OAKLAND, Calif. - One of the best pitching matchups of the season turned out to be no contest: Tim Hudson had it all over Pedro Martinez.
Hudson pitched a two-hitter, handing Martinez his first loss in three months as the Athletics pulled even with Boston atop the wild-card race with a 4-0 victory over the Red Sox on Monday night.
Hudson struck out seven and walked one in a masterful display of control and ground-ball pitching. He retired 15 of 16 in the middle innings, and he finished his sixth career shutout by retiring the final seven.
The A's right-hander allowed two infield singles while facing 28 batters and throwing 93 pitches. It was Hudson's third complete game of the season and the 13th of his career.
A crowd of 33,504 stood and cheered after each of Hudson's final three innings.
Chris Singleton and Jose Guillen had run-scoring hits against Martinez, who struck out seven but pitched five innings on an apparently strict pitch count. He hadn't lost since May 9, a span of 13 starts.
Terrence Long hit a two-run homer off reliever Casey Fossum as the A's matched Boston's 68-50 record with their 10th win in 12 games at the Coliseum.
The top clubs in the wild-card race meet seven times in 10 days.
Hudson and Martinez have two of the top three winning percentages in history among pitchers with at least 50 career victories. But this matchup was one-sided in favor of Hudson, who improved to 5-1 over his past seven starts with his fourth straight victory.
Hudson allowed an infield single to Manny Ramirez in the second, but the Boston slugger was erased on a double play. Hudson didn't allow another hit until Nomar Garciaparra's slow-rolling infield single in the seventh. The All-Star shortstop also got erased on a double play.
ROYALS 12, YANKEES 9: Mike DiFelice hit three doubles as host Kansas City combined with New York to set a league record with 19 two-base hits.
The teams broke the league mark of 18 doubles by Cleveland and Minnesota on July 13, 1996. The major-league record is 23 by the Cardinals and Cubs on July 12, 1931.
The Royals won their third in a row, taking advantage of the Yankees' battered bullpen to send New York to its third straight loss.
Yankees starter David Wells lasted three innings in his shortest outing of the season. After the game, manager Joe Torre said Wells was going to New York for tests on his back.
ANGELS 10, WHITE SOX 8: Bengie Molina tied a career high with four RBIs and host Anaheim survived a ninth-inning meltdown by closer Troy Percival.
Down 10-4, Chicago got five straight hits off Percival to start the ninth. Frank Thomas hit his 28th homer, and Jamie Burke's run-scoring single with one out pulled the White Sox within two.
With the bases loaded, Percival struck out Roberto Alomar and retired Carlos Lee on a popup to end it.
BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 3: Vernon Wells homered and Mark Hendrickson held host Seattle to two runs over 62/3 innings. Carlos Delgado hit a two-run single with the bases loaded as Toronto scored four in the third.
TWINS 5, INDIANS 3: Luis Rivas hit a two-run homer and Kyle Lohse pitched smoothly into the ninth to lead Minnesota to its fourth straight victory. Lohse won his third consecutive start.
RANGERS 9, TIGERS 3: Todd Greene's two-run homer keyed a five-run fifth, and Joaquin Benoit pitched five relief innings after a nearly two-hour rain delay to lead host Texas.
