White downs Red in battle of the Sox

BOSTON — Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings and Carlos Lee drove in three runs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox 7-2 Sunday to remain tied for the AL Central lead.

Chicago and Minnesota, which beat Cleveland 5-3, lead third-place Kansas City by 3 1/2 games. The Red Sox, who lost their second straight game, remained 5 1/2 games behind the AL-East leading Yankees.

Buehrle (13-13) had a 2-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, thanks to Roberto Alomar's leadoff double and Lee's 30th homer. Buehrle allowed two runs and seven hits.

It was the seventh time in eight starts that Buehrle allowed two runs or fewer, and he improved to 11-3 in his last 18 starts.

ANGELS 2, MARINERS 1: At Seattle, the Mariners missed a chance to take over the AL wild-card lead Sunday when Tim Salmon hit a run-scoring single and Scott Spiezio followed with an RBI double in the eighth inning to give Anaheim the victory.

Seattle came close to tying it in the ninth, putting a runner on third with one out. But Mike Cameron struck out looking against Troy Percival and Randy Winn popped up to end it.

The Mariners remained a half-game behind Boston for the wild card. The Red Sox lost to Chicago.

DEVIL RAYS 5, YANKEES 2: At New York, Marlon Anderson's two-out single snapped an eighth-inning tie, and Tampa Bay took advantage of a throwing error by Enrique Wilson and New York's shaky bullpen for a 5-2 victory on Sunday.

Toby Hall added a two-run double as the Devil Rays scored three unearned runs in the eighth to end New York's eight-game winning streak. Rocco Baldelli homered for Tampa Bay, which snapped a five-game skid and avoided its 90th loss.

Derek Jeter hit a two-run shot for the Yankees.

TWINS 5, INDIANS 3: At Cleveland, Doug Mientkiewicz hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Minnesota overcame a bizarre injury to right fielder Michael Ryan to defeat Cleveland. Mientkiewicz also hit a two-run homer for the Twins.

It was a 3-all in the Cleveland seventh when Jhonny Peralta led off with a fly ball to right-center that Ryan apparently lost in the sun. Ryan shaded his eyes, then lowered his glove and the ball bounced off the side of his face — but was caught on the rebound by center fielder Dustan Mohr for the out. Ryan walked to the dugout for treatment and was replaced by Torii Hunter.