MINNEAPOLIS—Taylor Teagarden broke up Scott Baker’s perfect-game bid with a sixth-inning home run for his first career hit, and Vicente Padilla pitched the Texas Rangers past the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Sunday.

The Rangers denied the Twins their fourth series sweep over the past month, handing them just their eighth defeat in the last 31 games. Baker (6-3) took a hard-luck loss, his first in six starts.

Padilla (11-5), activated from the disabled list before the game, gave up three hits in seven innings. He threw just 80 pitches, and though Rangers manager Ron Washington said before the game that Padilla wasn’t on a pitch count, he was relieved by Eddie Guardado to start the eighth.

C.J. Wilson pitched the ninth for his 23rd save, and 15th straight.

Joe Mauer walked with two outs in the ninth and advanced to third on a wild pitch that Teagarden had trouble finding, but Justin Morneau grounded out to end the game.

Baker retired the first 17 Rangers who came to bat and by the time Teagarden stepped to the plate in the sixth, the crowd of 36,029 had begun to catch on. Baker received ovations before all three of his two-out, two-strike pitches to the rookie.

But with the count full, Teagarden, in just his second major league game, stroked a fastball that kept carrying and barely cleared the center-field wall and Carlos Gomez’s glove.

Teagarden might have to wait a while for his next big league hit. The Rangers need to make some pitching staff moves—including activating Eric Hurley, who is expected to start Monday—and with starting catcher Jared Saltalamacchia expected to return from illness soon, Teagarden will likely be sent back down.

Baker took a perfect game into the ninth inning last August against Kansas City, but gave up a walk and a hit before finishing the shutout. He finished Sunday with eight strikeouts, one short of a career high. Baker completed a season-high eight innings, giving up two hits and a walk.



Angels 5, Red Sox 3

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Casey Kotchman hit a two-run double to cap a three-run rally in the eighth inning, and the Angels beat Boston for their fifth straight victory.

With another late comeback, the Angels completed their first three-game sweep of Boston in seven years. Los Angeles scored four runs in the seventh Saturday for a 4-2 win.

The Angels became the first team to 60 wins and improved to 5-1 against the defending World Series champions, clinching their first season series against the Red Sox since 2001.

The AL West-leading Angels are in front of second-place Oakland by nine games. None of the other five division leaders has more than a two-game cushion.

The Red Sox held a 3-2 lead and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (6-7) had retired 17 of 19 batters before Juan Rivera and Howie Kendrick hit consecutive doubles to start the eighth and tie the score.

Three batters later, Kotchman lined Manny Delcarmen’s pitch into the right-field corner.

Darren Oliver (3-1) worked 1 1-3 hitless innings to earn the win, and Francisco Rodriguez struck out the side in the ninth for his major league-leading 40th save in 43 chances. He became the fastest pitcher to 40 saves in big league history, doing so in 98 games.

Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter homered on consecutive pitches from Wakefield in the second.

The Red Sox have lost 10 of 12 road games. They remained 1 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Tampa Bay.



Yankees 2, Athletics 1

NEW YORK—Andy Pettitte outpitched Oakland All-Star Justin Duchscherer, getting just enough run support from Jason Giambi’s homer and a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez to help New York hold off the Athletics for a three-game sweep.

The Yankees (53-45) won their seventh straight at home and climbed a season-best eight games over .500. Their winning streak at Yankee Stadium is their longest since last September.

The A’s have dropped five straight, managing just nine runs in the process.

Pettitte (11-7) gave up four hits in eight innings, matching his longest outing of the year. He struck out nine without a walk before Mariano Rivera worked a wild ninth for his 24th save in 24 chances.

Duchscherer (10-6), who was so ill during Tuesday’s All-Star game that he could barely pitch, lasted seven innings and gave up seven hits.

The teams breezed along in 2 hours, 26 minutes on a sweltering 92-degree afternoon, a day after playing 4 hours, 45 minutes in a 12-inning marathon.



Blue Jays 9, Rays 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Alex Rios and Marco Scutaro homered, and Toronto avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over AL East-leading Tampa Bay.

Scutaro hit a three-run shot off Edwin Jackson (5-7) in the fifth to put the Blue Jays ahead 6-4. Rios had a two-run homer in the third and added a run-scoring double during a three-run seventh.

Shawn Camp (3-1) threw 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. The Blue Jays won for the fourth time in 17 road games.

Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena had solo homers for the Rays, who dropped to 38-15 at home this season. Tampa Bay has lost eight of 10 overall.



Indians 6, Mariners 2

SEATTLE—Cliff Lee followed up his All-Star start with his second complete game of the season, scattering 11 hits in Cleveland’s victory over Seattle.

Lee became the American League’s first 13-game winner and Kelly Shoppach ended an 0-for-13 funk with a three-run homer off Carlos Silva in the fourth. Silva (4-12) left with back tightness immediately after the home run, the latest ailment for Seattle’s sick, injured and ineffective rotation.

Shoppach tied a career high with four RBIs, helping Cleveland to its second consecutive win following 10 straight road defeats—its longest such skid since 1991.

The Mariners lost for the eighth time in 11 games and are 13-13 since firing manager John McLaren on June 19 and replacing him with Jim Riggleman.

Four of the season-high 11 hits allowed by Lee (13-2) stayed in the infield. He struck out four and walked none in his fifth career complete game.

The last Indians pitcher to yield at least 11 hits in a complete-game win was Charles Nagy, who gave up 13 against Baltimore on June 17, 1992, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.



Tigers 5, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE—Justin Verlander came within an out of completing a three-hitter, and Detroit got home runs from Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames to hand Baltimore its 15th consecutive Sunday loss.

Ryan Raburn had two RBIs for the Tigers, who split the four-game series and moved back to .500 (49-49).

Verlander (8-9) was replaced by Todd Jones after allowing his second walk of the ninth inning. Jones then walked Aubrey Huff before retiring Kevin Millar on a grounder to end it.

Verlander retired 16 straight batters between a second-inning double by Luke Scott and a seventh-inning double by Millar. The right-hander is unbeaten in eight starts since June 6.

The Orioles’ 15-game skid on Sundays is the longest on any given day since Arizona dropped 15 in a row on Saturdays in 2004, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Tigers took a 3-1 lead with a two-run sixth against Brian Burres (7-6).



Royals 8, White Sox 7

CHICAGO—Esteban German hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning to lead Kansas City over Chicago.

German was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Mike Aviles had three hits for the Royals, who have won five of seven. Joakim Soria got three outs for his 26th save and Ramon Ramirez (1-1) earned the win.

Left fielder Jose Guillen preserved Kansas City’s one-run lead in the eighth by throwing out A.J. Pierzynski at the plate on Brian Anderson’s single.

Jim Thome doubled in the seventh inning for his 2,000th career hit and Joe Crede hit a three-run homer for the White Sox, who have lost five of seven. Nick Swisher had a two-run shot.

Matt Thornton (4-2) took the loss.