Dice-K Blanks Tribe; Maine Leads Mets with Arm, Bat

American League The Red Sox remain the team to beat in the AL. with a combined 19-14 record against the Yankees, Mariners, Tigers, Angels and Indians, though the Mariners (4-2) and Tigers (4-3) hold a winning edge thus far over Boston. Including yesterday's game, the Sox are 4-1 against the Indians, 7-5 vs. the Yankees and 3-0 against the Angels. Boston's 61-39 record is the best in the majors and they lead the Yankees by the largest margin of any division, 7 1/2 games. Boston 1 Cleveland 0 - The Boston Red Sox continued their dominance over other contenders (and pretenders) in the American League, as Daisuke Matsuzaka (12-7, right) outdueled C.C. Sabathia (13-5), the only run of the game coming in the 4th inning, when Mike Lowell singled home Kevin Youkilis. Matsuzaka allowed just 4 hits over 7 innings, walking 3 and striking out 5. Sabathia allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. Johnathan Papelbon picked up his 23rd save with a perfect 9th. Minnesota 0 Toronto 7 - The Twins continued their slow slide in the Central division, now 8 1/2 games behind Detroit (they actually picked up 1/2 game as Detroit dropped a pair to the White Sox), as Dustin McGowan (7-5) blanked them over 7 1/3 innings, getting the Blue Jays to an even 50 wins and 50 losses for the season. Detroit 3 Chi White Sox 5 - Paul Konerko's 6th inning 2-run homer provided the winning margin for the White Sox in the first half of their double-dip with Detroit. It was Konerko's 22nd home run of the season. Detroit 7 Chi White Sox 8 - The Tigers' bullpen blew a 6-1 lead as Jim Thome's 17th home run - a 3-run, 7th inning blast - highlighted a rally as the Sox scored 2 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th. Despite the twin losses, Detroit remains the AL Central leader, 1 1/2 clear of Cleveland. Other AL Scores Seattle 1 Texas 2 Seattle 3 Texas 4 - Mariners lose 5th straight Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 3 NY Yankees 9 Kansas City 4 - Yankees have won 5 straight Oakland 4 LA Angels 3 National League Pittsburgh 4 NY Mets 8 - John Maine (right) allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings and cracked a 2-run homer in the 4th inning to aid his own cause as the Mets won for the 4th time in their last 5 games. Maine improved to 11-5, and the Mets retained their 3-game lead over Atlanta. New York will look to expand their edge this week as they have 2 more games with the Pirates before hosting a four-game set with the last place Nationals over the weekend. Chi Cubs 4 St. Louis 3 - Carlos Zambrano (13-7) became the NL's first 13-game winner and the Cubs remain 3 behind Milwaukee in NL Central. Aramis Ramirez continued his red-hot play, going 4-5, for his 5th multi-hit game in his last 9, boosting his batting average to .321. Over that span, he's driven in 13 runs. Other NL Scores Washington 3 Philadelphia 4 Milwaukee 5 Cincinnati 3 - F. Cordero, S (32), leads majors LA Dodgers 4 Houston 7 San Diego 5 Colorado 3 - Padres trail Dodgers by 1 in NL West Florida 3 Arizona 9 Atlanta 7 San Francisco 5, 13 innings - B. Bonds, 1-5, no home runs