Wednesday's American League Capsules

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Josh Beckett pitched a one-hitter, allowing only an infield single in the third inning by Reid Brignac, and led the Boston Red Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

Kevin Youkilis hit a three-run homer and that was plenty for Beckett (6-2).

Beckett struck out six, walked none and retired the last 19 batters. Brignac set down eight straight batters before Brignac hit a slow roller up the third-base line and easily beat Youkilis' throw.

Youkilis homered off Jeremy Hellickson (7-5) in the seventh, ending the rookie right-hander's streak of consecutive innings without allowing a run at home at 24.

Yankees 12, Rangers 4

NEW YORK (AP) - Mark Teixeira hit two-run homers from each side of the plate and the New York Yankees connected five times, romping past the Texas Rangers.

Robinson Cano and youngsters Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena homered as New York handed Texas its season-high fourth straight loss. Cano also connected Tuesday night when the Yankees routed the AL champion Rangers by the exact same score.

Teixeira homered from the right side in the first after Ivan Nova (6-4) gave up two quick runs to Texas. The Yankees first baseman tied Chili Davis and Eddie Murray for most times homering from both sides of the plate all-time with 11.

Derek Holland (5-2) had not lost since April 16 at Yankee Stadium, 11 starts ago.

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 1

TORONTO (AP) - Ricky Romero struck out 12 and gave up three hits in eight-plus innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles for the 16th straight time at the Rogers Centre.

Adam Lind, Yunel Escobar and Juan Rivera each hit home runs.

Romero (6-6) matched his career high for strikeouts. He was charged with an earned run after Matt Wieters hit an RBI single off reliever Frank Francisco in the bottom of the ninth.

Jake Arrieta (8-4) gave up three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Indians 6, Tigers 4

DETROIT (AP) - Orlando Cabrera had three hits, including a go-ahead double in the fifth inning, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers.

Cleveland (36-30) pulled back ahead of Detroit (37-31) at the top of the AL Central by a percentage point.

The Indians entered having lost 15 of 20, but they broke through with four runs in the fourth inning after not scoring more than one in any of their previous four games.

Fausto Carmona (4-8) pitched five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. Cleveland's bullpen then held Detroit hitless, and Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his 17th save.

Reliever Charlie Furbush (1-1) took the loss.

Twins 4, White Sox 1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Carl Pavano kept up his recent surge with a six-hitter for the Minnesota Twins in a victory over the Chicago White Sox

Pavano (4-5) walked three, struck out five and recorded six one-pitch outs against the free-swinging White Sox, who had won nine of their previous 13 games. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA over his last three starts, and the Twins have won 10 of their last 12 games.

Delmon Young's two-run single capped a three-run second inning against Gavin Floyd (6-6), who also went the distance and allowed 11 hits.

Athletics 2, Royals 1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Josh Outman allowed four hits over seven innings and the Oakland Athletics gave new manager Bob Melvin his first home victory by beating the Kansas City Royals.

Cliff Pennington and Daric Barton had RBI singles off starter Luke Hochevar (4-7), who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before it all fell apart.

The scuffling A's had lost three straight and 13 of 14 in a streak that began under Bob Geren. Melvin improved to 2-4 since taking over for the fired Geren.

Outman (2-1) struck out two and walked two in the deepest outing of his major league career without allowing a run. Andrew Bailey pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in three chances.

Mariners 3, Angels 1

SEATTLE (AP) - Carlos Peguero's two-out groundball in the seventh inning ricocheted off second base, over the head of Angels shortstop Erick Aybar and into center field to score a pair and help give the Seattle Mariners a win over Los Angeles.

Erik Bedard (4-4) threw seven shutout innings and Seattle salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Seattle loaded the bases against Ervin Santana (3-7) on a double by Chone Figgins and intentional walks to Ichiro Suzuki and Justin Smoak. On the seventh pitch, Peguero dribbled his grounder back up the middle for a two-run single that broke a scoreless tie.

Brandon League pitched the ninth for his AL-leading 19th save in 22 chances.