The Associated Press

BOSTON - Manny Ramirez singled and scored before leaving with a bruised knee, and the streaking Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 Friday night for their 10th victory in 11 games.

Ricky Gutierrez singled three times and drove in two runs, and Mark Bellhorn had a pair of hits to help the Red Sox win for the 13th time in 16 games and improve to a season-high 21 games over .500.

The win was tempered by the loss of Ramirez, who fouled a pitch off his left knee. He was day-to-day after X-rays were negative. Ramirez, who leads the AL with 34 homers, tipped a pitch from Mike Maroth off his knee in the fourth inning. He finished his at-bat - lining out to left field - and headed to the dugout.

Derek Lowe (12-10) allowed three runs and seven hits in eight innings, striking out seven. He won for the sixth time in his last eight decisions and improved to 6-1 lifetime against Detroit, his hometown team.

Yankees 8, Blue Jays 7

TORONTO - Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams each homered and New York held off Toronto.

Esteban Loaiza failed to make it out of the fifth inning in another poor start since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a July 31 trade for Jose Contreras.

Loaiza, 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in five starts for the Yankees, is expected to lose his starting job when New York goes back to a five-man rotation after Monday's off day. He allowed four runs on seven hits.

Indians 6, White Sox 3

CLEVELAND - C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in six innings and Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run homer to lead Cleveland to just its second win in its last 12 games. The 24-year-old Sabathia became the first Indians pitcher to win 10 or more games in his first four seasons since Luis Tiant did it for five years, 1964-68.

Sabathia (10-8) tied a career high for strikeouts and won for the first time in three starts. He gave up five hits and two walks and was in command except for a three-run third inning by Chicago.

Chicago's loss was its seventh in nine games, and the White Sox fell one game behind of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central.

Rangers 6, Orioles 4

ARLINGTON, Texas - John Wasdin pitched six strong innings in his return from the minors, and Texas handed Baltimore its 11th consecutive loss.

Rafael Palmeiro was 1-for-3 with a walk in his first game against the team with which he wanted to end his career. Last winter, the Rangers declined to offer salary arbitration to the slugger, who hit his 500th homer in Texas last year.