Rios Helps Lead Blue Jays to Victory Against Red Sox

Alex Rios had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox, 6-5, last night.

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Rios and Reed Johnson hit consecutive run-scoring doubles in the sixth to erase a 5-4 deficit and help the Blue Jays end a four-game losing streak against the Red Sox. Toronto (44-45) moved into a tie with the Yankees for second place in the American League East, 10 games behind Boston.

After allowing all five of his runs in the first three innings, Shaun Marcum (5-3) earned his first victory since June 16 and improved to 4-1 since joining the rotation May 13.

Marcum, who spent the first six weeks of the season in the bullpen, allowed seven hits and a walk in six innings. He gave up three earned runs and struck out six.

TWINS 5, ATHLETICS 3 Johan Santana started the second half of the season in top form, striking out eight in seven scoreless innings to lead host Minnesota.

Santana (11-6) allowed four hits to win his fifth start in a row. He is 41-4 with a major league-leading 427 strikeouts in games played after the All-Star Game break since 2003.

ORIOLES 2, WHITE SOX 0 Erik Bedard gave up three hits in seven innings, and Nick Markakis and Corey Patterson homered against Mark Buehrle to lead host Baltimore. Bedard (8-4), who is 4-0 in his past five starts, struck out seven to increase his American League-leading total to 156. He walked two and allowed only three runners past first base in extending his run of scoreless innings to 16.

INDIANS 5, ROYALS 4 Ryan Garko singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth for host Cleveland. Víctor Martínez drove in two runs for Cleveland, which improved the majors’ best home record to 32-12. The Indians have won 9 of their last 10 at Jacobs Field, where they play 15 of their next 19 games.

CUBS 6, ASTROS 0 Carlos Zambrano (11-7) allowed three hits in six and two-thirds scoreless innings and also had two singles, a run batted in and a run scored as the Cubs defeated the visiting Astros for their 13th victory in 17 games.

BRAVES 9, PIRATES 1 Andruw Jones and Brian McCann hit back-to-back homers to start a six-run sixth inning for host Atlanta. Tim Hudson (9-5) gave up five hits and walked one in seven shutout innings. He had four strikeouts and is 3-0 in his last four starts.

The Braves, who have won 10 of 14, pulled within 1 ½ games of the first-place Mets in the National League East.

NATIONALS 14, MARLINS 10 Dmitri Young hit a three-run double to cap visiting Washington’s six-run fourth.

Young drove in four runs for the Nationals, who set a season-high for runs and chased Florida starter Dontrelle Willis (7-8) after three and two-thirds innings. Ronnie Belliard had three hits and Nook Logan scored four runs for Washington, which has won three in a row.

PHILLIES 13, CARDINALS 3 Kyle Kendrick had another effective outing and drove in two runs, and host Philadelphia stayed on 9,999 losses.

Chase Utley had a home run, four hits and three runs batted in, and Greg Dobbs also had four hits for the Phillies, who had a season-high 23, 4 shy of the team record.

ROCKIES 10, BREWERS 6 Troy Tulowitzki and Yorvit Torrealba hit two-run homers in a decisive fifth inning for visiting Colorado.

Matt Holliday also homered and Todd Helton had a two-run double for Colorado, which won its sixth in seven games.

Ryan Braun hit two homers and drove in four runs for Milwaukee, which has lost six of seven.

SUZUKI GETS CONTRACT EXTENSION It is a great week to be Ichiro Suzuki.

Suzuki, the Mariners’ leadoff hitter, signed a five-year, million extension yesterday, three days after he was the unanimous most valuable player of the All-Star Game.

The deal ensures that Seattle, having its best season in four years, will not lose Suzuki to free agency after this season. Instead, the Mariners will keep Suzuki, a seven-time All-Star and perennial Gold Glove outfielder, under contract until age 39.

“Now, I have the opportunity to be on one team for a long time, and I am grateful for that,” Suzuki said at a news conference to announce his contract, the richest in Mariners history. “I’m going to do my best to play 10 more years here.”

The contract contains a million signing bonus and base salaries of million for each season from 2008-12, with part of the money deferred.

GIANTS’ G.M. GETS EXTENSION General Manager Brian Sabean and the owner Peter Magowan agree that the San Francisco Giants may have to endure a couple more years of losing to turn around the franchise.

Sabean will get the chance to lead the team’s transformation.

Sabean received a two-year contract extension yesterday, five months after Magowan said every employee was on the “hot seat.”

The contract for Sabean, who is in his 11th season as the general manager, includes a club option for 2010.

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