Romero, Blue Jays too much for Phils

TORONTO (AP) Ricky Romero held Philadelphia hitless for six innings and Aaron Hill hit a two-run double in Toronto's 6-1 victory on Friday night.

The rookie left-hander gave up a hit to Chase Utley leading off the seventh and Jayson Werth followed with an infield single for the Phillies, losers of 11 of 13. Romero got Ryan Howard to hit into a double play and John Mayberry to fly out to center to finish the inning.

Romero (5-3) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out seven.

Jeremy Accardo worked a perfect eighth and Dirk Hayhurst finished the three-hitter, allowing Werth's sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Toronto won for the fourth time in five games and has beaten the Phillies in six straight.

The Blue Jays scored three runs in the third against left-hander Cole Hamels (4-4), who is winless in four starts. Hill hit a two-run double, stole third and scored on Rolen's sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.

Red Sox 4, Braves 1

ATLANTA (AP) Josh Beckett threw seven more scoreless innings against Atlanta and David Ortiz homered for Boston.

Beckett (9-3) has faced the Braves twice in the past seven days and still hasn't given up a run. He threw a five-hit, no-walk shutout at Fenway Park last weekend. This time, he allowed six hits, struck out six and didn't walk anyone.

Ortiz is hitting .333 over his last 17 games, with seven homers and 14 RBIs, though he's still batting just .218 overall.

The Red Sox have won 17 of 23 to strengthen their hold on first place in the AL East. The Braves lost their third straight and 11th in the last 16.

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (5-6) allowed three earned runs in eight innings.

Ortiz broke up a scoreless duel in the fifth, leading off with his eighth homer of the season and 297th of his career.

Indians 9, Reds 2

CLEVELAND (AP) Jeremy Sowers pitched into the eighth inning for his first win as a starter this season and Ryan Garko hit a two-run homer to lead Cleveland to its second win in 10 games.

Sowers (2-5), who began the season in Triple-A, allowed two runs and six hits in his longest outing since Sept. 9, when he went eight in a win at Baltimore. The left-hander's only previous win came on May 25, when he worked five shutout innings of relief as the Indians overcame a 10-0 deficit to beat Tampa Bay 11-10

Garko homered in the fourth off Aaron Harang (5-8) and Victor Martinez added a solo shot in the fifth as the Indians built a 9-0 lead.

Martinez's 14th homer in the fifth made it 5-0, and the Indians scored two more in the inning to chase Harang, who was charged with five earned runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings and remains winless since May 25.

Pirates 5, Royals 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) Virgil Vasquez went six innings for his first major league win and Pittsburgh got home runs from three unlikely power sources.

Vasquez (1-0), recalled by the Pirates after Thursday's game to make his first start since Aug. 31, 2007, allowed two runs and four hits while striking out seven.

Nyjer Morgan, Jason Jaramillo and Jack Wilson homered for Pittsburgh, which has won three straight since snapping a five-game losing streak.

Mark Teahen hit his ninth homer and Miguel Olivo went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Royals, who have lost seven of nine.

Matt Capps converted his 11th consecutive save opportunity and 17th overall.

Orioles 11,

Nationals 1

BALTIMORE (AP) Rookie Brad Bergesen allowed four hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision and Melvin Mora had four RBIs for Baltimore.

Aubrey Huff drove in three runs, and Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold all had three hits for the Orioles, who used an eight-run sixth inning to turn the game into a rout.

A crowd of 45,024 the biggest at Camden Yards since opening day showed up for this interleague matchup between last-place clubs.

Cubs 5, White Sox 4

CHICAGO (AP) Geovany Soto hit a three-run homer to back another solid start by Randy Wells and the Cubs broke a four-game losing streak.

Milton Bradley of the Cubs went after the Gatorade cooler in the dugout after he flied out in the top of the sixth, had an angry exchange with manager Lou Piniella in the tunnel and was told to go home. Ryan Freel replaced him in right field in the bottom half.

Fresh off the revelation that he tested positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic, Soto hit a three-run homer off Jose Contreras (2-7) in the seventh to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead.

Wells (2-3) won his second straight start, allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Jim Thome hit his 554th homer for the White Sox and added a two-run double in the eighth. Kevin Gregg earned his 12th save in 15 chances.