Detroit ? The Chicago White Sox could have left Detroit barely trailing in the AL Central or back in a huge hole.

After losing the first two games of a four-game series, the World Series champions were pleased a split kept them in the division race.

Jon Garland pitched a six-hitter, and Jermaine Dye hit two homers to lift Chicago to a 10-0 victory over the Tigers on Thursday.

“This was huge,” Garland acknowledged. “After losing the first two, we had to salvage these two. Now, we’ve still got a chance.”

Chicago trails Detroit by 51â2 games in the division and has a slim lead over Minnesota in the wild-card race.

“I don’t say that we’re in big trouble if we lose today, but now we can go back to Chicago and take care of our business,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The White Sox head home for a three-game series against the Twins, who likely will not face designated hitter Jim Thome, who strained his left hamstring Wednesday night.

Detroit had a 10-game lead after play on Aug. 7, but the cushion has been cut almost in half after losing 11 of 16 games.

“We’ll find out if we’re good enough,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Garland (15-4) struck out two and walked one in his fifth career shutout, his third against Detroit. His previous shutout was Sept. 4 last year against – who else? – the Tigers.

Red Sox 2, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif. – Josh Beckett pitched six strong innings, David Ortiz hit his 46th homer, and Boston handed rookie Jered Weaver his first loss. Weaver (9-1) was trying to become the third pitcher in big-league history to win his first 10 decisions as a starter, joining Hooks Wiltse of the 1904 New York Giants (12-0) and Kirk Reuter of the 1993-94 Montreal Expos (10-0).

Mariners 4, Yankees 2

Seattle – Jarrod Washburn had a season-high nine strikeouts in Seattle’s victory. Seattle rebounded from a franchise-worst 0-11 road trip that ended on Sunday for its first home series win over New York since April 7-9, 2000. The Yankees lost for the second time on their eight-game road trip, despite Randy Johnson’s second complete game of the season and 98th of his career. Johnson (14-10) allowed four runs and seven hits.

Twins 11, Orioles 2

Baltimore – Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, and Joe Mauer had three hits and drove in four runs. Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter homered for the Twins, who remained a half-game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL wild-card race.

Boof Bonser (3-4) was solid in his 11th big-league start for Minnesota. The rookie right-hander took a four-hit shutout into the seventh. Although he didn’t make it out of the inning, Bonser earned his first win in five starts since June 24.

Rangers 4, Devil Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Robinson Tejeda won his second consecutive start since being called up from minor leagues, and Carlos Lee hit a solo homer. Tejeda (3-3) gave up two runs and five hits in 72â3 innings. He was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma on Saturday.