Beckett, Wang get 18th wins; Pedro shines for Mets

American League Boston 3 Baltimore 2 - Josh Beckett (right) won for the fifth time in his last six decisions, improving to 18-6 while dropping his ERA down to 3.27 with a 7-hit, 2-run performance over 7 innings. Beckett, the leading candidate in the AL for the Cy Young Award, struck out 8 without walking a batter. His BB/K ratio is 4.81, having allowed only 36 free passes while punching out 173 batters in 181 2/3 innings. NY Yankees 6 Kansas City 3 - For the 5th straight game, Alex Rodriguez homered and the Yankees won. Chien-Ming Wang won his 18th against 6 losses to keep New York within 5 1/2 of the 1st-place Red Sox. Rodriguez continues in quite a groove, even for him, stroking his 52nd home run in the first inning with Bobby Abreu aboard, his 7th home run and 10th RBI in the past 5 outings. Wang's win was his fifth straight and 8th in his last 9 decisions. The Yankees also cemented their lead in the wild card standings, now 4 up on Detroit. Seattle 14 Detroit 7 - You want hits? The Seattle Mariners banged out 19 of them, sending Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman to the showers after only 1 1/3 innings, knocking him around for 7 hits and 6 earned runs. Ichiro Suzuki went 3-4 and scored 4 times, but still trails Magglio Ordonez in the AL batting race.

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Suzuki is at .351, while Ordonez went 2-4 and drove in three runs, keeping his lead with a .355 average. The win for Seattle ended a four-game losing streak and got them to within 5 games of the Yankees in the wild card. Detroit remains a game better, 4 behind the Yankees and 6 back of Cleveland in the AL Central. Cleveland 6 LA Angels 2 - The Indians erupted for 5 4th-inning runs off Angels' starter Jered Weaver, highlighted by Ryan Garko's 3-run blast, which gave the Indians an insurmountable lead and a 2-2 split in the series matching likely playoff teams. Despite the loss, the Angels have the biggest lead in the majors, 8 games to the good over Seattle in the West, and the best home record, 49-25. Other AL Scores Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 3 Minnesota 5 Chi White Sox 2 Oakland 9 Texas 12 National League Houston 1 NY Mets 4 - The Mets took another step toward the NL East title, as Pedro Martinez (right) blanked the Astros on 6 hits over 5 innings for his second win without a loss. Martinez is returning from a long stint on the DL, but has solidified the Mets' starting rotation with two quality outings. New York won for the 8th time in their last 10 outings and retained their 6-game bulge over Philly. Florida 5 Philadelphia 8 - Pat Burrell slugged his 27th home run and drove in two as the Phillies continue to dog the Padres in the wild card race. San Diego's lead is now down to just 2 games with 20 left to play. St. Louis 5 Arizona 6 - The Diamondbacks won their 5th straight, sweeping the Cardinals in their 3-game series. Arizona improved their lead in the West over San Diego to 3 games as the Padres took one on the chin in Colorado. Milwaukee 10 Cincinnati 5 - After giving up an early 9 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, the Brewers have battled back and regained first place in the division. The Brewers took little time to establish a lead over the Reds, as the first three hitters - Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun all homered off starter Phil Dumatrait, who pitched to five batters without getting an out before being lifted. Hardy added a pair of doubles. Weeks and Braun each hit another homer in the rout. Braun, the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, has 30 homers and 79 RBI. The Brewers took a one-game lead over the Cubs in the division. St. Louis is 3 back. Other NL Scores Washington 7 Atlanta 4 Chi Cubs 5 Pittsburgh 10 San Diego 2 Colorado 4 LA Dodgers 2 San Francisco 4