Major League Baseball star pitcher Johan Santana set a Minnesota Twins' franchise record Sunday with 17 strikeouts.
Santana worked eight innings, leading the Twins to a 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers.
In another American League contest, the New York Yankees won their third straight game against the defending league champion Tigers, thumping Detroit, 9-3.
The surging Yankees pulled to within four games of Boston for the East division lead, after the Red Sox dropped a 3-1 decision to the Los Angeles Angels.
Tampa Bay's Joel Guzman drove in a game-ending run in the 12th inning, giving the Devil Rays a 4-3 win over the Central division-leading Cleveland Indians.
Toronto's Aaron Hill hit a game-ending sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. The Oakland Athletics tripped up the Kansas City Royals, 6-1. And the Seattle Mariners defeated the Chicago White Sox, 11-5.
In the National League, Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz became the Braves' all-time strikeout leader as Atlanta beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2. The New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with an 8-2 outcome. The San Francisco Giants edged the Florida Marlins, 6-5.
The Cincinnati Reds eked out a 7-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 5-3. The Los Angeles Dodgers got by the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. And the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit against Philadelphia for the second straight day to beat the Phillies, 8-4.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
