Boston ? It took the Boston Red Sox just 19 days to slash eight games off New York’s AL East lead. And they’re not done yet.

“We’re just going to take care of what we can take care of,” reliever Mike Timlin said after Friday night’s 2-0 win over the Texas Rangers cut the Yankees’ lead to 21/2 games. “We won today. We’re going to win tomorrow.”

That’s a pretty safe prediction considering the Red Sox have a 10-game winning streak for the first time in nine years and have won 16 of their last 17 games.

“I expected it,” Pedro Martinez said of Boston’s spectacular surge. “I thought we had the talent all the way to have a run like this one.”

Martinez allowed four hits in seven innings, and Manny Ramirez and Bill Mueller homered, moving the Red Sox the closest they’ve been to first place since before games of June 12. The Yankees lost to Baltimore, 3-1.

Boston, which trailed by 101/2 games on Aug. 16, is on its longest winning streak since winning 12 in a row from Aug. 3-14, 1995.

The Red Sox have lost just once since Aug. 15, when Toronto’s Ted Lilly pitched a three-hit shutout to beat Martinez on Aug. 23, and their run has given them a 41/2-game lead in the wild-card race over Anaheim, which beat Cleveland, 10-5.

But Boston wants to win the division, which would give the Red Sox home-field advantage in the playoffs.

“We’re still reaching in front of us and trying to get somewhere else,” Jason Varitek said.

Martinez (15-5) pitched shutout ball for the second time in five starts, striking out nine, walking one and leaving after matching his season high with 117 pitches.

Boston's Pedro Martinez delivers against Texas. Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings as the Red Sox defeated the Rangers, 2-0, Friday night in Boston.

“I felt pretty good command of every pitch I had,” he said. “I’m in good shape. I feel at the tippy top part of my game.”

Timlin and Alan Embree pitched the eighth, and Keith Foulke worked the ninth for his 27th save in 32 opportunities. Boston leads the AL with 11 shutouts.

John Wasdin (2-3) allowed two runs and four hits in 61/3 innings for Texas, which fell seven games behind Boston in the wild-card race. The Rangers lost their fifth straight game, the last two by 2-0.

“It’s unfortunate that he ran into Martinez,” Texas manager Buck Showalter said. “There’s been a lot of guys who say that over the years.”

Orioles 3, Yankees 1

New York — Rodrigo Lopez shut down the Yankees into the eighth inning, outpitching Kevin Brown. Miguel Tejada had his major league-leading 122nd RBI, and the streaky Orioles won their fifth straight following a 12-game losing streak. They improved to 3-11 against New York this season, winning for only the sixth time in the last 24 matchups.

Derek Jeter homered in the first inning for the Yankees, who lost for the first time since Tuesday’s record-setting 22-0 defeat against Cleveland. New York’s division lead has not been this small since before games of June 12.

Athletics 7, Blue Jays 4

Toronto — Bobby Kielty hit a go-ahead homer off Ted Lilly — the pitcher he was traded for — and Nick Swisher doubled and walked twice in his major-league debut to lead Oakland past Toronto.

Tim Hudson won his fourth straight start for the AL West-leading A’s, who won for the 15th time in 17 games.

Kielty’s two-run homer off Lilly (9-10) gave Oakland a 5-4 lead in the sixth. The A’s swapped Lilly for Kielty in the offseason.

Tigers 4, Devil Rays 2

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Jeremy Bonderman pitched seven solid innings to send rookie Scott Kazmir to his first major-league loss, and Dmitri Young hit a two-run homer that led the Tigers past Tampa Bay and extended the Devil Rays’ losing streak to seven.

The remainder of the three-game series on today and Sunday was postponed because of Hurricane Frances, which was approaching Florida. The games will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 30.

Angels 10, Indians 5

Cleveland — Troy Glaus homered for the first time since May 11, and Garret Anderson and Bengie Molina also hit home runs to power Anaheim past Cleveland to snap a three-game losing streak. Glaus homered on the first pitch of the sixth inning to give Anaheim a 6-0 lead. He was playing in his fifth game since missing three months because of surgery on his right shoulder. Anderson went 3-for-48.

White Sox 7, Mariners 5

Chicago — Juan Uribe homered and Roberto Alomar had a two-run double to lead Chicago over Seattle.

The game was halted for a few minutes in the sixth inning when a man ran across the outfield after Uribe’s home run. The man was chased by 11 security guards from right field to left-center and was escorted off the field. The White Sox tightened security after Kansas City first-base coach Tom Gamboa was attacked by a spectator on Sept. 19, 2002, and umpire Laz Diaz was attacked by a fan on April 16 last year.