Durazo’s 3 Homers Lead A’s

Erubiel Durazo hit three homers and drove in all five of Oakland’s runs, and Mark Mulder became the first 16-game winner in the major leagues by pitching the Athletics to a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night at Baltimore.

The A’s trailed, 4-0, before Durazo hit a two-run homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the sixth. He then connected off B.J. Ryan (3-3) in the eighth to break the tie and put Mulder in position to win his 16th.

It was the second three-homer game of Durazo’s career, the first coming in 2002 when he played for Arizona.

Mulder (16-4) yielded four runs and six hits in eight innings but gave up only one single over his final five innings.

The victory enabled the first-place A’s to complete a three-game sweep and climb 16 games over .500 (68-52) for the second time this season.

Minnesota 7, New York 2 -- Johan Santana took a shutout into the eighth inning at Minneapolis and won his fifth consecutive start.

Minnesota, which won for the fourth time in six games, sent New York to its third consecutive loss.

Santana (13-6) gave up two runs and five hits in seven-plus innings. He retired 11 in a row during one stretch. Since the All-Star break, he is 6-0 with a 1.82 earned-run average.

Boston 6, Toronto 4 -- Tim Wakefield (9-7) pitched eight strong innings at Boston and the Red Sox moved a season-high 15 games over .500. Wakefield, who retired 13 consecutive batters during one stretch, gave up two runs and five hits.

Kevin Millar and Bill Mueller each drove in two runs for Boston, which improved to 67-52 with its ninth win in 12 games. The Red Sox won all three games against Toronto for their first series sweep since July 6-8 against Oakland.

Kansas City 3, Seattle 2 -- John Buck hit a go-ahead two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Royals.

Mariner right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, the majors’ leading hitter, left the game with a mild concussion in the third inning when he was hit in the head by a pitch from rookie starter Jimmy Serrano.

Suzuki, batting .366 and with a major league-leading 189 hits, lay face down in the batter’s box for several minutes before rising to his feet and walking to the dugout.

Texas 5, Cleveland 2 -- At Arlington, Texas, Hank Blalock homered twice, Kenny Rogers earned his 15th win, and the Rangers extended their winning streak to six games. Rogers (15-5) gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings to move within two wins of matching his career high -- he went 17-7 for Texas in 1995.

Chicago 9, Detroit 2 -- At Chicago, Aaron Rowand homered twice, including a grand slam, and Jose Contreras (11-5) won his third straight decision. White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was back at the ballpark after spending a night in a hospital because of a kidney stone.