Detroit ? Curt Schilling walked slowly off the mound with his head down, hardly resembling the confident pitcher who carried the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years.

John McDonald’s two-out single in the ninth capped a comeback against Schilling, who blew a two-run lead in Boston’s 7-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

“You can’t cost your team games trying to learn a job,” Schilling said. “You can’t do that. There’s no excuse for what happened.”

Schilling (4-5) entered the game with a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth and struck out Curtis Granderson to end the inning. In the ninth, Schilling gave up three runs on four hits and a walk.

The six-time All-Star was moved from ace to closer a month ago when he returned from an ankle injury. He was out for 21â2 months with a bone bruise on his right ankle, the same damaged ankle he pitched on in the AL championship series against New York and the World Series against St. Louis.

Schilling had converted nine saves in 10 opportunities, but had given up four runs on four hits – including three homers – in his last two appearances.

“He’s not the Curt Schilling that finished last season,” teammate Johnny Damon said. “He needs some work, he knows it. He’ll find it. “

Placido Polanco started the rally with a leadoff single in the ninth, Dmitri Young followed with an RBI triple and Magglio Ordonez tied the game with a single. After a walk and a strikeout, McDonald singled to left and as the Tigers celebrated at home plate, Schilling walked toward the dugout visibly dejected.

Yankees 5, Devil Rays 2

Detroit Tigers' John MCDonald watches his game-winning single to left field. Detroit beat Boston, 7-6, Monday in Detroit.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Jaret Wright won his first start in nearly four months and Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield homered to help New York win its fifth straight.

Rodriguez homered for the third straight game, hitting a two-run, fourth-inning shot off Casey Fossum (6-9) to boost his American League-leading total to 36. Sheffield hit No. 25, a solo blast off reliever Travis Harper, for a 5-2 lead in the seventh.

But Wright (3-2) was the story of the night for the Yankees, whose starting rotation has been in shambles.

Twins 4, White Sox 2

Chicago – Lew Ford and Brent Abernathy hit two-run singles in the fourth inning and Nick Punto had three hits and three stolen bases for Minnesota.

Kyle Lohse (8-11) hung around long enough to earn his first victory since July 2, allowing two runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

The White Sox, with the best record in the majors, are looking to take the AL Central title from the Twins, who have won the division the last three seasons. Chicago leads by 12 games over Cleveland, while the Twins are 14 games behind.

Orioles 6, Athletics 2

Oakland, Calif. – Sammy Sosa’s 25-foot RBI single highlighted a wild rally by Baltimore, and the Orioles ended Barry Zito’s eight-game winning streak.

The Orioles came back with five runs in the seventh inning thanks to several misplays by the A’s, including two hit batsmen, two bases-loaded walks and a throwing error by shortstop Bobby Crosby.

Rodrigo Lopez (12-6) pitched 62â3 strong innings to win his third straight decision despite trailing for most of the night. Luis Matos added an RBI double in the ninth for Baltimore, which began a six-game road trip.

Crosby ended a 35-game homerless streak with a solo shot in the first inning for Oakland, but he also made a costly error as the sloppy A’s lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 6-7 at Toronto.

Zito (11-9) retired 17 of his first 19 hitters, but fell apart in the seventh on the way to his first defeat since a 6-1 loss June 17 against Philadelphia.

Eric Byrnes received a warm ovation in his return to his native Bay Area just more than a month after the A’s traded the popular outfielder. He finished 0-for-5.