Byrd's complete game boosts Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Paul Byrd, pitching before a bevy of scouts in perhaps his last appearance with Kansas City, threw his fourth straight complete game as the Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 Monday night.

Carlos Beltran homered off Chris Carpenter (4-2) and drove in three runs for the Royals, who snapped a six-game losing streak.

Byrd (14-7) allowed five hits to become the first Kansas City pitcher with four consecutive complete games since Tom Gordon in 1990.

With the trade deadline just two days away, Byrd has been the subject of much speculation as contending teams looks to bolster their rotations.

He looked like the premier pitcher available Monday night, beating the Blue Jays in a crisp 2 hours, 2 minutes. He threw only 98 pitches, 72 for strikes.

Yankees 9, Rangers 2

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Orlando Hernandez (6-3) pitched six impressive innings, and Rondell White hit a two-run homer as New York beat Texas.

Jorge Posada homered, drove in two runs and reached base four times for the Yankees, who have won 16 of 22 at The Ballpark in Arlington.

Rangers starter Kenny Rogers (11-6) fell behind 3-0 in the first inning against his former team and lost his sixth straight decision to the Yankees. He was knocked around for eight runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Devil Rays 6, Orioles 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Paul Wilson pitched eight sharp innings to snap a personal 12-game winless streak as Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.

Jared Sandberg drove in two runs for the Devil Rays. John Flaherty and Chris Gomez each had three hits.

Wilson (3-7) has earned all three of his wins against the Orioles this season.

-- From wire reports