A’s Pound Blue Jays With a Grand Display

Ramon Hernandez and Miguel Tejada each hit grand slams and the Oakland Athletics routed the Toronto Blue Jays, 17-2, Sunday at Toronto.

Hernandez hit his second career slam in the first inning, giving Oakland a 4-0 lead against Kelvim Escobar (9-8). Tejada’s sixth career slam, against Josh Towers in the sixth, made the score 12-2.

It was the first two-grand slam game in the 103-year history of the Athletic franchise.

Billy McMillon and Jose Guillen hit consecutive homers against Towers in the seventh, giving the A’s a 16-2 lead. McMillon drove in a career-high five runs.

Oakland moved to within one game of West Division leader Seattle, and is tied with Boston for the lead in the wild-card race.

Tim Hudson (13-4), who was scratched Thursday because of a bruised right hand, won his fourth consecutive start, giving up two unearned runs and six hits in six innings.

The A’s sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored seven runs against Towers on McMillon’s two-run single, Guillen’s run-scoring double and Tejada’s slam.

Boston 6, Seattle 1 -- Derek Lowe (13-6) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and David Ortiz hit a three-run home run to help the host Red Sox hand the Mariners their fifth consecutive loss.

The Red Sox have won three in a row against Seattle and four in a row overall since falling a season-high 7 1/2 games behind first-place New York in the East Division. They are five games behind the Yankees and tied with Oakland in the wild-card race.

The Mariners today will face Boston ace Pedro Martinez, who was moved up a day in the rotation after sitting out his previously scheduled start because of a sore throat and fever.

New York 7, Baltimore 0 -- Jose Contreras made a strong return from the disabled list, shutting down the Orioles on three hits over seven innings at Yankee Stadium.

Out since June 7 because of a strained right shoulder, Contreras replaced Jeff Weaver in the rotation. After struggling as a reliever early this season, he moved into the rotation in late May and is 3-0 with a 0.86 earned-run average.

Minnesota 8, Kansas City 1 -- With the win at Minneapolis, the Twins moved to within 1 1/2 games of first-place Chicago in the Central Division, and the Royals remained one game back.

Johan Santana (8-3), who has become the Twins’ ace with a 1.25 ERA over five starts in August, tied his season high with 10 strikeouts. He gave up six hits, including Desi Relaford’s homer, and two walks in six innings.

Texas 5, Chicago 0 -- John Thomson pitched a four-hitter to win his fifth consecutive decision and Hank Blalock hit a two-run homer, and the Rangers averted a four-game sweep at Chicago.

Thomson (12-10) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base until there were two out in the ninth. He threw 107 pitches, 77 for strikes.

Cleveland 7, Tampa Bay 5 -- At St. Petersburg, Fla., the Indians handed the Devil Rays their fifth loss in a row. Ryan Ludwick, who hit two run-scoring singles, is 15 for 39 (.385) with four homers in his last 11 games.