Red Sox Go Long to Defeat Rangers

Manny Ramirez hit two of Boston’s five home runs and the Red Sox used a season-high 21 hits to rout the Texas Rangers, 14-6, Saturday night at Fenway Park for their fifth consecutive victory.

Boston’s Nos. 1-4 hitters -- Johnny Damon, Mark Bellhorn, Nomar Garciaparra and Ramirez -- went a combined 15 for 21 with four homers and 10 RBIs.

Derek Lowe (7-8) got off to a rough start, giving up six unearned runs in the second inning -- including Hank Blalock’s grand slam. But the Rangers’ 6-3 lead didn’t last long. The Red Sox scored five runs off Kenny Rogers (12-3) in the bottom of the second.

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Oakland 16, Cleveland 7 -- At Cleveland, pinch-hitter Erubiel Durazo hit a grand slam to help Mark Mulder win his 10th consecutive decision. Mulder (12-2) was sharp early, then gave up six runs over 6 2/3 innings. He still managed to tie San Francisco’s Jason Schmidt for the longest winning streak in the majors this season.

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Chicago 3, Seattle 2 -- Mark Buehrle (9-2) pitched eight effective innings and Paul Konerko hit his 22nd homer to lead the White Sox at Chicago. The Mariners have lost a season-high eight in a row. It’s their longest losing streak since September 1992, when they lost a club-record 14 in a row.

The Mariners designated shortstop Rich Aurilia for assignment. He was batting .241 with four home runs and 28 RBIs.

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Baltimore 7, Kansas City 2 -- Rookie right-hander Daniel Cabrera (6-3) yielded three hits over seven innings at Baltimore, and Rafael Palmeiro hit his 541st home run to lead the Orioles, who ended a three-game skid to avoid falling 12 games under .500 for the first time this season.

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New York 6, Tampa Bay 3 -- Derek Jeter’s three-run double broke a seventh-inning tie at Yankee Stadium, and Alex Rodriguez homered into the left-field upper deck to lead the Yankees.

Jon Lieber (7-5) pitched seven innings to win his second consecutive outing. The Devil Rays fell to 4-7 in July after going 20-6 in June.

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Detroit 4, Minnesota 2 -- Dmitri Young hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning at Minneapolis. Ivan Rodriguez, Omar Infante and Marcus Thames also hit home runs as the Tigers won their 41st game, only two short of their total for 2003 when they lost a league-record 119 games.

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Cleveland right-hander Jake Westbrook was added to the American League All-Star team, replacing Boston’s Curt Schilling. Westbrook (6-4) ranks fourth in the league with a 3.21 earned-run average.