Hudson Dominates With a Two-Hitter

Tim Hudson stared at the opposite wall, searching his memory for a better performance than the gem he tossed against the Boston Red Sox’s fearsome lineup.

“I don’t think there is one,” he said. “It’d be hard to say that I have. Not against a team like that, and not against a guy like Pedro. This would have to be the best.”

Hudson pitched a two-hitter, handing Pedro Martinez his first loss in three months and the Athletics pulled even with Boston atop the American League wild-card race with a 4-0 victory Monday night at Oakland.

Hudson (11-4) struck out seven and walked one. He gave up infield singles to Manny Ramirez in the second inning and to Nomar Garciaparra in the seventh.

Chris Singleton and Jose Guillen had run-scoring hits against Martinez (8-3), who struck out seven but lasted only five innings after throwing 101 pitches. He hadn’t lost since May 9 -- a span of 13 starts.

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Toronto 5, Seattle 3 -- Carlos Delgado hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the Blue Jays’ four-run third inning and Mark Hendrickson (7-8) held the Mariners to two runs in 6 2/3 innings at Seattle.

Delgado has eight hits in 13 at-bats (.615) with the bases loaded this season, and has 112 runs batted in, tying him with Colorado’s Preston Wilson for the most in the major leagues.

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Kansas City 12, New York 9 -- Mike DiFelice hit three doubles for the host Royals, who combined with the Yankees to set an American League record with 19 doubles.

The teams broke the AL mark of 18 doubles by Cleveland and Minnesota on July 13, 1996. The major league record is 23 by St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs on July 12, 1931.

The Royals set a team record with 11 doubles.

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Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 3 -- Pinch-hitter Jared Sandberg doubled home the winning run with two out in the ninth inning at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tampa Bay tied the score, 3-3, when Travis Lee hit a two-run, two-out homer in the eighth inning.

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Minnesota 5, Cleveland 3 -- Luis Rivas hit a two-run homer at Minneapolis and Kyle Lohse (9-9) won his third consecutive start.

The Twins are 17-8 since the All-Star break, the second-best record in the majors in that time.

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Texas 9, Detroit 3 -- Todd Greene’s two-run homer keyed a five-run fifth inning, and Joaquin Benoit (7-5) pitched five relief innings after a rain delay of nearly two hours at Arlington, Texas.