Hunter lifts Twins past Sox

Greisinger earns his first victory since 2002

? Torii Hunter reached a milestone and made it easier for Seth Greisinger to get his first win in two years.

Hunter homered twice and went 4-for-4 Saturday night as the Minnesota Twins continued their mastery of Chicago, beating the White Sox, 4-1.

Hunter’s first homer was the 100th of his career.

“I didn’t really think about it until somebody told me in the dugout, and I was like, ‘That’s right,'” Hunter said. “It was a shock for me for a second.”

With a big assist from Hunter, Greisinger (1-2) earned his first win since he beat Texas while with Detroit on May 19, 2002.

The right-hander missed the 2000 and 2001 seasons after elbow-ligament-replacement surgery, had shoulder problems in 2002 and spent last year in the minors. He allowed four hits in a season-best seven-inning outing, including Frank Thomas’ seventh homer.

“It’s been a battle, but it’s been fun, though,” Greisinger said. “I had that injury to my shoulder after I came from my elbow, and that was a setback. It’s been a long time between wins, but hopefully it won’t be long between the next one.”

J.C. Romero pitched a perfect eighth, and Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances.

Minnesota sent Esteban Loaiza (4-3) to his third straight loss. Loaiza, a 21-game winner a year ago, gave up six hits and three runs in eight innings, yielding Hunter’s first homer.

“Our starters and relievers are doing the best job possible to win games. The hitters got to turn it around and try to get that extra base hit and get on early and late,” Loaiza said.

Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen criticized his team’s approach and promised changes if the White Sox didn’t start picking it up on offense. He said he was fed up with a series of bad at-bats that had been going on for nearly two weeks.

The White Sox have scored nine runs in their last four games and have lost six of their last eight.

“If I see you trying to get a good at-bat, and you don’t get a hit, that’s part of the game. Besides that, it’s pathetic,” Guillen said.

And as for the Twins’ recent domination of the White Sox — Minnesota is 37-22 against Chicago since 2001 — it’s time for the mind-set to change, Guillen said.

“Obviously, they are a pretty good team. But you go man-by-man, and we should be embarrassed,” Guillen said. “I think man-by-man we have better talent. But talent doesn’t win games. Performance wins games.”

Trailing 1-0, the Twins took the lead in the fifth when Hunter doubled past third and scored on Michael Cuddyer’s RBI single. Luis Rivas and Lew Ford then had two-out, opposite-field singles to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

Hunter hit his first homer in the sixth. Needing a triple for the cycle, Hunter homered off Cliff Politte in the ninth.

“I tried to hit the ball hard and get a triple. It didn’t work out,” Hunter said. “I’ll take that home run.”

Rangers 6, Tigers 1

Detroit — Hank Blalock, Alfonso Soriano and Michael Young homered, and Kenny Rogers had a solid outing to lead Texas over Detroit. The Rangers (22-14) avoided losing three in a row for the first time this season and are off to their best 36-game start since 1998.

The Tigers missed out on a chance to get back to .500 for the first time since May 3. But Detroit’s 17 victories are more than it had until the middle of last June en route to an AL-record 119 losses.

Indians 9, Devil Rays 7

Cleveland — Victor Martinez drove in a career-high five runs, and Cleveland held on to defeat Tampa Bay, extending the Devil Rays’ road losing streak to seven games.

Martinez hit a three-run double in a four-run second inning, doubled in another run in the third and added a sacrifice fly. He had a chance for more RBIs in the seventh, but was intentionally walked with runners on second and third.

Mariners 13, Yankees 7, 13 innings

New York — Dan Wilson hit a pair of three-run doubles, and Seattle overcame two homers by Alex Rodriguez, snapping its six-game losing streak. Scott Spiezio broke a 7-all tie with a two-run double. After blowing leads of 4-0 and 7-4, the Mariners finally put the game away by scoring six times in the 13th against Gabe White.

Rodriguez hit his first multihomer game for the Yankees before a sellout crowd of 54,531 on a gorgeous afternoon. The Yankees hit a season-high five homers — four off Jamie Moyer — but wasted two great opportunities to win in the late innings.

Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams also connected for New York, which lost for only the fourth time in 17 games. The Yankees dropped to 16-1 when scoring at least five runs — they had been the only undefeated team left in the majors in that scenario.

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 0

Toronto — Bronson Arroyo allowed three hits in eight scoreless innings, Kevin Youkilis homered for his first major-league hit, and Boston beat Toronto. Mark Bellhorn and David Ortiz also homered for the Red Sox, who have won two straight after losing four of five.

Keith Foulke pitched the ninth to combine with Arroyo (2-1) on a four-hitter. Arroyo only allowed Eric Hinske’s singles in the second and the fourth and Chris Gomez’s triple in the third.

Angels 7, Orioles 4

Baltimore — Jarrod Washburn pitched three-hit ball for eight innings to win his sixth straight start, leading Anaheim over Baltimore. Vladimir Guerrero and Shane Halter each homered for Anaheim, which has won 12 of 14 and has the best record in the majors at 25-12.

Washburn (7-1) is tied with Houston’s Roger Clemens for the most victories in the majors. He allowed two runs, walked none and struck out five.