Chicago's Jim Thome accepts congratulations from coach Razor Shines while rounding third base after hitting a home run. The White Sox won, 9-7, on Thursday night in Baltimore.

White Sox 9, Orioles 7

Baltimore – Jim Thome’s 487th career homer ignited a four-run first inning against Jeremy Guthrie, and Chicago held on to beat Baltimore.

Jermaine Dye had a season-high three hits, including a homer, and Rob Mackowiak also had three hits for the White Sox, who launched an 11-game road trip with their third straight victory. Chicago has won 11 of 16 since dropping 13 games under .500 on June 24.

Coming off a horrid start in which he gave up 12 runs in 31â3 innings against Minnesota, Jon Garland (7-6) allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings in winning his fourth straight start against Baltimore. He struck out three and walked two.

Kevin Millar had three hits, a homer and four RBIs for the Orioles, now 9-10 under interim manager Dave Trembley.

The Orioles trailed 9-2 before scoring five runs in the ninth. After Corey Patterson hit an RBI single and Luis Hernandez got his first major league hit, a run-scoring double, Millar hit a three-run homer off Boone Logan.

Aubrey Huff followed with a single before Bobby Jenks got the final out for his 24th save.

Guthrie (4-3) yielded six runs, five earned, and nine hits in 32â3 innings – his shortest start of the year.

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4

Boston – David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez roughed up Roy Halladay early, and Tim Wakefield won his third straight start.

Ortiz and Ramirez are both well off last year’s production pace, but the two All-Stars showed signs of snapping out of their first-half slump. Ortiz went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Ramirez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to help the Red Sox end a three-game losing streak

Twins 6, Athletics 2

Minneapolis – Michael Cuddyer tied a career high with four hits, and Minnesota took advantage of Chad Gaudin’s lack of control. Gaudin (8-4) entered the night fourth in the AL with a 2.88 earned-run average, but he walked five hitters – including four in the first inning. He allowed five runs and six hits in four-plus innings and has walked 29 batters in his last eight outings.

Yankees 7, Devil Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu homered to back the pitching of Andy Pettitte and lead New York over struggling Tampa Bay. With Yankees owner George Steinbrenner watching from his suite at Tropicana Field, Rodriguez hit his major-league-leading 31st homer five pitches after Jeter hit his first in nearly a month. Abreu finished the fourth-inning power surge with a two-out solo shot.

Mariners 3, Tigers 2

Seattle – Adrian Beltre hit a two-run single and stayed alive on the basepaths long enough to allow the go-ahead run to score as Seattle ended Detroit’s five-game winning streak.