The Associated Press

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox had one of their greatest offensive performances ever Friday night in a 25-8 victory marred by a frightening injury to Florida Marlins pitcher Kevin Olsen.

Boston set a major league record by scoring 10 runs before making an out and cruised to an easy victory. But Fenway Park fell silent when Todd Walker's seventh-inning line drive hit Olsen on or just behind the right ear.

Olsen lay on the mound for nine minutes and moved his feet and blinked before being carried from the field on a stretcher.

Olsen's injury was considered minor and he was in good condition, according to Dr. Richard Wolfe. Olsen was to be kept overnight at the hospital for observation.

The Red Sox equaled the AL mark for runs in the first inning with 14, one shy of the major league mark set by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952, and raised their batting average from .294 to .297 in that inning alone.

The Red Sox tied a club record of 28 hits set on June 8, 1950, against the St. Louis Browns. They won that game 29-4, the only other time they scored more than 24 runs.

For the game, Bill Mueller had a career-high six RBI, Jason Varitek had four and Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Walker three each.

Boston went 13-for-14 in the inning with six extra-base hits, including a three-run homer by Ramirez, his 17th of the season. Nomar Garciaparra, the 12th batter, made the first out on a foul popup to catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

The other two outs came on Millar's sacrifice fly and left fielder Miguel Cabrera's throw to Rodriguez that caught Mueller trying to score for the final out.

White Sox 4, Cubs 3

CHICAGO - Jose Valentin hit a one-out homer in the bottom of the ninth to lift the White Sox.

Valentin sent a pitch from Antonio Alfonseca (0-1) well over the fence in right center for his 11th homer of the season, raising his arms in triumph and sprinting happily around the bases before he was mobbed at the plate.

The White Sox have won of five of their last seven.

Rangers 10, Astros 7

HOUSTON - Rafael Palmeiro hit his 508th career homer, a three-run shot to power Texas.

Houston's David Matranga homered in his first major league at-bat, the 86th player to accomplish the feat.

Palmeiro moved within one homer of Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa for 17th on the career list. The Rangers snapped a 12-game road losing streak and beat the Astros for the second time in nine tries.

Royals 6, Cardinals 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Darrell May earned his first win since last September in his 14th start of the season, and Kansas City extended its winning streak to five games.

May (1-4) had gone 16 starts and 19 appearances without a win since beating the Chicago White Sox 9-6 Sept. 11.

Braves 8, Devil Rays 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Horacio Ramirez won his sixth straight decision and Chipper Jones went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer.

Gary Sheffield and Andruw Jones also homered to give manager Bobby Cox his 1,500th victory with Atlanta. Rafael Furcal hit a three-run double for the NL East-leading Braves (50-27), the first NL team this season to reach 50 wins.

Yankees 6, Mets 4

NEW YORK - Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi hit early two-run doubles and David Wells somehow hung on.

A crowd of 55,226 at Yankee Stadium saw the Yankees improve to 3-0 against the Mets in interleague play this season. The teams will meet in a two-park doubleheader today, starting in the Bronx by day and moving to Shea Stadium at night.

Wells (10-2) won despite allowing 12 hits - one shy of his career high - in six innings.

Diamondbacks 8, Tigers 3

DETROIT - Arizona tied a franchise record with their ninth straight win.

Chad Moeller scored on a wild pitch to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh, then added an RBI single in the eighth for the Diamondbacks, who have had three other nine-game winning streaks, the most recent from August 10-19, 2001.

The Tigers have lost seven in a row and 19 of 21. They are now a season-worst 41 games under .500 at 18-59.

Blue Jays 6, Expos 5

TORONTO - Montreal reliever Julio Manon walked Shannon Stewart with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay failed to win his 12th straight start, allowing five runs on nine hits in eight innings for a no-decision. He was trying to become only the fourth pitcher since 1950 to win 12 consecutive starts - Bob Gibson, Pat Dobson and Brad Radke have done it.

Brewers 13, Twins 1

MINNEAPOLIS - Matt Kinney allowed eight hits in his first career complete game, and Richie Sexson had three hits and five RBI for Milwaukee.

Sexson, John Vander Wal, Brooks Kieschnick and Eddie Perez each homered and Scott Podsednik had a career-high three hits for the second straight game for the Brewers.