Yankees regain sole lead in division race

BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees escaped from Camden Yards with their lead in the AL East intact, and as a bonus, slugger Curtis Granderson worked his way out of an annoying slump.

Granderson came off the bench to hit his 35th homer and drive in five runs, and New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-3 Sunday to regain sole possession of first place in the division and earn an important split of the season series.

Derek Jeter also homered for the Yankees, who lead the Orioles by one game with 22 left. Each team won twice in a four-game set that drew 173,572 fans, including 40,346 in the finale.

"The bottom line is we're in first place," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The one thing that you want to be able to do is just rely on your club. You don't want to have to rely on other people."

Jeter, who had three RBIs and scored twice, said, "We lost a couple games, but we did battle back. Today was a big one for us. We have a much-needed day off (Monday), then we go to play Boston. I like the way we played."

New York finished 9-9 against Baltimore this season. Had the Orioles won Sunday, they would have received home-field advantage in a playoff game if the teams finish tied atop the division. Baltimore would have also had home-field advantage if the Yankees and Orioles finish tied for both wild-card berths.

Now, if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, record within the division will be the tiebreaker.

"We'll try to make it not matter," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Granderson didn't start because he was stuck in a 5-for-43 skid. He entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and hit a solo shot to put New York up 6-3, then delivered a two-run single in the seventh to provide the Yankees a five-run cushion.

Ichiro Suzuki played all three outfield positions in the field and was 2-for-4 with an RBI at the plate.

Rays 6, Rangers 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit three home runs and James Shields threw a two-hitter to lead Tampa Bay past Texas.

Royals 2, White Sox 1 (10)

In Chicago, Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the 10th inning to lift Kansas City over the White Sox.

Angels 3, Tigers 2

In Anaheim, Zack Greinke pitched seven strong innings of five-hit ball and rookie outfielder Mike Trout hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game.

Athletics 4, Mariners 2

In Seattle, Jonny Gomes hit a three-run home run, Tommy Milone worked six strong innings and Oakland finished off a three-game sweep of the Mariners.

Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

In Boston, Omar Vizquel hit a pair of sacrifice flies, including one in the ninth inning.

Twins 8, Indians 7

In Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota over Cleveland.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants 4, Dodgers 0

In San Francisco, Barry Zito came through in one of the most important outings in his Giants tenure, helping pitching first-place San Francisco extend its NL West lead to 5? games.

Marlins 8, Nationals 0

In Washington, Ricky Nolasco tossed a four-hitter to shut out the Nationals for the second time in two weeks and Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third straight day.

Astros 5, Reds 1

In Cincinnati, Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer and Tyler Greene added a solo shot to help Houston slow the Reds' run to the NL Central title.

Braves 3, Mets 2 (10)

In New York, Brian McCann homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.

Cardinals 5, Brewers 4 (10)

In St. Louis, Allen Craig hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Cardinals beat Milwaukee to avoid a three-game sweep.

Brewers outfielder Norichika Aoki finished 2-for-5, including a two-out, two-run homer off closer Jason Motte that tied the game in the ninth.

Aoki's two-strike drive barely cleared the right-field wall.

Phillies 3, Rockies 2 (1st)

Phillies 7, Rockies 4 (2nd)

In Philadelphia, Ryan Howard drove in two runs and seven pitchers combined to help the Phillies beat Colorado in Game 2 to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Cubs 4, Pirates 2

In Pittsburgh, Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help Chicago complete a three-game sweep of the Pirates.

Padres 8, Diamondbacks 2

In San Diego, Chase Headley hit a grand slam to extend his career bests to 27 homers and an NL-high 102 RBIs, and Carlos Quentin followed with a homer for the Padres' first back-to-back shots this season in a win over Arizona.

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