Angels rip Rays, build momentum

Anaheim will head to New York having won 10 of its last 14 games

? The Anaheim Angels are heading to New York with momentum.

Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer, and Josh Paul added a grand slam to lead the Angels over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-7, Thursday.

Darin Erstad hit a two-run shot for the Angels, who took two of three at Tampa Bay and have won 10 of 14 overall. Anaheim trails AL West-leading Oakland by 1 1/2 games and is one game behind wild-card leaders Boston and Texas.

“We need to take care of our business and let all that stuff work itself out,” Paul said.

It was Paul’s second homer of the season. The other, which came July 24, was his first in the major leagues since Sept. 8, 2001.

Anaheim opens a three-game series against the AL East-leading Yankees tonight.

“It’s always fun to play in Yankee Stadium,” Paul said. “It gets me up. I really like playing there.”

The victory was the 400th for Mike Scioscia (400-369) as Angels manager.

“I didn’t win one of them … those guys (the players) did,” Scioscia said.

Winning pitcher John Lackey (10-10) took a shutout into the seventh. He allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander threw a three-hitter in Anaheim’s 1-0 win May 7 in his other start against Tampa Bay this season.

Francisco Rodriguez recorded five outs for his 10th save.

Tampa Bay runner B.J. Upton, left, upends Anaheim shortstop David Eckstein to break up a double-play attempt. The Angels defeated the Devil Rays, 10-7, Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jose Cruz Jr. and Carl Crawford homered for the Devil Rays, who have dropped eight of nine. Rob Bell (5-7) gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings.

Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella declined to speak with reporters after the game.

Paul made it 8-0 with his first career slam off reliever Travis Harper during a five-run seventh.

Guerrero put the Angels up 3-0 with his second homer in three days, a three-run shot in the third. He went 1-for-4, making him 12-for-37 with five homers and 16 RBIs in his career at Tropicana Field.

“He’s fun to watch play, but he’s tough to get out,” Bell said.

Yankees 13, Twins 10

Minneapolis — Gary Sheffield homered twice and keyed a four-run rally in the ninth inning, sending New York over Minnesota. Down 9-3 and minus Gold Glove center fielder Torii Hunter after he crashed into the fence, the Twins came back and almost swept the three-game series between AL division leaders.

Shannon Stewart hit a two-out, two-run triple past Sheffield’s lunge in right field, giving the Twins a 10-9 lead in the eighth.

But the Yankees bounced back against All-Star closer Joe Nathan (1-1), who had not allowed a run in 29 innings.

Sheffield hit a tying home run with one out. Alex Rodriguez, just back from a four-game suspension, followed with a single and a stolen base. That set the stage for Hideki Matsui, who slapped a go-ahead single.

Later in the inning, pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra had an RBI single, and another run scored on a throwing error by center fielder Lew Ford.

Ford entered as a replacement for Hunter, who strained his neck when he ran into the padded wall while sprinting after Jorge Posada’s double in the fifth. Hunter stayed down on the warning track for several minutes, left the field on a cart and was day-to-day.

Tom Gordon (4-3) gained the win despite allowing Stewart’s triple.

Tigers 8, White Sox 4

Chicago — Bobby Higginson homered twice, and Wilfredo Ledezma pitched six effective innings, leading Detroit over Chicago. Craig Monroe and Higginson hit consecutive solo shots in the second. Higginson’s three-run drive in the third capped Detroit’s five-run outburst and finished Jon Garland (8-9).

Ledezma (3-0) blanked the White Sox for the first five innings and had an 8-0 lead before Chicago scored three in the sixth, capped by Juan Uribe’s two-run homer.

Ledezma gave up seven hits and three runs with two walks and four strikeouts.