BALTIMORE—Jay Payton hit his fourth career grand slam to back a gritty pitching effort by Daniel Cabrera, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 Wednesday for a two-game sweep.

Solo homers by Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell, and a defensive gem by Manny Ramirez—yes, Manny Ramirez—weren’t enough to prevent the Red Sox from losing their fourth straight. It was the third consecutive game in which Boston blew a three-run lead.

The Orioles trailed 3-2 before going ahead in the seventh. With two outs, Freddie Bynum was credited with an infield hit when second baseman Dustin Pedroia couldn’t make a play on a grounder.

After Craig Hansen (0-2) gave up a single to Guillermo Quiroz and walked Brian Roberts to load the bases, Payton hit the second pitch from Hideki Okajima into the left-field seats.

That provided Cabrera (4-1) with a rare win over the Red Sox.



Mariners 4, Rangers 3, 12 innings

ARLINGTON, Texas—Miguel Cairo had a two-out RBI single in the 12th inning, and the Mariners beat Texas to avoid a sweep and keep the Rangers from reaching .500.

Wladimir Balentien led off the 12th with a single off Franklyn German (1-2), and Yuniesky Betancourt sacrificed. Balentien moved to third on a deep flyout by Ichiro Suzuki, who went 0-for-6 and ended a 13-game hitting streak. Cairo then singled up the middle.

J.J. Putz (1-1) worked two scoreless innings before Jarrod Washburn, the eighth pitcher used, came on in the 12th for his first career save.



Indians 2, Athletics 0

CLEVELAND—C.C. Sabathia pitched a five-hitter and struck out 11 in Cleveland’s major league-leading seventh shutout, a victory over Oakland.

Sabathia (3-5) extended the scoreless streak of Indians starters to 43 1-3 innings since Friday. He tied his season high for strikeouts, walked two and won consecutive starts for the first time this season. He has a 1.49 ERA over his past five starts.

Sabathia pitched his sixth shutout, his first since a five-hitter last June 5. Cleveland has five shutouts in its past eight games—one-third of the Indians’ victories this season have come in shutouts.

Grady Sizemore and Ryan Garko homered off Joe Blanton (2-6), who lost for the fourth time in five starts.



Yankees 2, Rays 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Hank Steinbrenner criticized the Yankees, and Joe Girardi held a pregame team meeting with his struggling team. New York responded with a win.

Robinson Cano went 4-for-4 and drove in a run to back the pitching of Mike Mussina, helping the Yankees end Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak with a victory.

Mussina (6-3) allowed one run and five hits over 6 1-3 innings to win his fifth consecutive decision. He improved to 18-7 in 31 starts against Tampa Bay, which held on to its slender lead in the AL East.