The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS - After playing 27 innings in 27 hours, the Oakland Athletics were just glad to be going home. Going home with two victories was a bonus.

Mark Kotsay and Scott Hatteberg each drove in two runs, and Rich Harden gave the Oakland bullpen a rest in the Athletics' 8-2 victory Monday over the Minnesota Twins.

A day after each team used seven pitchers in Oakland's 18-inning victory, starters Harden and Kyle Lohse each pitched into the seventh. The A's took three of four from Minnesota in a matchup of AL division leaders and completed a 7-4 road trip that included series against the Rangers and Yankees.

"If I told you I wasn't sore and wasn't feeling it, I'd be lying," said Kotsay, who played all 27 innings in center field for the Athletics on Sunday and Monday. "But you have to be professional about it. We know what we have to do to get ourselves ready to play."

The game also marked the debut of Oakland reliever Jairo Garcia, who began the season in Class-A and worked his way up to the big leagues in time to pitch two scoreless innings, further sparing the Athletics' worn-out bullpen.

"For a guy who woke up at 3 a.m., got on a plane and flew out here today, he gave us a couple of innings we desperately needed," manager Ken Macha said.

Garcia wasn't the only player who needed a wakeup call after the teams went 11 innings in the series opener on Friday, then played for 4 hours, 57 minutes on Sunday.

"The guys were going around the clubhouse saying, 'Let's get going here, we've only got nine innings to play,' " Macha said.

Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez said his body probably would have a delayed reaction to the stress of the weekend.

"Surprisingly, I felt pretty decent this morning," Chavez said. "I don't think there was enough time for my body to feel the aches and pains. It's probably a good thing we jumped right back into it."

Devil Rays 8, Red Sox 3

BOSTON - Aubrey Huff hit one of Tampa Bay's four homers and the Devil Rays handed Curt Schilling his first home loss this season, snapping a nine-game road losing streak. Schilling was 7-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 11 previous starts for Boston at Fenway Park.

Toby Hall hit a two-run homer, and Tino Martinez and Julio Lugo each added a solo shot for Tampa Bay, which had been 0-3 and had scored just three runs in 23 1/3 innings against Schilling this season.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4

NEW YORK - Gabe Gross connected off Esteban Loaiza for his first major league home run, Josh Towers took a shutout into the seventh inning and Toronto won in John Gibbons' first game as manager to stop a five-game losing streak.

A day after Toronto fired manager Carlos Tosca and replaced him with Gibbons for the rest of the season, the last-place Blue Jays (48-64) built a 5-0 lead in winning the finale of the four-game series.

Orioles 7, Rangers 3

BALTIMORE - Melvin Mora homered twice and drove in three runs, and Baltimore extended its winning streak to seven in completing a four-game sweep.

Larry Bigbie also connected for the Orioles, who completed their first 7-0 homestand since September 1969. Baltimore, which began the run with three wins over Seattle, moved within four games of .500 (53-57) for the first time since June 13.

Rockies 4, Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA - Vinny Castilla's tiebreaking, two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning lifted Colorado. The Phillies fell six games behind NL East-leading Atlanta in their first home game since starting a 13-game road trip just a half-game back of the Braves. Philadelphia trails Chicago by 3 1/2 games in the wild-card race.