KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If Francisco Liriano is not back to his 2006 form yet, he sure is getting close.

Liriano had his second straight strong start since being recalled from the minors, Delmon Young hit a two-run homer and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-3, last night.

The win, combined with the White Sox's loss to Boston, moved the Twins a half-game ahead of Chicago in the American League Central.

Liriano is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts, allowing three earned runs and nine hits in 11 2/3 innings since returning to the Twins from Triple-A Rochester, where he had won his final 10 decisions. Liriano (2-3) gave up three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 inning with five strikeouts and two walks.

"Frankie threw the ball good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I think the long (fifth) inning might have got to him a little bit. I think he had a better breaking ball and changeup than he had a fastball. He pumped his fastball when he needed it and it had some life on it. It was a good performance by him."

Liriano is faring nearly as well as he had in his rookie season in 2006, when he was 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA before missing last year after having "Tommy John" surgery.

"My slider was good and my changeup was good," Liriano said.

Young homered off Zack Greinke (9-8) in the second with Jason Kubel aboard. In the Twins' five-run sixth, they sent 10 batters to the plate.

Red Sox 6, White Sox 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka threw his longest outing of the season and David Ortiz hit a three-run double to help visiting Boston beat Chicago. Matsuzaka (13-2) gave up four hits and one run over eight innings. Chicago pitcher Jose Contreras suffered a ruptured Achilles' tendon while trying to cover first on a grounder in the second inning.

Angels 11, Yankees 4: Vladimir Guerrero triggered an eight-run eighth inning with a home run, leading host Los Angeles over New York. Mark Teixeira, Garret Anderson and Mike Napoli added solo home runs for Los Angeles, which has scored 30 runs in winning three straight.

Orioles 9, Rangers 0: Daniel Cabrera (8-7) allowed four hits over six innings, and host Baltimore got a homer and four RBIs from Melvin Mora. Nick Markakis hit a three-run homer, and Brian Roberts scored three runs for the Orioles.

Indians 4, Blue Jays 2: Paul Byrd pitched a six-hitter to win his fourth consecutive start and Ryan Garko drove in two runs for visiting Cleveland. Byrd (7-10) allowed two runs and five hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw 93 pitches, 67 for strikes.

Tigers 10, Athletics 2: Miguel Cabrera homered twice and drove in four runs, lifting host Detroit over Oakland. Armando Galarraga (10-4) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the win.

Rays 8, Mariners 7: Dioner Navarro hit a sacrifice fly to score Ben Zobrist in the 11th inning to give visiting Tampa Bay a win over Seattle. With the win, the first-place Rays remained 3 1/2 games ahead of Boston.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 4, Pirates 2: Brett Myers pitched 7 2/3 sharp innings, and Jimmy Rollins had four hits for host Philadelphia. Myers (5-9) allowed one run and five hits, striking out six. He wasn't pleased to leave with a runner on second and two outs in the eighth. Myers muttered a few expletives when manager Charlie Manuel went to the mound. Manuel went after Myers in the dugout and the two briefly exchanged words nose-to-nose.

Padres 8, Rockies 3: Adrian Gonzalez hit his 28th homer, Greg Maddux improved to 8-2 lifetime at Coors Field and visiting San Diego beat Colorado. Maddux (6-8) allowed four hits through six innings, and three of those were wiped out by double-play balls. Luis Rodriguez and Kevin Kouzmanoff had three hits each and both scored twice for San Diego.

Cardinals 12, Cubs 3: Troy Glaus, hitless in his first 30 at-bats against the Cubs this season, had two of the Cardinals' four homers off Carlos Zambrano (12-5) and finished with five RBIs to help visiting St. Louis beat Chicago. Skip Schumaker and Albert Pujols also homered off the Cubs' ace, who lasted just 4 1/3 innings, giving up nine runs and 10 hits.

Brewers 6, Nationals 0: Ben Sheets pitched a five-hitter for his first win since July 4, leading host Milwaukee over Washington. Sheets (11-5) tied teammate CC Sabathia for the NL lead in complete games with four. He struck out six and helped extend the Nationals' scoreless streak to 22 innings.

Mets 8, Marlins 6: Carlos Delgado hit a mammoth home run in the first inning, Daniel Murphy added the first of his big league career and host New York beat Florida. Carlos Beltran homered and drove in three runs, David Wright had three hits and the Mets kept pace a game behind division-leading Philadelphia.

Giants 3, Dodgers 2: Aaron Rowand hit an RBI single through a drawn-in infield, and host San Francisco scored twice in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat Los Angeles. After Jeff Kent homered leading off the 10th to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, San Francisco rallied against Los Angeles reliever Jonathan Broxton (2-3).

Astros 3, Reds 1: Miguel Tejada homered and Brian Moehler pitched seven solid innings against his former team, helping visiting Houston beat Cincinnati. Moehler (8-4), who was 2-4 in 10 games for the Reds in 2002, pitched six shutout innings before allowing a run in the seventh.

Braves 11, Diamondbacks 4: Brian McCann hit his team-leading 21st home run and drove in four runs for visiting Atlanta. Jair Jurrjens (11-7) allowed four runs — three earned — and seven hits over six innings for the Braves.

NOTES

Astros: Houston slugger Carlos Lee was placed on the 15-day disabled list last night because of a broken left pinkie and is expected to miss 6-to-8 weeks. The left fielder, who reached the 100-RBI level for the fourth consecutive season Friday night and leads the NL in that category, was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo in the third inning.

Brewers: All-Star left fielder Ryan Braun was pulled from Milwaukee's 6-0 victory over Washington last night because of tightness in his lower back. Braun is listed as day-to-day.