Jays knock Rays out of share of AL East lead

Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 43rd homer during a 10-run sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the host Tampa Bay Rays, 13-5, last night.

Tampa Bay lost for only the fifth time in 17 games but fell a game behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East. The Rays and Yankees, who beat Oakland 9-3, had been tied atop the division for the previous eight days.

Bautista capped the sixth-inning outburst with a three-run shot off reliever Lance Cormier that put the Blue Jays up 11-3. It was the most runs scored in one inning by Toronto since an 11-run sixth on July 25, 2007, at Minnesota.

Bautista also had a broken-bat, run-scoring single - giving him 103 RBIs this season - during a two-run eighth that extended the cushion to 13-3.

Ricky Romero (11-8) gave up five runs, three hits and five walks in 71/3 innings for the Blue Jays, who can stop a stretch of 10 straight series defeats at Tampa Bay with a win Wednesday night.

Jeff Niemann (10-5) struggled in his second consecutive start since returning from a strained right shoulder.

Orioles 5, Red Sox 2

Rookie Brian Matusz won his third consecutive start as host Baltimore beat Josh Beckett fading Boston to cap a memorable first month under manager Buck Showalter.

Luke Scott hit his career-high 26th homer, had two RBIs and scored twice to help the Orioles extend their winning streak to four. Baltimore went 17-11 in August, 17-10 with Showalter in the dugout.

The Red Sox traded reliever Manny Delcarmen and cash to the Colorado Rockies for minor-league pitcher Chris Balcom-Miller. Delcarmen, 28, was 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA in 48 games for Boston this season..

Twins 4, Tigers 3

Delmon Young had two hits, including the go-ahead single in the seventh, for host Minnesota.

Royals 10, Rangers 9

Willie Bloomquist scored on Alexi Ogando's wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Alex Gordon drove in three runs for Kansas City.

Reds 8, Brewers 4

Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman reached 102 mph during one perfect inning as host Cincinnati wrapped up the best August by any team in the majors (19-8). The NL Central leaders moved a season-high seven games ahead of St. Louis.

Marlins 1, Nationals 0

Florida's Chad Tracy singled home Hanley Ramirez with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Astros 3, Cardinals 0

Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven innings and three relievers completed the three-hit shutout for host Houston.

- AP