Mulder Finishes Devil Rays

Mark Mulder pitched a five-hitter for his league-leading seventh complete game and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 5-2, Thursday at Oakland.

Mulder (12-6), who tied Toronto’s Roy Halladay, Atlanta’s Russ Ortiz and Baltimore’s Sidney Ponson for the most wins in the majors, improved to 6-0 in six career starts against the Devil Rays.

Mulder, who lost to the Angels, 1-0, in his last start, improved to 11-1 in his last 16 starts in Oakland. He’s also 51-3 in 60 career starts when the A’s score four or more runs.

Baltimore 4, Seattle 1 -- Sidney Ponson (12-5) pitched a seven-hitter, winning for the 11th time in 14 starts, and the Orioles won a series at Safeco Field for the first time.

In all, they are 3-16 at Safeco since it opened in mid-1999.

Boston 7, Toronto 1 -- David Ortiz and Kevin Millar hit back-to-back homers as the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep at Toronto. The Blue Jays have lost 10 of 12, including the first three of 12 straight games against the Red Sox and Yankees, the two teams ahead of them in the East.

Detroit 1, Chicago 0 -- Nate Cornejo finished three outs away from his first career shutout in leading the Tigers to their first home sweep since July 23-25, 2002, against Kansas City.

Cleveland 3, New York 2 -- Rookie Jody Gerut’s single on an 0-1 pitch from Sterling Hitchcock (0-2) drove in Coco Crisp in the 10th inning. The Indians won their first home season series from the Yankees since Jacobs Field opened in 1994.

Texas 9, Minnesota 4 -- Juan Gonzalez homered twice, including a three-run shot in the first inning, and the Rangers completed a three-game sweep at Arlington, Texas.