AL ROUNDUP : Oakland Rookie Hudson Strikes Out 11, Wins Again

Rookie Tim Hudson won his eighth consecutive decision, giving up six hits in 7 2/3 innings Friday night as the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-2, at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The 24-year-old right-hander showed no signs of wilting under the pressure of the American League wild-card race, striking out 11 to match a career high and becoming the first A’s draft pick to win 10 games since Curt Young in 1988.

Oakland remained three games behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card race.

Hudson (10-1), who is 8-0 over his last 14 starts, lowered his earned-run average to 3.06. He took a four-hitter into the eighth before giving up singles to Mike DiFelice and Miguel Cairo.

Detroit 7, Toronto 6--Juan Encarnacion’s bases-loaded single in the ninth inning gave the Tigers a wild win at Detroit.

The Tigers rallied from a 5-2 deficit with four runs in the eighth, only to see the Blue Jays tie the score in the top of the ninth.

Darren Fletcher hit two homers and David Segui also connected for the Blue Jays, who lost their fourth in a row and fell 6 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race.

Baltimore 5, Seattle 4--Cal Ripken went four for four to move within 22 hits of 3,000 for his career, and Mike Bordick homered in the 12th inning for the Orioles at Baltimore.

Ripken hit four singles, including a two-out, opposite-field liner to right in the eighth that made the score 4-4. Ripken, who left for a pinch-runner after his game-tying single, has 21 games left to reach 3,000 hits this season.

Cleveland 14, Chicago 6--David Justice hit a grand slam to highlight a season-high 12-run fourth inning at Chicago.

Justice’s grand slam was his second this season and the 10th by the Indians, the most in the majors and a club record.

Kansas City 7, Texas 3--Blake Stein earned his first win in seven starts with the Royals, pitching seven innings at Kansas City.

Mendy Lopez had three hits and three RBIs as the Royals ended Texas’ four-game winning streak.