Santana, Morneau Lead Twins To Win

Johan Santana and the Minnesota Twins hadn't put together a complete game in a while, so they definitely enjoyed this one. <br/><br/>Santana struck out a season-high 13 in seven innings, Justin Morneau

Wednesday, May 23rd 2007, 7:30 am

By: News On 6

Johan Santana and the Minnesota Twins hadn't put together a complete game in a while, so they definitely enjoyed this one.

Santana struck out a season-high 13 in seven innings, Justin Morneau homered twice and the Twins beat the Texas Rangers 7-1 on Tuesday night.

``We've been struggling to combine good pitching and good hitting,'' Santana said. ``It was definitely good to see.''

Santana (5-4) broke a personal two-game losing streak, shutting down a Texas offense that had produced 28 runs in its two previous games. Santana reached double digits for strikeouts for the 35th time and fell one short of matching his career high.

Sammy Sosa hit his 598th career homer for the Rangers, who struck out 18 times in the game.

Texas was coming off a 14-4 win over the Twins on Monday night.

``We came to batting practice with a lot of confidence knowing Johan was on the mound,'' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. ``He's a guy who can right a ship. He's the best pitcher in the league. When he has the ball, we think we should win.''

In other AL games, it was: Boston 7, New York Yankees 3; Los Angeles Angels 6, Detroit 3; Toronto 6, Baltimore 4; Kansas City 4, Cleveland 3; Seattle 5, Tampa Bay 2; and Chicago White Sox 10, Oakland 4.

At Arlington, Texas, Santana allowed one run and four hits, and walked two, using a sizzling fastball and a changeup that kept the Rangers off balance.

``Santana had his strikeout stuff tonight,'' Texas manager Ron Washington said. ``His changeup is great. His arm action is so good on the changeup that you think you're swinging at a fastball. You tell yourself not to swing at the changeup and he pops that fastball.''

Torii Hunter added a two-run homer in the eighth off C.J. Wilson to extend Minnesota's lead to 7-1.

Kameron Loe (1-4) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings for Texas.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 3

At New York, Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer and Boston jumped on Mike Mussina right away.

Mike Lowell also connected and Julian Tavarez (3-4) won on his 34th birthday, helping the AL East leaders beat their top rivals for the sixth time in eight tries this season.

One night after losing the series opener, Boston extended its cushion over the Yankees to 10 1/2 games once more. The Red Sox have won eight of 10 meetings starting Sept. 17 last year and are 9-3 against New York since a five-game sweep at Fenway Park in August sent the Yankees on the way to their ninth straight division title.

Mussina (2-3) lost his second start in a row following consecutive wins. He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Angels 6, Tigers 3

Orlando Cabrera homered and made a leaping catch to end Detroit's comeback, leading the Angels to their sixth straight victory.

Mike Napoli and Robb Quinlan also homered for visiting Los Angeles. John Lackey (7-3) gave up a run and three hits in five innings, and Rodriguez held on for his 14th save.

Magglio Ordonez homered for Detroit, which had won three in a row. Mike Maroth (3-1) allowed six runs _ five earned _ and seven hits in seven innings.

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 4

Alex Rios had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run in a four-run fifth inning for visiting Toronto.

A.J. Burnett (5-3) allowed four runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings to win his third straight start. Jason Phillips homered for the Blue Jays, who have won five of seven _ including 4-0 against the Orioles.

Daniel Cabrera (3-5) allowed six runs _ five earned _ and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings for Baltimore.

Jeremy Accardo worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Mariners 5, Devil Rays 2

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Richie Sexson hit a two-run single and Yuniesky Betancourt snapped a sixth-inning tie with a solo homer for Seattle.

Jarrod Washburn (4-4) improved to 10-2 lifetime against the Devil Rays, who have lost four straight. The left-hander allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Betancourt's homer off Chad Orvella (0-1) made it 3-2. It was his fourth, and all have come with the score tied.

Seattle's Kenji Johjima hit a solo homer off Gary Glover in the eighth.

J.J. Putz pitched the ninth, earning his 11th save in as many opportunities.

Royals 4, Indians 3

Mark Teahen drew a bases-loaded walk with two out in the seventh inning to force in the winning run for Kansas City.

The Royals won for the seventh time in their last nine games, while the Indians _ whose 17-4 home record is the best in the majors _ fell to 10-12 on the road.

Teahen, who walked on four straight pitches, was the only batter to face reliever Aaron Fultz. He forced in John Buck, who singled with one out against Tom Mastny (3-2).

Mastny opened the seventh in relief of starter Fausto Carmona, whose scoreless streak ended at 19 innings. He got a no-decision after winning his previous five starts.

Zack Greinke (2-4), the fourth pitcher the Royals used in the seventh inning, stayed on through the eighth and earned the win with his fifth straight scoreless relief appearance.

Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 13 tries.

White Sox 10, Athletics 4

Jim Thome hit a three-run homer and finished with five RBIs for the White Sox.

Jermaine Dye added a two-run homer for Chicago, which has scored 28 runs in its last three games. John Danks (3-4) took advantage of the run support, going six innings and allowing three runs _ one earned _ and seven hits.

The White Sox entered the game with the worst average (.230) in the American League and the fewest runs (168), but they broke out in a big way against Colby Lewis, who was called up by Oakland before the game from Triple-A Sacramento.

Lewis (0-1) allowed 10 runs and 12 hits in 3 1-3 innings in his first start since April 17, 2004, with the Texas Rangers.

Marco Scutaro was 3-for-4, including a solo homer in the third inning for the visiting A's, who have lost five of seven.