Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1

Toronto – Frank Thomas drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees on Thursday night to snap New York’s seven-game winning streak.

The Yankees now head to Boston’s Fenway Park to begin a big three-game series against their longtime rival tonight. Roger Clemens threw 40 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday and said he has “no doubt” he’ll be able to return from a sore elbow to start the series finale Sunday night.

Johnny Damon homered, and rookie Ian Kennedy allowed one hit in seven-plus innings for wild-card leader New York.

Alex Rios led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off reliever Chris Britton (0-1), stole second and scored when Thomas grounded a clean single to center. A.J. Burnett pitched eight outstanding innings, Thomas went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Toronto (73-73) ended a five-game skid.

New York came close to taking the lead in the ninth after Bobby Abreu led off with a single against reliever Casey Janssen. Alex Rodriguez struck out, and left-hander Scott Downs (3-2) replaced Janssen, then gave up an infield single to Hideki Matsui. Robinson Cano’s groundout moved the runners to second and third, but Downs ended the inning by getting Melky Cabrera to ground out to first on a diving play by Lyle Overbay.

Damon provided a light moment in the sixth, retiring Rios on a fly ball for the final out, then giving the ball to a fan seated in the front row in left. The fan responded by giving Damon a $20 bill. Damon took the money, ran further down the line, then handed the bill to a young child.

Speaking through a chain-link portion of the outfield fence, Damon appeared to recount the story to Toronto’s relievers in the bullpen when he returned to the field in the bottom of the seventh.

Orioles 3, Angels 0

Baltimore – Jon Leicester and three relievers combined on a five-hitter, and Scott Moore had two RBIs.

The Orioles won the finale of the series after losing the first two games by a combined score of 28-11. They won for just the fourth time in their last 22 games and for the second time in their last 16 home games.

Los Angeles had its six-game road winning streak snapped and was shut out for the seventh time this season.

Leicester (2-1) became Baltimore’s first starter not to give up a run since Erik Bedard held the New York Yankees scoreless on Aug. 15, a span of 25 games.

Relievers James Hoey, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker finished the Orioles’ ninth shutout of the season. Walker pitched 11â3 innings for his fifth save.

Athletics 6, Rangers 5

Oakland, Calif. – Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer, and Jack Cust doubled in two runs.

Cust gave the A’s a 2-0 lead in the first. Swisher hit his 20th home run, a shot to left-center in the third inning, after Daric Barton’s leadoff double. Jack Hannahan added an RBI double, and Marco Scutaro had a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Oakland, which ended a three-game losing streak to the Rangers, a 6-0 lead.

Chad Gaudin (11-11) struck out eight in six innings to end a three-start winless stretch in which he was 0-2, leaving the game with a 6-1 lead.

Michael Young had three hits, including a two-run double in the Rangers’ four-run seventh that pulled them within 6-5 in the opener of a four-game series between the bottom two clubs in the AL West.

Young’s two-out single in the third extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games – the longest this year by a Ranger – but Texas saw the end of its three-game winning streak in the season series.

The Rangers swept a series in Texas last weekend.

Mariners 8, Devil Rays 7

Seattle – Adrian Beltre’s go-ahead single with two outs in the eighth inning capped a five-run rally. Yuniesky Betancourt tied the score with a two-run double off Dan Wheeler (0-4), and the Mariners came back from a six-run deficit.