Mulder Gets His 13th Win for the A’s

Mark Mulder pitched three-hit ball into the ninth inning Sunday to become the first 13-game winner in the majors, and Bobby Crosby’s two-run homer helped the Oakland Athletics defeat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3, at Oakland.

Mulder (13-2) won his 11th consecutive decision, outpitching Esteban Loaiza in a matchup of All-Stars. The left-hander hasn’t lost in 14 starts since April 28.

Jermaine Dye’s second double of the game drove in Eric Chavez from first base in the sixth. Two outs later, Crosby connected off Loaiza (8-5) for his 12th homer of the season, giving the A’s a 4-3 lead.

Mulder gave up a two-run homer to Jose Valentin and a solo shot to Aaron Rowand in falling behind, 3-1. But the winning pitcher in the All-Star game regained his composure and improved to 7-0 in 10 starts at home.

Mulder left after 8 1/3 innings. Octavio Dotel struck out Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko for his fifth save in seven chances with the A’s. Loaiza gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings for the White Sox, who dropped to 2-16 in Oakland since 2001.

Detroit 4, New York 2 -- The Tigers surpassed their 2003 win total with 2 1/2 months left in the season, beating the Yankees behind the pitching of Nate Robertson (9-4), who yielded two runs and six hits in eight innings at Detroit.

Detroit improved to 44-47. Last season, the Tigers set a league record for losses by going 43-119.

The Tigers set a record for fewest games needed to surpass their win total from the previous year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The previous mark of 106 was set by the 1962 Philadelphia Phillies (48-58 after going 47-107) and the 1989 Baltimore Orioles (55-51 after a 54-107 season).

Texas 7, Toronto 5 -- Mark Teixeira’s grand slam keyed a six-run eighth inning at Arlington, Texas, and the Rangers handed the Blue Jays their sixth consecutive loss. Toronto took a 5-1 lead into the eighth behind Miguel Batista, who yielded only two hits over the first seven innings -- Brad Fullmer’s single in the fourth and homer in the seventh.

Kansas City 4, Minnesota 3 -- Dee Brown’s bases-loaded single in the 10th inning gave the Royals the victory at Kansas City, Mo. Grant Balfour (3-1) walked the bases loaded before giving way to Aaron Fultz, who yielded Brown’s one-out single to center.

Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 2 -- At St. Petersburg, Fla., Mark Hendrickson (7-7) pitched a four-hitter and Carl Crawford hit a two-run triple during a five-run sixth inning. It was the Devil Rays’ first complete game since Victor Zambrano defeated Oakland, 11-2, on Sept. 7, 2003.

Seattle 7, Cleveland 5 -- Randy Winn hit a tiebreaking, two-run double with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dan Wilson singled off Matt Miller (2-1) with one out. Pinch-runner Miguel Olivo advanced on a grounder, and Ichiro Suzuki was intentionally walked. They advanced on a passed ball. Winn then drove a ball to the base of the left-field wall, scoring Olivo and Suzuki.