AL roundup: Matt Joyce's grand slam gives Rays win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Matt Joyce's pinch-hit grand slam capped a seven-run eighth inning, rallying the Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-6 victory over Minnesota on Saturday and spoiling a big day for Twins slugger Jim Thome.

Thome homered twice to move past Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew into 10th place on the career list. Francisco Liriano struck out 10 and allowed just one run in seven innings, but Minnesota's normally reliable bullpen couldn't hold a 4-1 lead in the eighth.

Thome has 574 home runs, but it was Joyce's first in more than a year that proved the difference.

The Twins scored twice in the ninth on a double by Thome and a single by Denard Span, but Rafael Soriano got Orlando Hudson to ground out for his 20th save in 21 chances.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire went to Matt Guerrier (1-4) for the fifth time in seven days, and his first two pitches were an RBI single by Evan Longoria and a double by Willy Aybar that tied the game at 4.

Randy Choate (1-2) pitched one inning for the win.

Joe Mauer had three hits and Justin Morneau hit a two-run homer for the Twins.

YANKEES 11, BLUE JAYS 3: At New York, Brett Gardner hit his first career grand slam and Alex Rodriguez drove in four more runs during the Yankees' biggest offensive inning in five years, carrying New York to a rout of Toronto. The high-powered Yankees scored 11 times during their 37-minute third inning, sending 15 batters to the plate. It was their most prolific outburst since scoring 13 times in the eighth against Tampa Bay on June 21, 2005. Gardner's slam chased Ricky Romero (6-5) after 2 2-3 innings, the shortest start of his career. He allowed eight of the 11 runs, the most given up by Toronto in an inning since Kansas City also scored 11 times in the seventh on Aug. 6, 1979. Andy Pettitte (10-2) limited the Blue Jays to Jose Bautista's two-run homer in the first and Alex Gonzalez's solo shot in the sixth.

TIGERS 6, MARINERS 1: At Detroit, Justin Verlander struck out 10 in seven strong innings and Brandon Inge drove in three runs to help the Tigers.

The victory, coupled with Minnesota's loss, left the Tigers and Twins tied atop the AL Central. Verlander (10-5) struck out the side in the first and third and allowed just four baserunners in the first six innings. He allowed the only Seattle run in the seventh but averted further damage by getting Chone Figgins to ground out with the bases loaded. Ryan Raburn and Magglio Ordonez hit consecutive doubles to start a four-run outburst in the fifth that chased Seattle starter Jason Vargas (6-4).