Saarloos Pitches In and A’s Win Again

Kirk Saarloos took a shutout into the ninth inning to lead the streaking Oakland Athletics to their 11th win in 12 games, 5-2 over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday at Oakland.

Jay Payton hit his fifth home run since joining the A’s from Boston at the All-Star break as Oakland won for the 31st time in 38 games to enter August leading the wild-card race by 1 1/2 games over the New York Yankees.

After going 19-8 in June to overcome a slow start to the season, the A’s did even better in July, tying a club record set in 1974 with 20 wins in the month.

The A’s have cut 11 games off the Angels’ lead in the West Division and trail by only 1 1/2 games -- the closest they’ve been since May 2.

After A’s starters yielded at least 10 hits in three straight games for the first time since 1982, it was their fifth starter who delivered a strong start. Saarloos (7-6) was a model of efficiency.

Magglio Ordonez’s two-run homer with two out in the ninth was just about the only blemish of the day as Saarloos gave up seven hits and walked one in a 102-pitch outing.

Chicago 9, Baltimore 4 -- Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede had two RBIs apiece during a five-run first inning at Baltimore, and Freddy Garcia earned his first win against the Orioles in three years.

The Orioles have lost 11 of 12 to drop two games under .500 (51-53) for the first time this season.

Garcia (11-4), who gave up three earned runs and 10 hits in seven innings, is 9-1 on the road and 8-1 overall since losing at Chicago to the Orioles on May 14.

He was 3-6 against Baltimore and 0-4 in his last four starts against the Orioles since beating them while with Seattle on May 24, 2002.

Toronto 5, Texas 1 -- Gustavo Chacin won his fifth consecutive start, Vernon Wells homered during a four-run third inning, and the Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep at Toronto.

Chacin (11-5) went 5-0 with a 2.97 earned-run average in six July starts to become the first Blue Jay rookie to win five games in a month.

Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 2 -- Mark Hendrickson took a one-hitter into the eighth inning as the Devil Rays completed a four-game sweep at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Hendrickson (5-7) didn’t yield a hit until Emil Brown doubled with two out in the fourth inning. He left after 7 1/3 innings after giving up two runs and four hits.

Boston 4, Minnesota 3 -- Manny Ramirez hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Red Sox their fifth consecutive victory. Mike Timlin (4-1) gave up two hits in 1 1/3 innings, and Curt Schilling pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Cleveland 9, Seattle 7 -- Bob Wickman pitched the ninth at Seattle for his 27th save in 31 chances. He got Ichiro Suzuki to ground out with runners on first and second for the last out. Suzuki was hitless in six at-bats.