eight hits in 51/3 innings. Joel Piñeiro (2-3) gave up a career-high 10 runs in 31/3 innings.

Braves 4, Astros 2

Jason Heyward hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer and Tommy Hanson pitched eight innings to help host Atlanta end its nine-game losing streak.

Heyward homered for the second consecutive night to snap a tie at 2 and Nate McLouth also went deep against Brett Myers (1-2).

Hanson (2-2) gave up two runs in the second inning and then retired 20 of his last 21.

Nationals 7, Marlins 1

Ryan Zimmerman homered twice as visiting Washington won its third straight. It was Zimmerman's first start since April 21 thanks to a hamstring injury, and he connected both times on a full count against Ricky Nolasco (2-1). Scott Olsen (2-1) pitched six scoreless innings for the Nats.

Cubs 11, Diamondbacks 5

Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homer as host Chicago connected for four in all and stopped a three-game skid. Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Marlon Byrd added solo shots. Randy Wells (3-0) struck out eight and gave up five runs in six innings. - AP