Boston ? The Boston Red Sox put themselves in position for a run at the AL East-leading New York Yankees with a successful homestand. Now, they’ll have to take their winning ways on the road.

Curt Schilling pitched into the ninth inning for his major-league-leading 18th win, David Ortiz hit his 35th homer and the Red Sox held on for a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

The Red Sox, who had their 10-game winning streak snapped Saturday, completed a 9-1 homestand and remained 21/2 games behind the Yankees. Boston, which opens a seven-game road trip today at AL West-leading Oakland, has won 17 of its last 19 overall and 12 of its last 13 at Fenway.

“Phenomenal homestand,” Schilling said. “We played such good baseball in every aspect. I just feel like we are such a good team right now that we can win with pitching, hitting, defense, bullpen … whatever it needs, whatever you need to do on a given night to win, and that’s what championship teams do.”

Schilling (18-6) allowed three runs and five hits in 81/3 innings, struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter in winning his fifth straight start. He fanned the final batter in the second through seventh innings and improved to 10-1 at Fenway this year.

Boston, which gained eight games on the Yankees in 19 days, likes its chances.

“I think (gaining ground) came a little quicker than we expected,” Boston outfielder Johnny Damon said. “We’ll take being 21/2 behind the Yankees now.”

The Yankees beat Baltimore, 4-3, Sunday.

“We did what we have to do this homestand,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “We have to go out, take care of business and take advantage of what we’ve done so far.”

Yankees 4, Orioles 3

New York — Jorge Posada drew a bases-loaded walk from Jorge Julio in the ninth inning, giving New York a victory Baltimore. Derek Jeter reached base four times and scored three runs for the Yankees, who rallied from a three-run deficit for their major-league-leading 53rd comeback win. Bernie Williams had his first sacrifice bunt since 1996, moving Jeter to third in the ninth.

Rafael Palmeiro hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the Orioles, who were looking for their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium since June 6-8, 1986.

Angels 2, Indians 1

Cleveland — John Lackey allowed two hits in 71/3 innings, and Anaheim defeated Cleveland. Lackey (12-11) gave up just doubles in the sixth and eighth innings to lead the Angels to a three-game sweep that pulled them within three games of first-place Oakland.

Blue Jays 13, Athletics 5

Toronto — Rookie Gabe Gross hit his first career grand slam, and Russ Adams hit his first major-league home run, leading Toronto over Oakland.

It was a big day for rookies. Gross collected five RBIs, Adams drove in three, and Bobby Crosby and Nick Swisher homered for the AL West-leading A’s, who have lost just three of their last 19 games.

Oakland made five errors, its most since committing five Sept. 3, 2003, at Baltimore. The club record is seven.

White Sox 6, Mariners 2

Chicago — Joe Borchard and Paul Konerko each hit two-run homers to back a strong outing by Felix Diaz, and Chicago won its third straight. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 to give him a major-league-leading 224 hits, 33 short of the all-time single-season record. He has 26 games remaining to reach the record of 257 hits, set by George Sisler in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns.