Lowe Outpitches Zito to Win

Derek Lowe’s 16 wins are the most in the AL, but this one was special.

Lowe beat Oakland ace Barry Zito, stopped Boston’s two-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory Thursday night at Boston and showed, in his first full season as a starter, that he can win a big game.

Lowe (16-5) struck out six and gave up five hits and one walk in seven innings as the Red Sox moved a half-game behind the Angels in the wild-card race.

“This is the first game, in my little short starting career, that I felt I had to win, and it is the first time I ever put that pressure on myself,” Lowe said.

But catcher Jason Varitek didn’t see much difference from Lowe’s other games this year.

“He seemed pretty much the same to me. He seemed as focused as he’s been,” Varitek said.

The matchup of two of the AL’s three pitchers with 15 wins met expectations as Lowe threw a season-high 114 pitches and Zito (15-5) gave up seven hits in his first complete game of the year. Boston’s Pedro Martinez is 15-2. Curt Schilling of Arizona leads the majors with 18 victories.

The A’s did something that none of Lowe’s three previous opponents managed to do. They scored against the majors’ leader in earned-run average. Zito lowered his mark from 2.13 to 2.09.

Seattle 3, Toronto 1--Jamie Moyer took a shutout into the eighth inning and Jeff Cirillo had three hits at Toronto.

Edgar Martinez had a two-run single in the third and Cirillo hit a run-scoring double in the sixth for the Mariners, who have won 15 of their last 18 games at SkyDome.

Seattle hasn’t lost a series in Toronto since 1999.

New York 6, Kansas City 3--Alfonso Soriano, Raul Mondesi and Robin Ventura homered to account for all the Yankees’ runs, and Mariano Rivera returned from the disabled list to close out the victory at New York.

Activated before the game after recovering from a strained right shoulder, Rivera pitched a perfect inning for his 25th save in 29 chances.

The Yankees boosted their home run total to 172, most in the majors. The AL East leaders sent Kansas City to its 14th loss in 16 games.

Baltimore 4, Minnesota 1--Chris Richard and Jeff Conine drove in two runs each to back Travis Driskill as the Orioles swept a three-game series at Baltimore.

It was the fourth in a row loss for Minnesota, matching its longest skid of the season.

Detroit 2, Texas 1--Jose Lima gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings and the Tigers scored twice in the fourth inning at Detroit. Texas loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but Juan Acevedo retired Alex Rodriguez on a groundout to end the game.

Tampa Bay 4, Cleveland 2--Paul Wilson won his third start in a row and Tampa Bay scored all its runs with two out.

Wilson has yielded only four earned runs in his last 22 innings and has an ERA of 2.58 since the All-Star break.