Ortiz Sets Career High in MVP Bid

David Ortiz wants to become the first designated hitter to win a most-valuable-player award.

Ortiz hit his career-high 42nd homer, a tiebreaking two-run drive in the eighth inning that led the Boston Red Sox over the Blue Jays, 5-3, Wednesday night at Toronto.

“I’m just trying to break the rules,” Ortiz said. “As soon as they bring my name up they said, ‘Oh, he’s a DH. I don’t think he deserves it because he’s a DH.’ That’s fine with me. I never saw anybody win the MVP because they won the Gold Glove and hit .230. You win the MVP because you help your ballclub, you win games whenever your team needs it and because you put up some numbers.”

He had three RBIs and has tied a game or put Boston ahead 17 times.

Boston, however, got some bad news when Gabe Kapler ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon while rounding second base on Tony Graffanino’s fifth-inning homer. Alejandro Machado pinch ran starting at second base and finished circling the bases.

David Wells (13-7) won for the fourth time in five starts.

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New York 6, Tampa Bay 5 -- Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning to help the visiting Yankees move a season-high 20 games over .500 and remain 2 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East and one back of Cleveland in the wild-card race.

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Kansas City 10, Chicago 9 -- Angel Berroa’s double drove in the tying run and Jermaine Dye’s fielding error allowed Mark Teahen to score the game-winner as the host Royals scored three runs in the ninth off Dustin Hermanson (1-4) to reduce the White Sox’s lead in the AL Central to five games over Cleveland.

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Texas 7, Baltimore 6 -- Kevin Mench drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single, after the host Rangers had overcome a three-run, ninth-inning deficit. Pinch-hitter David Dellucci tied it with a two-run homer in the ninth off Jorge Julio.

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Detroit 4, Minnesota 2 -- Craig Monroe hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two out in the eighth inning to propel the Tigers at Detroit.