Yankees’ Johnson Baffles Red Sox

Pumping fastballs at up to 99 mph and sliders that darted down, Randy Johnson put together his best performance this season, and did it against the Boston Red Sox with the New York Yankees needing a victory to stay in contention in the American League East.

Johnson (14-8) gave up one hit -- a soft single by Kevin Youkilis leading off the fourth inning -- in stifling the Red Sox over seven innings. Jason Giambi homered against Tim Wakefield (15-11) in the first, and Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera staved off the Red Sox in a 1-0 victory Sunday at New York.

“That’s the pitcher that everybody expected, and that’s the pitcher that I’d expected,” said Johnson, who is 4-0 against the Red Sox this season.

Wakefield pitched a three-hitter, and the Yankees gave up three hits.

Seeking its eighth consecutive AL East title, New York moved within three games of the first-place Red Sox with three weeks left. The Yankees are 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Texas 7, Oakland 4 -- Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer that made him the major league leader in runs batted in, and the host Rangers dropped the Athletics to third place in the wild-card chase.

Teixeira’s career-best 39th homer, his fifth in seven games, gave Texas a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning. It increased the All-Star first baseman’s RBI total to 125, two more than Boston’s David Ortiz.

Cleveland 12, Minnesota 4 -- Cliff Lee (16-4) won his seventh consecutive decision and the Indians, who won their seventh in a row, hit for the cycle on the first nine pitches they saw at Cleveland.

The Indians pulled within 5 1/2 games of first-place Chicago in the AL Central.

Coco Crisp tied a career high with four hits, Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run homer, Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer, and Grady Sizemore had a solo homer among his three hits, three runs and three RBIs.

Detroit 14, Kansas City 4 -- Placido Polanco had four hits, including a home run, to power an 18-hit effort that carried the host Tigers.

The Tigers broke open the game with four runs in the fifth inning. The 18 hits tied a season high for Detroit.

Baltimore 6, Seattle 3 -- Bruce Chen (12-9) overcame a shaky start to pitch six solid innings for the Orioles at Seattle.

Rookie Felix Hernandez (3-3), who had a 1.59 earned-run average through his first seven starts, gave up five runs in the second inning.

Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 5 -- Travis Lee hit a tying infield single with two outs in the ninth, then drove in the winning run on an 11th-inning grounder to help the Devil Rays avoid a three-game sweep at St. Petersburg, Fla.