Boston ? Nick Johnson and Jorge Posada wouldn’t let the New York Yankees’ bullpen give the game away.

That’s why Andy Pettitte came away with a win and Pedro Martinez didn’t.

Pettitte outlasted the fatigued Red Sox ace Saturday and led the Yankees to a 10-7 victory over Boston, surviving early trouble to move into a tie for the league lead with his 17th win. New York extended its lead in the AL East to 41/2 games.

“This could be the biggest game of the year,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Posada homered twice and Johnson had four hits and four RBIs. Pettitte (17-7) allowed three earned runs on seven hits in seven innings, striking out seven to win for the fourth consecutive start and the 12th time in 13 decisions.

“I really felt like I got into a good groove,” said Pettitte, who allowed three runs in the first before settling down. “I was a little winded early, throwing all those pitches. But then when the team scored those runs to get me back, I was able to get a second wind.”

Mariano Rivera earned his 30th save despite contributing to Boston’s three-run eighth inning that cut New York’s lead to one.

Coming in with one out, the bases loaded and an 8-4 lead, Rivera gave up a two-run double to pinch-hitter David McCarty and two walks to score another run before striking out Bill Mueller to end the threat.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of talk about Rivera and what he gave up,” Torre said. “But the fact that he struck out the last hitter in the eighth inning speaks volumes of him, more so than the other stuff.”

New York's Andy Pettitte delivers against Boston. Pettitte earned his 17th victory as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 10-7, Saturday in Boston.

Martinez (10-4), who missed his Aug. 21 start because of a severe fever and sore throat, allowed five runs on nine hits and struck out three in four innings. He was not available for comment after the game.

“He wasn’t 100 percent out there today,” Boston manager Grady Little said. “He’s still a little bit affected by the sickness he had last week”

White Sox 5, Tigers 2

Detroit — Frank Thomas and Carlos Lee homered as Chicago handed Detroit its 100th loss of the season. The Tigers (34-100) join the 1962 Mets as the only teams in the modern era to lose 100 games before September.

Mike Maroth (6-19) took the loss and is one defeat from becoming the first pitcher since Oakland’s Brian Kingman in 1980 to lose 20 games in a season. Maroth, who is expected to start again Thursday against Cleveland or Friday in Toronto, allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in 61/3 innings.

Jon Garland (10-10) earned his second win in six August starts.

Twins 2, Rangers 0

Arlington, Texas — Johan Santana pitched six shutout innings before leaving because of a left hamstring injury, and Shannon Stewart drove in two runs as Minnesota beat Texas.

Santana (9-3) allowed five hits to win his sixth straight decision. Santana, 8-2 in his 13 starts this season, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.

Santana went out to warm up for the seventh, but was favoring his left leg. He was replaced by Juan Rincon.

Rincon allowed one hit over 12/3 innings and LaTroy Hawkins registered the final out of the eighth, retiring Alex Rodriguez on a fly ball with a runner on second.

Athletics 4, Devil Rays 2

Oakland, Calif. — Ted Lilly took a one-hitter into the seventh inning as Oakland beat Tampa for its season-high eighth straight win. Lilly (8-9) retired 11 of his first 12 batters before allowing an infield single to Aubrey Huff in the fourth as the A’s retained a two-game lead in the AL West and improved to a major-league-best 19-9 in August.

Lilly allowed a run, three hits and struck out seven in 62/3 innings to improve to 3-1 over his last seven starts. Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his AL leading 37th save in 42 chances.

Blue Jays 9, Indians 3

Cleveland — Frank Catalanotto hit a three-run homer and Cory Lidle earned his first win in more than a month as Toronto defeated Cleveland. Catalanotto hit the second pitch thrown by reliever Rafael Betancourt into the Blue Jays’ bullpen in right field for his 11th homer to cap a four-run sixth inning and give Toronto a 5-1 lead.

Lidle (12-11), in his second start since missing three weeks because of a strained left groin, got his first win since July 25. He allowed two runs and five hits over 61/3 innings to improve to 3-0 with a 1.54 career ERA at Jacobs Field.

The right-hander walked one, struck out two and induced the Indians to hit into three double plays as he improved to 4-8 over 14 starts since June 1 after beginning the season 8-2.

Mariners 13, Orioles 1

Seattle — Carlos Guillen had two doubles and three RBIs in a 10-run fifth inning, leading Gil Meche to his first win in four starts as Seattle beat Baltimore.

Seattle scored all 10 runs with two outs, and five of the runs came after third baseman Tony Batista’s fielding error. The 10-run inning was a run shy of the Mariners’ record, last done in 1984.

Rey Sanchez also had three RBIs and Randy Winn had three hits for the Mariners.