Bedard outduels Beckett in O's win over Red Sox

Erik Bedard allowed 2 hits in 6 innings to win his seventh straight decision, and the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 on Tuesday night despite 2 homers by David Ortiz.

Bedard (11-4) struck out six and walked five to give Baltimore its sixth victory in seven games.

Ortiz hit a 2-run homer in the third that accounted for the only runs off Bedard, and a solo shot in the eighth that made it 5-3.

Jamie Walker got the last two outs for his fourth save.

Brian Roberts homered on the first pitch from Josh Beckett (13-5) and added an RBI double in the Orioles' three-run third. Beckett allowed 5 runs, 9 hits and 2 walks, striking out six to lose consecutive starts for the first time this year.

Twins 5, Royals 3: Torii Hunter homered, Carlos Silva cruised through 8 innings, and host Minnesota won its fourth straight, defeating Kansas City.

Hunter's homer, his 22nd, led off the second against Jorge De La Rosa (8-11). Three hits and 2 errors later, the Twins had a 4-0 lead.

That proved to be plenty of support for Silva (9-11), who surrendered solo home runs to Jason LaRue in the third inning and Jason Smith in the eighth -- but no walks and just 7 hits.

Blue Jays 2, Devil Rays 0: Former Tampa Bay bat boy Jesse Litsch threw 6ˆ¿ shutout innings against his old team, leading visiting Toronto past the Devil Rays.

Litsch (4-4), a Devil Rays bat boy from 2000-02, gave up 7 hits in his first pro start at Tropicana Field. The right-hander, who has allowed 1 earned run or less in 4 of 5 starts since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on June 28, struck out two and walked one.

Toronto won for the seventh time in 10 games. Tampa Bay has lost 26 of 33 since June 25.

Rangers 3, Indians 1: Brandon McCarthy won for the first time in more than two months, beating 13-game winner Fausto Carmona and leading visiting Texas to a win over Cleveland.

McCarthy (5-7) had been winless since May 27, with three losses and four no-decisions since a 14-1 victory over Houston in an interleague game.

But the right-hander, who made just 1 start in June and went on the disabled list because of a blister on his middle finger, baffled the Indians and took a shutout into the seventh before Ryan Garko homered.

Carmona (13-5) was unbeaten in 5 July starts and was bidding to become the majors' second pitcher with 14 wins. He allowed 3 runs -- 2 earned -- and 5 hits in 7 innings.

National League

Cardinals 6, Pirates 4: Two misplays by Pittsburgh catcher Ronny Paulino in the same at-bat helped visiting St. Louis score the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Cardinals won their fourth in a row by extending the Pirates' July slide.

The Cardinals matched their season high by winning their fourth in a row as Adam Wainwright (10-8) limited the Pirates to 2 runs over 6 innings.

David Eckstein and Skip Schumaker hit consecutive sacrifice flies in a 2-run seventh inning and the Cardinals won their 38th in 53 games in PNC Park -- easily the best record of any team since the ballpark opened in 2001.

Nationals 6, Reds 3: Ryan Zimmerman's 3-run double was the biggest hit in Washington's big fifth inning, and the Nationals beat Cincinnati in a game between two of the NL's worst teams.

Washington entered the day at 45-60 and Cincinnati at 45-61 -- only Pittsburgh (42-61) was worse in the NL -- but neither club made any deals before the deadline for trades without waivers.

So there was Ken Griffey Jr., hitting third and manning right field for the Reds. And there was Adam Dunn, another subject of trade speculation, batting fifth and playing left field.

Braves 12, Astros 4: On the day slugger Mark Teixeira arrived, Atlanta showed it already has a lot of power.

Kelly Johnson had 4 hits, including 2 homers, and Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann also hit home runs as the host Braves welcomed Teixeira to town with a win over Houston.

Johnson drove in 5 runs and McCann drove in 4, including a 2-run double in the 8th.

Teixeira, obtained from Texas in a seven-player trade that was finalized earlier in the day, was activated for the game but did not arrive until the seventh inning.

Grinning widely, Teixeira waved to fans from the dugout as he enjoyed his first ovation from Atlanta fans. The Turner Field video board showed Teixeira wearing his new No. 24 uniform.

Rockies 6, Marlins 3: Aaron Cook allowed 5 hits in 7ˆ¿ innings to win his third start in a row, and visiting Colorado beat slumping Florida.

Garrett Atkins doubled home 3 runs for the Rockies, who won their third consecutive game. They're 54-51, matching the franchise's second-best record after 105 games.

Miguel Olivo hit his 10th homer for the Marlins, but they lost for the seventh time in eight games.