BOSTON -Howie Kendrick homered and added an RBI blooper to break a ninth-inning tie, and Brian Fuentes protected the lead as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Thursday night.
One night after Fuentes presided over a collapse with two outs in the ninth, he helped the Angels snap the Red Soxs seven-game winning streak and hand them their first loss at Fenway in 11 games. Kevin Jepsen (6-3) got four outs, then Fuentes got the last two batters to earn his 42nd save and end Los Angeles three-game losing streak.
Billy Wagner (1-1) walked Juan Rivera to lead off the ninth, then pinch-hitter Reggie Willits sacrifice bunted him to second. Kendrick blooped his third hit of the night over the second basemans head to make it 4-3 and help the Angels avoid a September sweep by their likely first-round playoff opponent.
Royals 9, Tigers 2
DETROIT – Zack Greinke lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.14 with five scoreless innings for Kansas City.
Greinke (14-8) allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two. He has allowed only one earned run in his past four starts, lowering his ERA from 2.43.
The Tigers (78-68) AL Central lead over second-place Minnesota (74-72) was cut to four games. Detroit starts a three-game series at the Metrodome on Friday.
Miguel Olivo and Josh Anderson hit three-run homers for the Royals, and Willie Bloomquist had four hits.
Edwin Jackson (12-7) gave up five runs and six hits in five innings.
Rays 3, Orioles 0
BALTIMORE – Wade Davis threw a four-hit shutout to earn his first major league win and Tampa Bay earned a split of the four-game series.
Evan Longoria had three hits and drove in a run for the Rays, who put a positive finish on a dreadful road trip. Tampa Bay went 2-9 against AL East foes New York, Boston and Baltimore.
Making his third big league start, Davis (1-1) struck out 10 and walked two in his first complete game. Davis capped his outstanding performance by striking out the side in the ninth. He threw 124 pitches.
Baltimores Mark Hendrickson (5-5) gave up two runs and five hits over 3 1-3 innings in his first start since May 12. The left-hander was removed from the rotation after going 1-4, then made 42 relief appearances.
