Garland Wins His 15th for White Sox

Jon Garland saw the way Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball was moving early in the game and figured it could be a tough night for his White Sox teammates to score runs at Chicago.

“It was pretty impressive what he was doing those first couple of innings. I just tried to go out there and match him. His ball was dancing,” Garland said. “I just wanted to keep us in the game.”

Garland did just that Friday night against the Boston Red Sox and became the major leagues’ first 15-game winner.

He kept it close before A.J. Pierzynski and Juan Uribe hit two-out, three-run homers in the sixth off Wakefield (8-9). The White Sox won, 8-4.

Garland (15-4) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He pitched out of several jams, and the White Sox ended a three-game losing streak.

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Oakland 11, Texas 10 -- Nick Swisher drove in four runs with a homer and a double at Arlington, Texas, and Danny Haren (8-7) won his league-best seventh consecutive decision.

The game ended with Michael Young’s being tagged out at home as he tried to score on a wild pitch. The Rangers scored twice off Justin Duchscherer in the ninth, but he earned his fifth save.

The count was 1-2 on Alfonso Soriano when a pitch got away from Jason Kendall, who picked it up on a bounce and dived back to the plate with Young sliding into the tag for the last out.

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Seattle 4, Cleveland 3 -- Ichiro Suzuki’s two-run homer in the eighth inning -- only the third hit off Scott Elarton -- lifted the Mariners at Cleveland. Suzuki’s homer bailed out Jamie Moyer, who was six outs away from losing to the Indians for the first time since 2000 but got a no-decision.

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Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 5 -- Aubrey Huff hit his first career grand slam and Seth McClung (1-5) won for the first time in two years as the Devil Rays beat the Orioles at St. Petersburg, Fla. Huff’s 11th homer of the season gave the Devil Rays a 6-3 lead in the fifth inning.

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Kansas City 5, Toronto 3 -- Runelvys Hernandez (8-9), pitching while appealing a 10-game suspension, pitched six solid innings at Kansas City, Mo., to earn his third win in a row. He gave up three runs and seven hits. He is 6-2 in his last eight starts.

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Detroit 12, Minnesota 6 -- Craig Monroe had a career-high five hits and tied a career best with six RBIs, leading the Tigers at Detroit. He had a three-run double during a five-run fifth and doubled in two runs in the sixth.