Halladay Outduels A’s Zito for 17th Win

Roy Halladay recorded his 17th victory as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Barry Zito and the Oakland Athletics, 6-3, Friday night at Toronto. The loss dropped the Athletics into a tie with Boston in the wild-card race.

Halladay (17-5) outpitched Zito (10-11), yielding three runs and eight hits, and striking out eight and walking none in six innings. He is tied with Atlanta’s Russ Ortiz for the major league lead in wins. Zito (10-11), who had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth, gave up five runs, six hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings.

Boston 6, Seattle 4 -- Jeff Suppan gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings and Manny Ramirez hit his 31st homer to lead the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Suppan (1-1) gave up six hits and didn’t walk a batter.

Kansas City 3, Minnesota 2 -- Darrell May (7-6) pitched effectively into the seventh inning at Minneapolis, the Twins had two runners thrown out at home, and the Royals moved into second place in the Central Division, one game behind Chicago and a half game ahead of the Twins.

Chicago 7, Texas 1 -- At Chicago, Jose Valentin hit two homers and Frank Thomas and Carl Everett each hit one to lead the White Sox.

Baltimore 4, New York 3 -- At Yankee Stadium, Pat Hentgen (5-6) pitched into the eighth inning, and Brook Fordyce homered and drove in two runs to help the Orioles end the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak

Cleveland 8, Tampa Bay 3 -- Ryan Ludwick and Casey Blake each hit two-run homers off Joe Kennedy (3-10) at St. Petersburg, Fla.

From Associated Press