White Sox 9, Royals 4

Kansas City, Mo. – Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam, Dewayne Wise homered twice, and Mark Buehrle pitched six effective innings.

The victory, coupled with Minnesota’s loss at Tampa Bay, gave the White Sox a 21â2-game lead over the Twins in the American League Central. The loss snapped the Royals’ seven-game winning streak, their longest since starting the 2003 season 9-0.

The White Sox sent 10 men to the plate in a six-run fourth inning, scoring all the runs with two outs.

Jermaine Dye doubled, Jim Thome singled and A.J. Pierzynski walked before Ramirez tied an AL rookie record with his third grand slam. Shane Spencer hit three grand slams as a rookie for the New York Yankees in 1998. It was Chicago’s 11th grand slam this season, tying the club record set in 2006.

Rays 11, Twins 1

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Carlos Pena homered and drove in four runs – with help from a replay reversal.

Angels 15, Rangers 13

Arlington, Texas – Torii Hunter homered and drove in four runs.

Indians 6, Tigers 5

Cleveland – Jamey Carroll hit a game-winning single with one out in the ninth inning.

Athletics 2, Mariners 0

Oakland, Calif. – Travis Buck homered for the first time since being called up from the minors.

Yankees 3, Orioles 2

New York – Brett Gardner, the Yankees’ center fielder, robbed Luke Scott with a terrific grab and doubled in a run, sparking New York in the opener of the final series at 85-year-old Yankee Stadium.

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

Toronto – Jason Varitek drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Boston stayed 11â2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay.