DETROIT (AP) - Brandon Inge homered in his return to the Tigers lineup and Detroit went on to rout the Cleveland Indians 10-1 on Saturday night.
Inge was designated for assignment in July, a move that many expected to end his 11-year career. He accepted a demotion to Triple-A Toledo, though, and hit well enough for the Mud Hens to earn a surprising recall.
Inge homered in his first at-bat and hit a 400-foot RBI double in his second as the Tigers increased their AL Central lead to 3 1/2 games. He hadn't had two extra-base hits in a game since August 20, 2010 - exactly a year earlier.
Alex Avila, catching his 14th straight game, went 2-2 with three walks. He's hitting .442 with a .567 on-base percentage in August.
Royals 9, Red Sox 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer each drove in two runs in an eight-run sixth inning to help the Royals rally to beat the Red Sox, depriving Tim Wakefield of his 200th victory.
Wakefield, who is 0-2 with three no-decisions since a July 24 triumph over Seattle, took a 4-1 lead into the sixth, but failed to get out of the inning. He was pulled after giving up three consecutive hits with one out and the Red Sox holding onto a 4-3 advantage.
Gordon's two-run double off Matt Albers (4-4) put the Royals up 6-4. Hosmer's two-run triple off Franklin Morales capped off the scoring.
Felipe Paulino (2-5) picked up the victory.
White Sox 3, Rangers 2
CHICAGO (AP) - Alex Rios entered the game when Carlos Quentin was injured in the first inning then hit a go-ahead double in the eighth, giving the White Sox a victory over the Rangers to snap a three-game skid.
Brent Lillibridge came in to pinch-run after Paul Konerko's one-out single. Rios ripped a full-count pitch from Koji Uehara (1-3) down the left field line to score home Lillibridge.
Jesse Crain (8-3) put two runners on in the eighth but got Nelson Cruz to fly out to right field to end the threat.
Sergio Santos worked the ninth for his 26th save in 30 chances.
Ian Kinsler hit two solo home runs for the Rangers, who lost for just the second time in nine games.
Rays 8, Mariners 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Jeremy Hellickson allowed six hits over eight sharp innings, Evan Longoria hit his 20th homer of the season and the Rays beat the Mariners.
Longoria finished with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the first. He joined Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews as the only major league third basemen to have 20 or more homers in each of their first four seasons.
Hellickson (11-8) was coming off the shortest start of his 32-game career, a 9-2 loss last Saturday to the New York Yankees in which the rookie gave up four runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings.
Joel Peralta pitched the ninth and completed a seven-hitter for the Rays, who have won nine of 11 and improved to a season-high 12-games over .500 (68-56).
Twins 9, Yankees 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A.J. Burnett lost his composure and failed to finish the second inning, when the Twins scored five times on their way to a victory over the Yankees.
Francisco Liriano (9-9) threw seven stellar innings for the Twins, who played like they were taking a decade's worth of frustration out against their nemesis. This was just their 20th win in 81 games against the Yankees over the last 10 seasons, including the playoffs.
Burnett (9-10) was the one who was bummed out on this night, though, so much so that he turned his head while skulking off the mound and angrily shouted what appeared to be a few curse words toward manager Joe Girardi after he took the ball from the lanky right-hander. Girardi was later shown on TV tracking Burnett down in the tunnel to the clubhouse and ushering him back to the bench.
Jason Kubel had three hits and two RBIs and Danny Valencia homered for the Twins.
Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Gio Gonzalez pitched eight stellar innings for his first win in more than a month, and the Athletics beat the Blue Jays.
Brandon Allen had two hits and scored the go-ahead run on a double play in the fourth inning while Josh Willingham homered as part of a three-run eighth for Oakland, which has won four of five at home after getting swept in a four-game series by Texas.
Eric Thames had two hits and scored the only run for Toronto, which played without slugger Jose Bautista. Bautista, who leads the majors with 35 home runs, was a late scratch with tightness in his neck.
One day after Rich Harden and Andrew Bailey combined on a three-hitter, Gonzalez (10-11) and Bailey nearly duplicated it. The duo allowed only four hits and teamed up to retire 25 of the final 27 Toronto batters.
Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez (0-1) took the loss despite a solid effort.
Angels 9, Orioles 8, 12 innings
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Bobby Abreu hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to cap a three-run 12th inning and give the Angels a victory over the Orioles.
The Orioles took an 8-6 lead in the top of the 12th before Kevin Gregg (0-2) gave up a leadoff single to Erick Aybar in the bottom half and hit rookie Mike Trout. Hank Conger laid down a sacrifice bunt to third baseman Josh Bell, whose wild throw allowed Aybar to score.
Bell then made a diving stop on Peter Bourjos' grounder in the hole, checked the runner at third and threw too late to get the speedy Bourjos. Gregg walked Alberto Callaspo to force in the tying run and Troy Patton gave up Abreu's scoring fly to deep center on a 1-1 pitch.