Yankees' East countdown put on hold

BALTIMORE -- Jerry Hairston singled in two runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Baltimore Orioles stalled the New York Yankees' drive to another division crown with a 7-6 victory Friday night.

The loss, combined with Boston's 5-2 win over Detroit, left New York's magic number for clinching a fourth straight AL East title at five.

After the Yankees took the lead by scoring three runs off Willis Roberts (8-9) in the top of the ninth, Baltimore bounced back against Mariano Rivera (4-6), who was vying for his franchise-record 47th save.

RED SOX 5, TIGERS 2

BOSTON -- Manny Ramirez and Doug Mirabelli each hit two-run homers and Casey Fossum earned his first win as a starter, leading Boston over Detroit.

Fossum (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits in five innings to give Boston its first back-to-back victories since Aug. 23-24.

DEVIL RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 4

TORONTO -- Bryan Rekar won for the first time in more than three months and Toby Hall hit a three-run homer to lead Tampa Bay over Toronto.

Brandon Lyon (5-3) allowed back-to-back singles to Brent Abernathy and Steve Cox before Hall hit his third home run, giving Tampa Bay a 6-4 lead.

TWINS 6, INDIANS 2

MINNEAPOLIS -- Rick Reed won consecutive starts for the first time since joining Minnesota, and Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer to help the Twins keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Twins cut Cleveland's lead in the AL Central to five games. With 14 games left in the regular season, the two teams play five more times.

RANGERS 9, ANGELS 8

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Alex Rodriguez hit his career-high 47th homer to tie Ernie Banks' major league record for home runs in a season by a shortstop at Texas held on for the win.

Rodriguez led off the fifth inning with a blast into the right-field seats off Ismael Valdes (9-11) to give the Rangers a 6-2 lead and match Banks' record for shortstops set in 1958 for the Chicago Cubs.

WHITE SOX 8, ROYALS 7

CHICAGO -- Tony Graffanino hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Doug Henry (2-2) to send Chicago to the win.

Sean Lowe (9-4) pitched one inning for the win. Jeff Liefer hit his 18th homer for the White Sox and Magglio Ordonez added three hits.

-- From wire reports