Saturday's action on the diamonds

The Toronto Blue Jays have lost plenty of times to the Tampa Bay Rays recently, but not in such a spectacular fashion as they did Saturday afternoon.

Jason Bartlett hit an RBI double in the 12th inning, capping the biggest comeback in Tampa Bay history, and the Rays erased an eight-run deficit to beat the Blue Jays 10-9.

"That was a great game for us," Rays slugger Carlos Pena said. "It's an incredible boost to our confidence."

Down 8-0 after four, Tampa Bay cut it to 9-7 heading into the ninth against closer Scott Downs. The defending AL champions tied it on solo homers by Pena and Willy Aybar, handing Downs his third blown save.

The Blue Jays lost for the seventh time in eight games against the Rays, including an extra-inning loss in Friday's series opener when Downs allowed two runs in the 10th.

"For me, it's embarrassing," Downs said. "Bottom line, it's not executing. Yesterday I beat myself and today it was just bad location."

It's the first time in their 12-year history that the Rays have overcome an eight-run deficit. It matched the largest lead the Blue Jays have squandered, done three times previously.

Dropped to sixth in the order for the first time this season, Pena went 2-for-6 with four RBIs.

"I guess it worked today," he said with a chuckle.

Facing right-hander Shawn Camp (0-5), Ben Zobrist singled to begin the 12th. After a two-out walk to Gabe Gross, Bartlett hit a double that landed on the left-field line, driving home the tiebreaking run.

"It had a lot of hook on it and I didn't know what was going to happen," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We've hit several balls recently just foul or somebody's catching it over the wall. It was nice to have one hit a line."

Elsewhere in the AL it was: Los Angeles 11 Minnesota 5; Oakland 6 New York 4; Detorit 4 Chicago 3 (10 innings); Cleveland 10 Seattle 3; Kansas City 6 Texas 3; and Cleveland 10 Seattle 3.

At Toronto, J.P. Howell (6-2) pitched two innings for the win and Joe Nelson, Tampa Bay's eighth pitcher, finished for his third save.

Toronto used three walks to load the bases with one out in the 12th but Nelson struck out Aaron Hill looking and got Adam Lind on a grounder.

"We're exhausted, but it's better to be exhausted and win than the other way around," Pena said. "We're very happy we were able to come out with that victory."

With no relievers left, Maddon sent starter James Shields down to the bullpen in the 11th.

"I think I would have had to walk 30 to get him in the game," Nelson joked.

Hill hit two home runs for Toronto, while Alex Rios and Jose Bautista also went deep. Hill, who leads Toronto with 24 homers, had his second multihomer game of the season.

Tampa Bay loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th but Camp struck out Evan Longoria to end the threat.

With the Rays in a deep hole early, Nelson didn't expect a comeback.

"It's easy to throw ABs away when you're down 8-0 after four innings and just say, 'Let's get out of here early and go get dinner,"' Nelson said. "I was waiting for Joe to start pulling guys to give them some rest."

That never happened. Instead, Pena chased Brian Tallet in the seventh with a bases-loaded triple that caromed off the base of the right-field wall. Brandon League came on and gave up an RBI grounder to Aybar.

"When we made it 9-5 it was like, 'Hey, we're within striking distance. We're definitely not quitting,"' Zobrist said.

Tampa Bay cut it to 9-7 in the eighth when Pat Burrell hit a two-run single off Jeremy Accardo, but the inning ended when Burrell was thrown out trying for a double.

It was all Toronto early, as Rays rookie left-hander David Price matched a season high by allowing six runs and nine hits in three innings.

"I just wasn't any good at all," Price said.

Angels 11 Twins 5

At Anaheim, Calif., Chone Figgins and Maicer Izturis, normally the table-setters in the Los Angeles lineup, both homered during a nine-run fourth inning and the AL West leaders extended their winning streak to a season-high eight games with their victory over Minnesota.

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Athletics 6 Yankees 4

At New York, A's starter Gio Gonzalez worked out of trouble when Andy Pettitte could not, and Oakland snapped the Yankees' eight-game winning streak.

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Tigers 4 White Sox 3 (10 innings)

At Detroit, Carlos Guillen's RBI single in the 10th gave the Tigers a victory over Chicago.

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Indians 10 Mariners 3

At Seattle, Asdrubal Cabrera homered, drove in two runs and scored three times to back a strong start by Jeremy Sowers in Cleveland's testy victory over Seattle. Ottawa's Erik Bedard (5-3) had his shortest start of the year for Seattle. The left-hander went three innings, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks

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Royals 6 Rangers 3

At Kansas City, Mo., Luke Hochevar struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings and closer Joakim Soria earned a rare six-out save, helping the Royals beat Texas to end a 10-game losing streak.

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Indians 10 Mariners 3

At Seattle, Asdrubal Cabrera homered, drove in two runs and scored three times to back a strong start by Jeremy Sowers in Cleveland's testy victory over the Mariners.

National League:

The injuries keep piling up, but that doesn't seem to bother Aramis Ramirez and the Chicago Cubs.

On a day when Ted Lilly went on the disabled list and Derrek Lee left the game with back spasms, Ramirez came through with another big blow that should ease concerns about his dislocated left shoulder.

Ramirez hit his second homer in two days and the Cubs beat the struggling Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Saturday for their ninth victory in 12 games.

"I feel good at the plate right now," Ramirez said.

Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley added solo shots to back a strong start by Kevin Hart (2-1) and send the Reds to their fifth straight loss.

Ramirez gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the first with a two-run drive after compiling four hits the previous game. He is 8-for-13 in his last three games after hitting .190 in his first 11 back following a nearly two-month absence due to a separated shoulder.

Soriano added his 17th homer in the fifth off Johnny Cueto, and Bradley, after getting booed, connected against David Weathers in the eighth for his first career pinch-hit homer.

That was enough for Hart, who allowed one run over six innings in place of the injured Lilly to win his second consecutive start.

Hart got plenty of advice from Lilly.

"He was sitting right next to me all day in the dugout talking to me about pitch selection," Hart said.

Lilly went on the DL before the game with inflammation in his left shoulder, and Lee left before the top of the eighth. The first baseman said his back spasms weren't serious.

Elsewhere in the NL it was: Philadelphia 14 St. Louis 6; Milwaukee 4 Atlanta 0; New York 10 Houston 3; Colorado 8 San Francisco 2; Arizona 7 Pittsburgh 0; Washington 13 San Diego 1; and Los Angeles 4 Florida 3.

At Chicago, the Reds got solo homers from Toronto native Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes in the ninth off Aaron Heilman that made it 5-3 before Kevin Gregg came on to retire Jerry Hairston Jr. for his 20th save in 23 chances.

The Cubs are starting to look like the serious contenders they expected to be. Minor league call-ups such as Randy Wells, Jake Fox and now Hart are giving big contributions and stars such as Ramirez and Soriano are starting to come around.

"Everybody's stepping up," Lee said. "That's what it's going to take to get through injuries. I think we have a good team and we're starting to show it."

It was another rough day for the Reds.

"We're down and (if) we're going to continue to play the way we've been playing, shoot, we're going to be right behind the Pirates," said Brandon Phillips, who went 1 for 3 and had his 100th career steal.

Manager Dusty Baker added: "We're just in a bad way right now. Not playing real good, a lot of things aren't going our way."

Cueto (8-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings while falling to 0-3 in his last four starts.

He barely made it out of the first after Cincinnati scored a run in the top half. Lee hit an RBI triple that was misplayed by right-fielder Chris Dickerson, and then Ramirez went deep.

That set the tone for the Cubs on a day when their lone all-star went on the DL and another key player had to leave the game.

Lilly also expects to have arthroscopic knee surgery Monday and likely won't be back until at least mid-August, a major blow for a team that began the day 1 1/2 games behind NL Central leader St. Louis.

Phillies 14 Cardinals 6

At Philadelphia, Jimmy Rollins hit a go-ahead grand slam and had a career-high five RBIs, Shane Victorino went 4-for-4 with a homer and the Phillies beat St. Louis in a matchup of division leaders.

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Brewers 4 Braves 0

At Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo scattered four hits in 7 1-3 scoreless innings and drove in the only run the Braves needed off previously unbeaten Tommy Hanson to lead them over Atlanta.

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Mets 10 Astros 3

At Houston, Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer, David Wright added a solo shot and New York enjoyed a rare offensive outburst in a victory over the Astros.

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Rockies 8 Giants 2

At Denver, Troy Tulowitzki homered and drove in a career-high five runs and Jorge De La Rosa won his career-best sixth straight start, leading Colorado's rout of San Francisco.

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Diamondbacks 7 Pirates 0

At Phoenix, Justin Upton homered and drove in three runs, and Doug Davis rebounded from his worst start of the season with six sharp innings in Arizona's victory over Pittsburgh.

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Nationals 13 Padres 1

At Washington, Adam Dunn's grand slam capped a five-run second inning after a rain delay of more than three hours and the Nationals beat San Diego for their most lopsided victory of the season.

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Dodgers 4 Marlins 3

At Los Angeles, Casey Blake blooped a bases-loaded single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Dodgers beat Florida for their sixth win in seven games.