BOSTON - Paul Byrd allowed four hits in seven innings as the Los Angeles Angels held on to their lead in the West by beating the Red Sox 3-0 Thursday night and avoiding a three-game sweep.
Byrd got his second straight win. He retired 13 consecutive batters before John Olerud's slow-bouncing infield single to lead off the seventh.
Loser Matt Clement had won three straight decisions.
Byrd was coasting until Kevin Millar led off the eighth with a double and Bill Mueller walked. With pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez coming up, the Angels called in Scot Shields.
Shields got Ramirez, who didn't start so he could rest for a weekend series against the Yankees, on a called third strike and, after loading the bases with a walk to Johnny Damon, got Edgar Renteria and David Ortiz looking. Ramirez is 4-for-27 in his past seven games.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 35th save. Boston put runners on first and second with one out, but Millar struck out on a 3-and-2 pitch. Mueller loaded the bases with a walk, and pinch-hitter Roberto Petagine struck out on three pitches.
Clement started with three perfect innings before Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera hit doubles to start the fourth and make it 1-0. Garret Anderson hit a fly ball that rightfielder Trot Nixon caught against the wall in foul territory, and Cabrera tagged up to take third.
But the runner was called out when the Red Sox appealed that he had left second too early. Angels manager Mike Scioscia and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher were ejected arguing - correctly, replays showed - that Cabrera waited until Nixon caught the ball.
INDIANS 4, TIGERS 2: Host Cleveland got home runs from Aaron Boone, Casey Blake and Coco Crisp and moved into the wild-card lead. Boone's two-run homer off Nate Robertson tied it at 2 in the fifth and Blake and Crisp connected in the sixth. Cleveland's last 15 runs have all come via homers.
ROYALS 4, WHITE SOX 2: J.P. Howell combined with three relievers on a two-hitter and Angel Berroa had a go-ahead homer as Kansas City finally broke through in Chicago's home park. The Royals were 0-8 at Chicago. Howell, who has shuttled between Triple A and the majors this season, outpitched Freddy Garcia.
National League
CARDINALS 5, METS 0: Chris Carpenter became the first 21-game winner in the major leagues and Albert Pujols homered twice for host St. Louis. New York has lost 10 of 12 after a 9-2 stretch. St. Louis cut the magic number for clinching its second straight Central title to 10. Carpenter (21-4) lowered his ERA to 2.21, second in the NL to Roger Clemens' 1.57.
PADRES 3, ROCKIES 2 (10): Robert Fick singled in the winning run with two outs for host San Diego. Brian Lawrence, Akinori Otsuka, Trevor Hoffman and Scott Linebrink combined on a five-hitter. Ramon Hernandez, who returned to the starting lineup Wednesday, had three hits for the Padres.
PIRATES 8, D'BACKS 7 (12) Humberto Cota singled home the winning run in the 12th and Pittsburgh overcame Tony Clark's two homers and five RBIs. Pittsburgh was within two outs of losing after Clark's second homer, a three-run go-ahead drive in the ninth, when Jason Bay hit a tying two-run shot in the bottom of the inning off Tim Worrell. MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 4: Josh Beckett hit his first career home run, and Miguel Cabrera and Juan Pierre drove in three runs each for visiting Florida. Loser John Patterson had been 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA in 15 starts at RFK Stadium. The Marlins stole four bases on catcher Brian Schneider, and the first two led to runs. Florida won three straight, outscoring Washington 24-7, after losing the series opener.
CUBS 5, GIANTS 3: Nomar Garciaparra hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh and Carlos Zambrano struck out his last five batters in Chicago's sixth road victory in seven games. Michael Barrett hit a first-inning homer and Garciaparra drove in three runs for the Cubs, who blew an early three-run lead before rallying against Noah Lowry, who had won his last six starts.[Last modified September 9, 2005, 01:15:03]
