Santana Too Tough for A’s, Haren

Johan Santana pitched a masterful three-hitter, sending Danny Haren to his first loss since May 26 in the Minnesota Twins’ 1-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night at Oakland.

Santana (11-6) got his second shutout of the season and the third of his career, dominating Oakland’s lineup. He struck out nine to extend his league-leading total to 172.

He won a duel with Haren (10-8), who also pitched a three-hitter in his third complete game of the season.

But Santana, the 2004 Cy Young Award winner, retired 20 consecutive batters between Nick Swisher’s leadoff single in the third inning and Mark Kotsay’s two-out double in the ninth. Bobby Crosby then drew a walk, but Eric Chavez flied to center to end a game that lasted only two hours.

Santana, who went to only two three-ball counts, struck out five batters in a row during one stretch.

Still, he was barely better than Haren, who had been 9-0 over his last 14 starts. Haren walked two and struck out four.

The A’s had won each of those 14 games, setting a club record. But thanks to Santana, they lost for only the fourth time in 24 games.

Minnesota got the only run in the fifth inning, when Lew Ford drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Michael Cuddyer’s single. Ford was the only runner for either team to reach third base.

Boston 9, Chicago 8 -- David Ortiz hit two home runs and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Red Sox from an early four-run deficit at Fenway Park.

Ortiz went four for five with three runs scored and broke a 5-5 tie with a leadoff homer in the seventh, then hit a three-run shot in the eighth for his 28th home run and 99th run batted in of the season.

The Red Sox won their fifth in a row and 13th in 15.

It also was their 12th consecutive win at home, their second-best home streak in history.

Toronto 12, Baltimore 0 -- Josh Towers (9-9) scattered nine hits and allowed only one runner past second base at Baltimore.

Gregg Zaun homered and drove in five runs. Corey Koskie, Alex Rios and Shea Hillenbrand also homered for the Blue Jays, who batted around during a four-run first inning and did it again during a six-run sixth.

The Orioles played without Rafael Palmeiro, who watched a second game from the dugout after returning Thursday from a 10-day suspension for using steroids.

New York 6, Texas 5 -- The Yankees’ Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the seventh, and relievers Felix Rodriguez, Wayne Franklin, Shawn Chacon and Tanyon Sturtze made it stand up, combining for four scoreless innings.

Tampa Bay 8, Cleveland 6 -- The Devil Rays, who ended a four-game losing streak, improved to 16-11 since the All-Star break -- the league’s fourth-best mark. They also are 8-8 on the road since July 14 after going 8-35 in road games in the first half.

Detroit at Kansas City -- The game was postponed by heavy rains. There was no immediate makeup date announced.