Red Sox's Youkilis goes on 15-day DL

The Red Sox put first baseman Kevin Youkilis on the 15-day disabled list with a thumb injury yesterday and acknowledged that his season could be over.

Youkilis tore a muscle in his right thumb during Monday night's loss to Cleveland. He lined out to end the first inning, grabbed his hand in pain and left the game in the third.

"It's a very unusual injury - not a common occurrence for hitters to have this," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. "It's not clear how long it'll be or it's not clear if he'll need surgery. If he does need surgery, it can be fixed."

To take Youkilis' place on the roster, the club activated Mike Lowell from the 15-day disabled list. He has been hampered by a strained right hip.

In last night's game, Lowell hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw, Josh Beckett dominated for eight innings and host Boston beat Cleveland, 3-1, after a bench-clearing incident.

The spirited Youkilis was on the field in the eighth inning when the benches emptied. A pitch by Indians reliever Jensen Lewis that sailed behind Adrian Beltre started things. Lewis, Indians third-base coach Steve Smith and Beckett were ejected.

Rays 6, Twins 4

Sean Rodriguez and B.J. Upton hit three-run homers as host Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in 11 games and took over the AL East lead.

Jeff Niemann (10-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings as the Rays moved one game ahead of the Yankees, who lost to Toronto.

Orioles win one for Showalter

Buck Showalter's difficult task of turning around the last-place Orioles began with a victory as Luke Scott hit a two-run homer and Josh Bell a two-run double for his first major-league RBIs for host Baltimore in a 6-3 win over the Angels.

White Sox, Tigers split

Juan Pierre hit his first home run in almost two years, Alex Rios and Dayan Viciedo also connected and the visiting White Sox routed the Tigers, 12-2, in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. Pierre also doubled, drove in two runs and stole a base. His previous home run was on Sept. 15, 2008. Mark Buehrle (10-8) pitched into the eighth inning.

In the nightcap, Jeremy Bonderman (6-6) allowed one run in 62/3 innings and Brennan Boesch and Johnny Damon each drove in two runs in the Tigers' 7-1 victory.

Phillies 6, Marlins 1

Roy Halladay (13-8) allowed one run in seven innings for visiting Philadelphia in his return to the scene of his perfect game. Halladay threw the second perfect game in Phillies history when he won May 29 on his last visit to Miami. In this one, he gave up five hits and hit a two-run single in the fourth.

The Phillies also put Ryan Howard, who was tops in the NL with 81 RBIs, on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle. - AP