Ramirez, Arroyo Lead Red Sox Past Orioles

Manny Ramirez drove in three runs, increasing his major league-leading total to 80, and the Boston Red Sox received a strong pitching performance from Bronson Arroyo to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2, at Baltimore on Friday night.

The Red Sox are assured of being alone in first place at the All-Star break for the first time since 1995. They lead the New York Yankees by 3 1/2 games and Baltimore by four in the AL East.

Arroyo (7-5), who gave up one run and six hits in 7 2/3 innings, was 0-2 with a 7.64 earned-run average in seven previous appearances against Baltimore.

Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro got two hits to move to within five of 3,000, and his eighth-inning home run was his 564th, moving him past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of ninth place on the career list.

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Oakland 4, Chicago 2 -- Kirk Saarloos outpitched All-Star Jon Garland and Bobby Crosby had two run-scoring doubles to lead the A’s at Chicago. Saarloos (5-5) yielded seven hits and two runs in six-plus innings as the A’s won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Bidding to become the first 14-game winner in the majors, Garland (13-4) left after five innings -- his shortest outing of the season. He gave up eight hits and three runs.

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Texas 7, Toronto 6 -- Alfonso Soriano scored from third base on a one-out grounder to cap a two-run, ninth-inning rally that included two Blue Jay errors, and the Rangers won at Arlington, Texas.

Toronto All-Star pitcher Roy Halladay left in the third inning after being struck on the left shin by a line drive. He had a 6-3 lead when he was hit by Kevin Mench’s drive. He threw out Mench from a seated position, then rolled onto his side grimacing in pain.

A team spokesman said Halladay’s status wouldn’t be known until today.

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New York 5, Cleveland 4 -- At New York, Chien-Ming Wang gave up a home run to Grady Sizemore on his first pitch before settling down, and the Yankees extended their winning streak to six games. Wang (6-3) yielded three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings after falling behind, 2-0, in the second.

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Minnesota 5, Kansas City 4 -- Brad Radke (6-8) won for the first time since June 1, yielding four runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings at Kansas City. Zack Greinke (1-11), who leads the majors in losses, gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

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Detroit 7, Tampa Bay 3 -- Craig Monroe homered and drove in a season-high five runs at St. Petersburg, Fla., helping the Tigers hand the Devil Rays their 10th loss in a row. The 10-game skid matches the longest in the majors. Colorado lost 10 in a row from April 24 to May 7.