Yankees' Rivera closes door on Red Sox

Mariano Rivera flashed his classic form just in time.

The New York Yankees closer pitched himself in and out of trouble Saturday, escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning and preserving a 2-1 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox. The Yankees had lost the first two games of the four-game series.

After Mike Mussina (11-6) pitched 6 shutout innings, Rivera took over in the ninth with a 2-0 lead. The Red Sox quickly scored a run and were poised to get more, but Rivera struck out Coco Crisp, got Jason Varitek on a popup and fanned Julio Lugo for his 23rd save.

Twins 9, Indians 6: Joe Mauer homered, walked three times and scored 3 runs to help Kevin Slowey and host Minnesota rally past Cleveland. It was the Indians seventh straight loss.

Rays 3, Royals 0: Andy Sonnanstine pitched 7 strong innings, Ben Zobrist homered, and host Tampa Bay defeated Kansas City for its sixth straight win. The Rays increased their AL East lead to a season-high 4 games over second-place Boston.

Rangers 5, Orioles 3: Ian Kinsler homered, German Duran and Michael Young had 3 hits apiece, and Texas used a sharp pitching performance by substitute starter Scott Feldman (3-3) to beat host Baltimore.

Blue Jays 7, Angels 5: Vernon Wells hit a 2-run homer, Alex Rios went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and 3 stolen bases, and Toronto defeat host Los Angeles. Roy Halladay (10-6) gave up 2 runs and 6 hits in 7 innings with 7 strikeouts.

Mariners 3, Tigers 2: Seattle rookie Jeff Clement homered in his final 2 at-bats, the second a 2-run shot off Detroit reliever Fernando Rodney in the eighth inning, lifting the host Mariners to a victory over Detroit.