ATHLETICS 12, RANGERS 6

ARLINGTON, Texas - Emil Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help the Oakland Athletics pound Texas, 12-6, ending the Rangers' season-best five-game winning streak last night.

Frank Thomas drove in two runs to give him 1,695 RBIs, tying him with Cal Ripken for 21st all-time, and Mark Ellis had three hits for the A's.

Ian Kinsler had three hits for the Rangers, who had won nine of their previous 11.

With the game tied at 6, Bobby Crosby led off the seventh with a double, then stopped at third on Ellis' single. Rangers reliever Franklyn German's pickoff attempt had Ellis in a rundown between first and second, but when Crosby broke for the plate, Rangers first baseman Frank Catalanotto threw late to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia as Crosby scored to put the A's in front.

Ryan Sweeney added a sacrifice fly later in the seventh to extend Oakland's lead to 8-6, and Brown's RBI single in the eighth made it 9-6.

German (1-1) gave up two runs and three hits in two-thirds of an inning to suffer the loss.

Santiago Casilla (2-0) allowed two hits in 11/3 innings for the victory.

Rangers starter Sidney Ponson allowed six runs and seven hits in 51/3 innings, his worst outing of the four starts since his contract was purchased from triple-A Oklahoma on April 26.

Texas 112 101 000– 6 11 2

Oakland AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Texas AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

KSuzuki c 5   0   0   0   .255      Kinsler 2b 5   2   3   1   .306   

MSweeney 1b 4   1   2   0   .322      MiYoung ss 5   0   1   1   .293   

DBarton 1b 1   1   1   2   .237      Hamilton rf 5   1   2   1   .303   

Cust lf 2   1   1   1   .263      Bradley dh 4   0   1   1   .311   

1-RDavis pr-cf 1   1   0   0   .292      DaMurphy cf 5   1   1   0   .257   

FThomas dh 4   1   1   2   .216      Boggs lf 4   1   0   0   .326   

EBrown rf-lf 5   1   2   4   .283      Catalanotto 1b 3   0   1   0   .260   

Crosby ss 5   1   1   0   .252      Sltalamacchia c 2   1   1   2   .207   

Ellis 2b 5   1   3   0   .242      RVazquez 3b 3   0   1   0   .310   

2-Murphy pr-2b 0   1   0   0   .205      a-Duran ph-3b 1   0   0   0   .190   

Hannahan 3b 3   2   2   0   .244      Totals 37   6   11   6      

RSweeney cf-rf 2   1   0   1   .262                     

Totals 37   12   13   10                        

a-grounded out for Vazquez in the 7th.1-ran for Cust in the 8th. 2-ran for Ellis in the 9th. E: Ellis (2), Sltalamacchia (1), RVazquez (3). LOB: Oakland 9, Texas 9. 2B: Cust (5), Crosby (12), Ellis 2 (8), Kinsler (10), Hamilton (13), Bradley (11). 3B: Hamilton (2). HR: DBarton (2), off Guardado; EBrown (4), off Ponson. RBIs: DBarton 2 (15), Cust (12), FThomas 2 (21), EBrown 4 (33), RSweeney (16), Kinsler (18), MiYoung (17), Hamilton (39), Bradley (20), Sltalamacchia 2 (3). SB: EBrown (2), Crosby (1), Ellis (5), DoMurphy (2), Hannahan (1), Kinsler (9). SF: FThomas, RSweeney. GIDP: KSuzuki 2. RLSP: Oakland 6 (FThomas 3, EBrown, Crosby, Hannahan); Texas 5 (MiYoung 2, DaMurphy 2, Duran). RA: FThomas. DP: Texas 2 (RVazquez, Kinsler and Catalanotto), (MiYoung, Kinsler and Catalanotto).

Oakland walks (8): KSuzuki, Cust 3, Hannahan 2, RSweeney 2.

Texas walks (5): Bradley, Boggs, Catalanotto, Sltalamacchia 2.

Oakland strikeouts (2): Crosby, Ellis.

Texas strikeouts (12): Kinsler, MiYoung, Hamilton, Bradley, DaMurphy 4, Boggs 2, Catalanotto, Sltalamacchia.

Oakland IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Harden 32/3   8   5   5   4   5   90   3.68   

Devine 12/3   1   1   0   0   2   29   0.60   

Casilla (BS) (W) 11/3   2   0   0   0   1   23   0.47   

Embree (H) 11/3   0   0   0   1   2   22   2.60   

Street 1   0   0   0   0   2   9   3.86   

Texas IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Ponson 51/3   7   6   6   5   1   103   3.16   

FGerman (L) 2/3   3   2   2   0   0   25   1.62   

JWright 2   1   1   1   1   1   24   3.57   

Guardado 1   2   3   3   2   0   29   6.14   

W: Casilla, 2-0. L: FGerman, 1-1. H: Embree, 8. BS: Casilla, 1.

FGerman pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. IR-S: Devine 2-0, Casilla 1-1, Embree 1-0, FGerman 3-1, JWright 2-1. HBP: by Ponson (MSweeney). WP: Harden, Ponson. Umpires: Home, Mike Everitt; First, Tim McClelland; Second, Mike DiMuro; Third, Larry Vanover.

T: 3:26. A: 23,959 (48,911).

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Carl Crawford hit a three-run homer and Cliff Floyd added a pair of run-scoring singles, helping Tampa Bay stop Ervin Santana from becoming the AL's first seven-game winner with a victory over Los Angeles and a series sweep.

Santana departed with a 5-4 lead with one runner on and two outs in the sixth inning, but the game quickly shifted when Justin Speier (0-3) entered and gave up a double to Akinori Iwamura and Crawford's third homer of the season.

Tampa Bay 301 004 00x–8 15 1

Los Angeles AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Tampa Bay AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Willits dh 4   0   0   0   .333      Iwamura 2b 5   2   3   0   .253   

EAybar ss 5   1   1   0   .291      Crawford lf 5   2   3   3   .289   

Guerrero rf 4   1   2   1   .268      Upton cf 5   3   3   1   .297   

GAnderson lf 4   1   2   2   .246      CPena 1b 4   0   1   0   .209   

Hunter cf 4   0   3   2   .302      Longoria 3b 3   0   0   1   .211   

Kotchman 1b 4   0   0   0   .305      CFloyd dh 4   0   2   2   .368   

Quinlan 3b 4   0   0   0   .182      Navarro c 3   1   1   0   .333   

Mathis c 2   1   0   0   .238      Gross rf 4   0   1   0   .205   

a-Mtthws Jr. ph 1   0   0   0   .213      Bartlett ss 4   0   1   0   .248   

SRodriguez 2b 3   1   1   0   .200      Totals 37   8   15   7      

b-KMorales ph 1   0   0   0   .000                     

Totals 36   5   9   5                        

a-lined out for Mathis in the 9th. b-safe on second on error for S.Rodriguez in the 9th. E: Mathis (3), Crawford (1). LOB: Los Angeles 6, Tampa Bay 7. 2B: Guerrero (8), Iwamura (4), Upton (8). 3B: Hunter (2). HR: Crawford (3), off JSpeier. RBIs: Guerrero (16), GAnderson 2 (21), Hunter 2 (22), Crawford 3 (23), Upton (25), Longoria (15), CFloyd 2 (7). SB: Crawford 2 (12), Upton (7). SF: Longoria. GIDP: Crawford. RLSP: Los Angeles 4 (EAybar, GAnderson, Kotchman 2); Tampa Bay 4 (Upton 2, Gross 2). RA: Willits, Guerrero, Longoria. DP: Los Angeles 1 (SRodriguez, Mathis and Quinlan).

L.A. walks (2): Willits, Mathis.

Tampa Bay walks (1): Navarro.

L.A. strikeouts (5): Willits, EAybar, Mathis, SRodriguez 2.

Tampa Bay strikeouts (9): Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, CPena 2, CFloyd, Navarro, Bartlett 2.

Los Angeles IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

ESantana 52/3   9   5   5   1   7   113   2.63   

JSpeier (BS) (L) 1/3   3   3   3   0   1   13   6.00   

O'Day 2   3   0   0   0   1   27   3.43   

Tampa Bay IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Sonnanstine 5   8   5   5   2   3   86   5.07   

Howell (W) 3   1   0   0   0   2   40   2.88   

Percival (S) 1   0   0   0   0   0   22   1.93   

W: Howell, 2-0. L: JSpeier, 0-3. S: Percival, 9. BS: JSpeier, 2.

IR-S: JSpeier 1-1. WP: JSpeier 2. Umpires: Home, Jim Reynolds; First, James Hoye; Second, Gary Cederstrom; Third, Fieldin Culbreth.

T: 2:55. A: 13,010 (36,048).

ROYALS 4, ORIOLES 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Brian Bannister allowed two singles in eight innings and Kansas City shut out Baltimore to end a 12-game skid against the Orioles.

It was Kansas City's first victory over Baltimore since July 25, 2006.

Bannister struck out five and walked two to end a personal four-game losing streak. He did not allow a runner to reach second. Joakim Soria tossed a perfect ninth to finish Kansas City's fourth shutout of the year.

Bannister (4-4) was 0-4 with an 8.02 ERA and had allowed 33 hits in 211/3 innings over his previous four starts. He held the Orioles to one hit - a Guillermo Quiroz line drive single to right in the third - in the first six innings.

Kansas City 011 000 20x–4 11 2

Baltimore AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Kansas City AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Bynum ss 4   0   0   0   .313      Dejesus lf 4   1   1   0   .314   

Mora dh 4   0   0   0   .252      Grudzi'lanek 2b 4   0   2   0   .313   

Markakis rf 2   0   0   0   .267      AGordon 3b 4   1   1   1   .282   

Huff 3b 4   0   0   0   .262      JGuillen dh 4   1   2   1   .207   

Millar 1b 3   0   0   0   .234      Butler 1b 3   0   2   1   .286   

Scott lf 3   0   1   0   .264      Teahen rf 4   0   1   1   .263   

AJones cf 3   0   0   0   .223      Olivo c 4   0   2   0   .262   

Quiroz c 2   0   1   0   .194      Callaspo ss 3   0   0   0   .275   

LHernandez 2b 2   0   0   0   .250      Pena Jr. ss 1   0   0   0   .160   

a-Cintron ph-2b 1   0   0   0   .000      Gathright cf 3   1   0   0   .247   

Totals 28   0   2   0         Totals 34   4   11   4      

Quiroz reached first on catcher's interference.a-grounded out for L.Hernandez in the 8th. E: AGordon (5), Olivo (1). LOB: Baltimore 4, Kansas City 8. 2B: Grudzielanek (8), JGuillen (11). RBIs: AGordon (19), JGuillen (17), Butler (15), Teahen (9). CS: Mora (4). GIDP: LHernandez, Callaspo. RLSP: Kansas City 6 (Dejesus 2, JGuillen, Teahen 2, Callaspo). RA: Teahen, Olivo. DP: Baltimore 1 (Burres, Bynum and Millar); Kansas City 2 (Grudzielanek, Callaspo and Butler), (Olivo, Callaspo, Butler, Grudzielanek and Callaspo).

Baltimore walks (2): Markakis 2.

Kansas City walks (2): Butler, Gathright.

Baltimore strikeouts (6): Bynum, Mora, Markakis 2, Huff, Scott.

Kansas City strikeouts (3): AGordon, JGuillen, Gathright.

Baltimore IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Burres (L) 6   9   4   4   2   1   103   3.59   

Sarfate 1   2   0   0   0   1   23   3.78   

Cormier 1   0   0   0   0   1   13   1.93   

Kansas City IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Bannister (W) 8   2   0   0   2   5   110   3.75   

Soria 1   0   0   0   0   1   10   0.00   

W: Bannister, 4-4. L: Burres, 3-4. .

Burres pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. IR-S: Sarfate 2-2.Balk–Burres. Umpires: Home, Jim Joyce; First, Jeff Nelson; Second, Adrian Johnson; Third, Tim Tschida.

T: 2:36. A: 18,635 (38,030).

MARINERS 6, WHITE SOX 3

SEATTLE - Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Seattle snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory against Chicago.

Jose Lopez and Ichiro Suzuki each went 3 for 4 for the Mariners, who finished with 13 hits. It was Seattle's most hits since it collected 10 in a 7-3 win over Texas last Monday.

Ibanez connected on a 3-0 pitch from Gavin Floyd with two outs in the third for his sixth homer of the season. The blast gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead.

Seattle 102 200 01x–6 13 0

Chicago AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Seattle AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

OCabrera ss 5   1   4   0   .231      ISuzuki cf 4   2   3   0   .292   

Quentin lf 5   1   2   1   .298      Cairo 1b 3   0   1   2   .136   

Thome dh 4   0   1   1   .220      Beltre 3b 4   0   0   0   .254   

Konerko 1b 4   0   1   0   .227      Ibanez lf 3   1   1   2   .291   

Pierzynski c 4   0   1   1   .296      JoLopez 2b 4   0   3   0   .303   

Crede 3b 4   0   1   0   .254      JClement dh 3   0   0   0   .125   

Swisher rf 4   0   0   0   .202      Johjima c 4   1   2   0   .208   

BAnderson cf 4   0   0   0   .244      Balentien rf 4   1   1   0   .238   

Uribe 2b 3   1   1   0   .194      YBetancourt ss 4   1   2   2   .267   

Totals 37   3   11   3         Totals 33   6   13   6      

E: Swisher (3). LOB: Chicago 13, Seattle 9. 2B: Pierzynski (10), Uribe (6), ISuzuki (7), Cairo (1), JoLopez (8), Balentien (2), YBetancourt (8). HR: Ibanez (6), off GFloyd. RBIs: Quentin (29), Thome (22), Pierzynski (14), Cairo 2 (3), Ibanez 2 (25), YBetancourt 2 (11). SB: ISuzuki (16). S: ISuzuki. GIDP: Quentin, Beltre, JClement, Balentien. RLSP: Chicago 7 (Pierzynski 2, Swisher 3, BAnderson 2); Seattle 6 (Beltre 2, JoLopez 2, YBetancourt 2). RA: Cairo. DP: Chicago 3 (GFloyd, Pierzynski and Konerko), (OCabrera, Uribe and Konerko), (Konerko, OCabrera and Logan); Seattle 1 (Johjima and YBetancourt).

Chicago walks (5): Thome, Konerko, Pierzynski, Crede, Swisher.

Seattle walks (4): Cairo, Beltre, Ibanez, JClement.

Chicago strikeouts (10): OCabrera, Quentin 2, Thome 2, Konerko 2, Swisher 2, BAnderson.

Seattle strikeouts (2): ISuzuki, Johjima.

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

GFloyd (L) 32/3   9   5   5   2   0   74   3.32   

Masset 21/3   0   0   0   2   2   30   4.26   

Logan 1   1   0   0   0   0   8   3.21   

Wassermann 1   3   1   1   0   0   17   23.63   

Seattle IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Batista (W) 51/3   10   3   3   3   6   114   5.58   

Rhodes (H) 2/3   0   0   0   1   1   12   3.52   

SGreen (H) 1   0   0   0   0   0   13   1.69   

Morrow (H) 1   1   0   0   0   2   14   1.23   

Putz (S) 1   0   0   0   1   1   24   5.63   

W: Batista, 3-4. L: GFloyd, 3-2. S: Putz, 3. H: SGreen, 3. H: Rhodes, 2. H: Morrow, 2.

IR-S: Masset 2-0, Rhodes 2-0. IBB: off Rhodes (Konerko) 1. HBP: by GFloyd (Cairo), by Batista (Uribe). WP: Rhodes. Umpires: Home, Brian Gorman; First, Scott Barry; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Gerry Davis. T: 3:03. A: 30,346 (47,447).

TWINS 9, RED SOX 8

MINNEAPOLIS - So much for small ball.

Craig Monroe went 2 for 4 with two of light-hitting Minnesota's three home runs and four RBIs, and the Twins hung on for a victory over Boston.

Joe Nathan gave up two runs in the ninth, but won a showdown with pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez by getting him to ground out to shortstop with the tying run on second base to pick up his 12th save in as many chances.

Minnesota 052 100 10x–9 10 1

Boston AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Minnesota AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Ellsbury lf 4   1   0   0   .268      CaGomez cf 5   0   1   0   .269   

Pedroia 2b 4   1   1   0   .305      Tolbert 2b 5   0   0   0   .274   

Ortiz dh 4   0   2   0   .241      Mauer c 4   1   1   0   .330   

Youkilis 1b 5   1   2   1   .322      Morneau 1b 3   2   3   0   .286   

Lowell 3b 4   1   1   1   .279      Cuddyer rf 3   1   1   0   .264   

JDrew rf 5   1   2   1   .284      Monroe dh 4   2   2   4   .284   

Crisp cf 5   2   2   3   .317      DYoung lf 3   1   0   0   .265   

Cash c 4   1   2   1   .375      Lamb 3b 3   1   1   2   .238   

a-MRamirez ph 1   0   0   0   .299      Everett ss 4   1   1   2   .200   

Cora ss 4   0   3   0   .857      Totals 34   9   10   8      

Totals 40   8   15   7                        

a-grounded out for Cash in the 9th. E: Lowell (2), Tolbert (3). LOB: Boston 9, Minnesota 6. 2B: JDrew (5), Cora (1), Cuddyer (5). 3B: Crisp (1). HR: Crisp (2), off Guerrier; Everett (1), off Wakefield; Monroe 2 (4), off Timlin, Wakefield. RBIs: Youkilis (30), Lowell (9), JDrew (17), Crisp 3 (10), Cash (5), Monroe 4 (13), Lamb 2 (15), Everett 2 (4). SB: Crisp (6), CaGomez (16). SF: Lowell. GIDP: Pedroia, Cuddyer. RLSP: Boston 5 (Ortiz, Lowell 2, JDrew, MRamirez); Minnesota 3 (Mauer, DYoung 2). RA: Ellsbury. DP: Boston 1 (Cora and Youkilis); Minnesota 1 (Everett, Tolbert and Morneau).

Boston walks (1): Ortiz.

Minnesota walks (5): Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, DYoung, Lamb.

Boston strikeouts (5): Ortiz, Youkilis, Lowell 2, Cash.

Minnesota strikeouts (4): CaGomez 2, Tolbert, Cuddyer.

Boston IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Wakefield (L) 22/3   7   7   6   2   2   74   4.25   

Tavarez 11/3   1   1   0   2   1   30   6.39   

Aardsma 2   1   0   0   1   1   27   2.33   

Timlin 12/3   1   1   1   0   0   17   10.00   

JLopez 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   7   3.38   

Minnesota IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Blackburn (W) 6   9   4   4   1   5   93   3.93   

Guerrier 1   2   2   2   0   0   16   3.86   

DReyes (H) 1   1   0   0   0   0   10   0.00   

Nathan (S) 1   3   2   2   0   0   26   1.93   

W: Blackburn, 3-2. L: Wakefield, 3-2. S: Nathan, 12. H: DReyes, 4.

IR-S: Tavarez 1-0. HBP: by Blackburn (Pedroia), by Blackburn (Ellsbury). WP: Wakefield. PB–Cash 2. Umpires: Home, Marty Foster; First, Derryl Cousins; Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Eric Cooper.

T: 3:04. A: 26,511 (46,632).