The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas - Chan Ho Park pitched six strong innings in his return from the disabled list and the Rangers equaled their win total from last year by beating the Minnesota Twins 8-3 Thursday night.

Hank Blalock homered for the fifth time in six games. He and Alfonso Soriano each had three RBI for the Rangers, who are 2 1/2 games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West. Texas (71-55) also remained two games behind Boston in the wild-card race.

Park (3-4) allowed two runs and four hits to win for the first time since May 12 against Tampa Bay. He struck out four and walked three. The 31-year-old right-hander went on the disabled list May 20 with a sore back.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4

TORONTO - Alex Rodriguez finally came through in the clutch, hitting a go-ahead single in the ninth inning. After the Yankees came back from a 4-0 deficit to tie it, Derek Jeter drew a leadoff walk from Jason Frasor (4-4) in the ninth. Gary Sheffield doubled before Rodriguez lined an 0-2 pitch down the left-field line for a two-run single and a 6-4 lead. Frustrated by failures with runners on all season, Rodriguez slammed his bat to the turf in satisfaction as he ran to first. "It felt like a grand slam," Rodriguez said. "It was just a sigh of relief." He entered the at-bat hitting just .197 (23-for-117) with runners in scoring position.

Athletics 9, Orioles 4

OAKLAND, Calif. - Erubiel Durazo hit a three-run homer and Eric Chavez also connected for Oakland, who completed a four-game sweep. Barry Zito (10-9) won for the third time in four starts, and the AL-West leading A's earned their ninth win in 10 games. Scott Hatteberg added a three-run double for Oakland, which swept the season series 7-0. The Orioles have lost 10 straight overall, their longest skid since ending the 2002 season with 12 losses.

Red Sox 4, Tigers 1

BOSTON - Bronson Arroyo gave surging Boston another strong start, allowing six hits in 7 1/3 innings. Arroyo (7-9) gave up only an unearned run and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his last 14 starts. Boston remained 5 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees, winning for the ninth time in 10 games and improving to a season-best 20 games over .500 at 73-53.

White Sox 14, Indians 9

CLEVELAND - Carl Everett homered and drove in four runs, leading Chicago over fading Cleveland. Ben Davis hit a two-run homer and Juan Uribe a solo shot for Chicago, which won for just the second time in eight games and tied Cleveland for second place in the AL Central.