Chicago ? Kenny Rogers pitched six shutout innings for his 16th win, Magglio Ordonez homered twice against his former team and the Detroit Tigers increased their AL Central lead by beating the Chicago White Sox, 8-2, Monday.

The Tigers lead Minnesota, which was idle Monday night, by 11â2 games in the division and are six games ahead of the defending World Series champion White Sox, whose return to the playoffs is in deep jeopardy after a sixth loss in eight games.

Rogers (16-6) allowed just four hits, escaped several jams and is 5-1 over his last nine starts.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 6

Toronto – Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez hit two-run homers and New York held on to beat Toronto.

New York reduced its magic number for clinching the AL East for a ninth straight season to three. The Yankees could wrap up the division title during the seven-game road trip to Toronto and Tampa Bay.

Jeter hit a two-run homer, his 14th, off A.J. Burnett (8-8) in the seventh inning to give New York a 4-3 lead.

The Yankees added three runs in the ninth, but Toronto matched that in the bottom half, forcing New York to use four pitchers. Jose Veras got the last out for the first save of his career.

Rangers 8, Mariners 1

Arlington, Texas – Kevin Millwood allowed one run over seven innings for his 16th victory and Michael Young had his third straight multihit game in Texas’ victory over Seattle.

Millwood (16-10) won his fourth straight game at home, where he struggled early in the season after the Rangers signed the free agent to a $60 million, five-year deal. It is the fourth time the right-hander has won 16 games, the most since he was 18-8 for Atlanta in 2002.

Young went 2-for-4 with his 49th double to increase his major league-leading total to 205 hits. That’s two more than Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki.

Orioles 4, Devil Rays 1

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Corey Patterson hit a three-run homer and Erik Bedard won his third consecutive start, helping Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.

Bedard (15-9) allowed one run, four hits and one walk and struck out 10 in seven innings. In his last three starts, the left-hander has given up three runs and 10 hits over 20 innings.

Indians 7, Athletics 2

Oakland, Calif. – Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer, Hector Luna added a solo shot and Cleveland beat Oakland to snap the AL West-leading Athletics’ four-game winning streak.