Red Sox Are Getting Closer to Yankees

Johnny Damon hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 11th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2, Saturday night at Detroit for their fifth consecutive victory.

Pedro Martinez pitched seven strong innings for the Red Sox, who moved within one game of the first-place New York Yankees in the East Division. They’ve made up three games in the last five days.

Martinez left with a 2-1 lead only to see the bullpen cost him a win for the fifth time this season. Alan Embree gave up a two-out RBI double to Carlos Pena that tied it in the eighth.

But the Red Sox bounced back in the 11th. Kevin Millar doubled off Fernando Rodney (0-1) with one out and went to third on a passed ball.

After Bill Mueller walked, Millar scored on Damon’s single. Mueller, who went to third on the hit, scored on Jason Varitek’s sacrifice fly to deep center.

Kansas City 8, Texas 2 -- Jose Lima pitched seven scoreless innings to win his fifth consecutive start and Carlos Beltran had four hits and three RBIs at Arlington, Texas.

The Royals extended their lead in the Central Division to 6 1/2 games over the Minnesota Twins.

Lima (5-0) gave up four hits -- all singles -- and struck out three. The right-hander is the first Royal to win five straight starts since Paul Byrd in 2001.

Chicago 7-2, Cleveland 4-4 -- Travis Hafner had three RBIs and Jake Westbrook got his first win since May 9 as the Indians beat the White Sox for a split of their day-night doubleheader at Cleveland.

Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning as the White Sox rallied to win the first game and end a four-game losing streak.

It was their first win in 41 games this season when trailing after eight innings.

Oakland 5, Baltimore 3 -- Scott Hatteberg hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the A’s at Oakland.

The defending West Division champions won their fourth straight and matched their season high at 14 games over .500.

Jim Mecir (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win and Keith Foulke worked the ninth for his 24th save in 28 chances.

Tampa Bay 6, Seattle 5 -- Victor Zambrano (6-4) pitched into the ninth inning at Seattle and the Devil Rays hit four home runs to give Manager Lou Piniella his first win over the Mariners in front of 45,655, the fifth sellout at Safeco Field this season.

Javier Valentin, Travis Lee, Damian Rolls and Antonio Perez homered for the Devil Rays in Piniella’s first victory against the team he led for the 10 previous seasons.