Red Sox Win, but Have Some Problems

They’re almost eliminated from playoff contention, and the manager and front office are at odds over the general manager’s failure to discipline the star center fielder. Still, the Boston Red Sox play on.

Trot Nixon drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning Saturday, forcing in the winning run as the Red Sox overcame their internal turmoil to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-7, at Boston.

“It was a special game out there today, to come back,” Manager Jimy Williams said. “It’s a credit to all of them.”

Before the game, Williams and closer Derek Lowe criticized General Manager Dan Duquette for failing to discipline outfielder Carl Everett, who reported late for the opener of Thursday’s doubleheader against Cleveland.

“If I was the general manager, I would back the manager, and if you can’t, you probably need to get rid of me,” Williams said.

Lowe added that Duquette had undermined Williams.

“You hope it doesn’t snowball to the point where there’s no rules at all,” Lowe said.

But the Red Sox got past the distractions, and remained five games back in the wild-card race. Boston, which has seven games left, is six games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Baltimore took a 7-6 lead on Luis Matos’ two-out, RBI single in the 10th off Hector Carrasco (5-3).

Ryan Kohlmeier (0-1) walked Nomar Garciaparra leading off the bottom half and Troy O’Leary followed with an RBI double, then took third on the throw home.

Lou Merloni and Scott Hatteberg were intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Jason Varitek lined out and Brian Daubach fouled out. That brought up Nixon.

“I can’t find a hit anywhere, and I walked in the end to win it,” he said. “I love to get hits and drive in the guys, but as long as you get the win, that’s all that matters.”

Toronto 7, Tampa Bay 6--Darrin Fletcher doubled home the winning run in the ninth inning as the Blue Jays overcame a six-run deficit to win at Toronto.

Fred McGriff became the second player to hit 200 homers in the American and National leagues, joining Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

Blue Jay outfielder Raul Mondesi, out since July 21 after surgery to remove 14 bone chips from his right elbow, returned and went one for five.

New York 13, Detroit 8--David Justice homered twice to overcome a poor start by Roger Clemens and Derek Jeter hit a three-run homer to rally the Yankees at New York, ending New York’s season-high, six-game losing streak.

Chicago 5, Minnesota 3--The White Sox inched closer to their first division title since 1993, beating the Twins at Minneapolis to reduce their magic number to one to win the AL Central.

Cleveland 11, Kansas City 1--Bartolo Colon gave up two hits in seven shutout innings at Kansas City, Mo., extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings.

Cleveland remained one game back in the wild card race, trailing Seattle.

Colon (15-8), coming off a one-hitter against the New York Yankees, gave up a third-inning single to Jorge Fabregas and fourth-inning single to Carlos Beltran. He struck out eight and walked three.

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Wild-Card Race

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Team W L GB Seattle 86 69 -- Cleveland 84 69 1 Toronto 82 72 3 1/2 Boston 81 74 5

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REMAINING SCHEDULES

* Seattle: Today--Oakland; Tuesday-Thursday--Texas; Friday-Sunday--at Angels.

* Cleveland: Today--at Kansas City; Monday--Chicago/Minnesota (day-night doubleheader); Tuesday-Thursday--Minnesota; Friday-Sunday--Toronto.

* Toronto: Today-Monday--Tampa Bay; Tuesday-Thursday--at Baltimore; Friday-Sunday--at Cleveland.

* Boston: Today--Baltimore; Tuesday-Thursday--at Chicago; Friday-Sunday--at Tampa Bay.