Yankees 5, Red Sox 3

New York – Johnny Damon hit a tiebreaking homer against his former team, and Andy Pettitte won his sixth straight start.

Derek Jeter also homered and Jorge Posada hit an RBI double for the Yankees, who took the opener of a three-game series in the first meeting between the rivals since June 3.

Boston came to town with an eight-game lead over New York in the AL East and a chance to open a nearly insurmountable cushion. But the Yankees beat Daisuke Matsuzaka for the first time and rebounded from a 2-5 trip that ended Monday night with a 16-0 loss at Detroit.

Pettitte (12-7) played stopper once again. He allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, improving to 8-1 in 10 starts since the All-Star break. His last three wins have followed New York defeats, making him 69-33 in such situations with the Yankees.

Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek homered for the Red Sox, who had won four straight – all blowouts at the Chicago White Sox.

Indians 6, Twins 3

Cleveland – Jake Westbrook gained his fourth win of August, and rookie Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the go-ahead run.

Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer off Boof Bonser (6-11) and Grady Sizemore added a solo shot for the Indians, who have won four straight and are 9-3 since Aug. 15 – the day Cabrera replaced Josh Barfield in the starting lineup.

Jason Tyner had four hits for the Twins, who fell 71â2 games behind division-leading Cleveland.

The loss overshadowed three spectacular defensive plays by Minnesota’s Torii Hunter, Nick Punto and Jason Tyner. Hunter’s catch on the dead run before crashing into the center-field wall in the seventh was the best of the bunch.

Rangers 4, White Sox 3

Arlington, Texas – Marlon Byrd hit a tiebreaking single in eighth inning. Ian Kinsler and Gerald Laird homered for the Rangers, who have won five of their last seven.

Chicago’s Jim Thome homered to move within six of becoming the 23rd player in the 500 club and went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. Paul Konerko also connected for the White Sox, who have lost seven in a row on the road.

With the score tied at 3, Michael Young led off the Texas eighth with a single and moved to second on Mike MacDougal’s wild pitch. Byrd followed with a single up the middle off MacDougal (1-4) to score Young from second.

Devil Rays 15, Orioles 8

Baltimore – Tampa Bay scored 11 eighth-inning runs during another embarrassing performance by Baltimore’s bullpen, and the Orioles wasted six home runs in their seventh straight.

The Devil Rays trailed 6-3 before sending 15 batters to the plate in the eighth. Nine got hits, three walked, and seven different players drove in runs – including two apiece by Greg Norton, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro and Jonny Gomes.

The damage came against Baltimore relievers Jim Hoey (one out, five runs allowed), Brian Burres (no outs, three runs) and Chad Bradford (one out, three runs).