Schilling Is First to Get Win No. 20

Curt Schilling became the first 20-game winner in the major leagues, reaching the mark for the third time in four years and leading the Boston Red Sox to an 11-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Thursday night at Fenway Park.

Kevin Millar and Johnny Damon each homered and drove in four runs, and the Red Sox moved within 3 1/2 games of the first-place New York Yankees in the East Division.

Schilling (20-6) yielded four runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings and won his career-high seventh consecutive start since his last loss on Aug. 9, against Tampa Bay.

He struck out six and walked two after five starts in a row without a base on balls. He walked Tino Martinez with two out in the second inning, ending his streak at 38 innings.

Oakland 5, Texas 4 -- Kenny Rogers lost at Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland for the first time in more than 10 years, with Bobby Crosby’s three-run double in the fifth inning lifting the Athletics past the Rangers.

Rogers was unbeaten in 35 appearances in Oakland since Aug. 7, 1994, going 18-0. But Crosby provided the clutch hit that allowed the Athletics to salvage a split of the four-game series.

Rich Harden (10-6) struck out seven and yielded six hits while pitching into the seventh to help the A’s maintain their two-game lead in the West Division. Rogers (16-8) gave up nine hits and five runs.

Minnesota 11, Chicago 1 -- Kyle Lohse (8-11) pitched seven sharp innings at Minneapolis to help the Twins extend their winning streak to nine games. Lohse gave up one run, four hits and one walk. He is 3-1 in his last six starts. The streaking Twins are closing in on their third consecutive Central Division title. They reduced their magic number to four.

Detroit 6, Cleveland 4 -- Eric Munson and Omar Infante hit two-run homers to help the Tigers win at Cleveland.

Tiger starter Gary Knotts, who hasn’t won in 13 appearances, was leading, 5-3, and was one out from being the pitcher of record when Manager Alan Trammell replaced him with Steve Colyer. Trammell used four more relievers, including Jamie Walker (3-4), who pitched two innings, and Esteban Yan, who worked the ninth for his fourth save.

Baltimore 9, Toronto 5 -- Rodrigo Lopez (13-8) won his third consecutive start. He yielded four runs and nine hits in six innings, helping the Orioles win for the eighth time in their last 10 road games.

Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro hit his 547th home run in the ninth, leaving him one behind Mike Schmidt for 10th place on the career list.