NEW YORK—Johnny Damon went 6-for-6 with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, rallying the New York Yankees to a wild 12-11 victory Saturday over the Kansas City Royals.

New York overcame a pair of four-run deficits and a huge game by Kansas City’s Jose Guillen, who hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh and matched a franchise record with seven RBIs.

After David DeJesus put the Royals ahead 11-10 with a home run on the first pitch from Mariano Rivera (2-1) in the top of the ninth, Jorge Posada connected against Joakim Soria with one out in the bottom half to tie it.

With two outs, Wilson Betemit walked and Melky Cabrera reached on an infield single. Damon pulled a 3-1 pitch from Soria (0-1) into the right-field corner for his sixth hit, setting a career high and equaling a Yankees record now accomplished three times.

Myril Hoag also went 6-for-6 on June 6, 1934, at Boston, and Gerald Williams got six hits in a 15-inning game May 1, 1996, at Baltimore. Omar Vizquel is the only player besides Damon to get six hits in a game at Yankee Stadium, accomplishing the feat for Cleveland on Aug. 31, 2004.



Red Sox 11, Mariners 3

BOSTON—Manny Ramirez hit his 504th career homer and Tim Wakefield baffled most of Seattle’s hitters for seven innings to lead the Red Sox over the Mariners.

Boston rebounded from Friday’s 8-0 loss to Seattle for its seventh victory in nine games; and 16th of 18 at Fenway Park.

Ramirez tied Eddie Murray for 23rd on the career list with a two-run drive over the Green Monster seats. J.D. Drew homered, tripled and singled.

Wakefield (4-4) allowed two runs and five hits, just three of them beyond 30 feet. He struck out six and walked two.

Miguel Batista (3-7) gave up five runs—four earned—and four hits in 4 1-3 innings for Seattle. He’s allowed 10 runs and 11 hits in the opening inning of his last seven starts.



Tigers 8, Indians 4

DETROIT—Edgar Renteria’s grand slam keyed a six-run eighth inning and Detroit ended a four-game losing streak with a win over Cleveland.

Zach Miner (3-3) pitched two innings in relief of starter Kenny Rogers. Todd Jones got the final out for his ninth save.

Masa Kobayashi (3-3) lost for Cleveland, which fell to 4-5 on an 11-game road trip.

In the eighth, he allowed a tying homer to Marcus Thames and Magglio Ordonez doubled two pitches later to bring Rafael Betancourt out of the bullpen, but Cabrera hit a line drive to left that seemed to fool Ben Francisco, sailing over his glove for an RBI single.

Carlos Guillen singled and a sacrifice put runners on second and third. Brandon Inge was intentionally walked, and Ryan Raburn struck out before Renteria hit his sixth career grand slam.



Orioles 9, Blue Jays 5

TORONTO—Jay Payton had five RBIs, Jeremy Guthrie tossed seven strong innings and Baltimore earned its third straight win.

Guthrie (3-6) allowed one run and six hits to win for the first time since May 13 against Boston. He struck out six and walked none.

A.J. Burnett (5-6) gave up a season-high eight runs in 4 1-3 innings and mockingly doffed his cap to the booing crowd as he walked off after being replaced by Brian Wolfe. Burnett, who is winless in three starts, walked four and equaled a season worst by allowing 10 hits.

Vernon Wells went 2-for-3 with an RBI in his return from the disabled list, but it wasn’t enough to help the Blue Jays avoid their third straight loss.



White Sox 11, Twins 2

CHICAGO—Joe Crede hit two homers for the second straight game and had six RBIs to lead the surging White Sox to a victory over Minnesota.

Crede, who went 4-for-4 with two solo drives Friday night after missing a game with a sore wrist, had a pair of three-run homers as the White Sox moved 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Twins in the AL Central.

The White Sox third baseman, who underwent back surgery last June and only played 47 games a year ago, has five homers in his last three games.

Crede connected in the second inning Saturday night against Livan Hernandez to make it 4-0. He hit another three-run shot off the left-field foul pole in the eighth off Boof Bonser, his 14th of the season.

Mark Buehrle (3-6) pitched eight innings to get his first win in three weeks.