BOSTON — Dan Johnson woke up in Pennsylvania in Triple-A yesterday. He'll go to bed in New York tomorrow as a member of the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.

Johnson, scratched from Tampa Bay's starting lineup because he didn't get into town until just before the first pitch, hit a game-tying, pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning, and Dioner Navarro doubled in the go-ahead run to help the Rays beat Boston, 5-4, last night and extend their division lead.

The runs came off closer Jonathan Papelbon (5-4), who blew a save opportunity for the fifth time this season.

"Sometimes things work out just in your favor," said Rays manager Joe Maddon, who credited the victory to the airline that flew Johnson to Boston. "It's a pretty significant win, particularly here, what's been going on (and) where we're at in the race."

With a victory yesterday, the Red Sox could have moved into first place for the first time since June 28; instead, the Rays are 1 1/2 up and assured of leading the AL East when they begin a weekend series against the New York Yankees on Friday.

Boston holds a six-game lead in the AL wild-card standings.

"If it comes down to them winning the home field by one game, maybe we'll look back at this game," said Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, who homered. "But we'll see."

Blue JayS sweep White Sox: Marco Scutaro hit a leadoff homer and Scott Rolen and Vernon Wells also went deep for visiting Toronto in the second game to sweep the doubleheader, 8-2, and extend its winning streak to 10. Toronto took the opener, 3-1, as A.J. Burnett (17-10) allowed one hit in seven innings.

Yankees 7, Angels 1: Johnny Damon homered twice, Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot and visiting New York beat Los Angeles. Alfredo Aceves (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings, and struck out two to win his first major league start.

Rangers 7, Mariners 3: Marlon Byrd and Taylor Teagarden both had two-out, two-run doubles and drove in three runs, and visiting Texas beat Seattle. Vicente Padilla (13-7) came off the disabled list to win for the first time since July 25.

Twins 7, Royals 2: Denard Span had three hits and Justin Morneau homered for host Minnesota. The Twins' Nick Blackburn (10-8) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Athletics 3, Tigers 2: Emil Brown's sacrifice fly capped visiting Oakland's two-run eighth inning. Rajai Davis had two triples for Oakland, which has won three of four.

Indians 6, Orioles 1: Jeremy Sowers pitched eight innings of four-hit ball for visiting Cleveland. Sowers (3-8) gave up one run, struck out seven and walked one.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 5, Rockies 4: Taylor Buchholz balked in the winning run, allowing pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson to score from third for host Atlanta. Buchholz (6-6), pitching from the stretch, had already moved his feet to begin his windup when he paused, apparently wanting to restart the pitch. Home plate umpire Wally Bell instantly threw up his arms and waved home Johnson for the winning run.

Giants 5, Diamondbacks 4: Eugenio Velez singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth and host San Francisco dealt Arizona its fifth straight defeat. Jon Rauch allowed a leadoff single to Pablo Sandoval to start the ninth and then Nate Schierholtz walked to chase Rauch (4-7). Juan Cruz relieved and got Omar Vizquel to fly out before Velez singled to right.

Cardinals 4, Cubs 3: Albert Pujols homered for the third straight game and pinch-runner Brendan Ryan slid in just ahead of the tag on a ninth-inning grounder against a drawn-in infield for host St. Louis. With runners at second and third and one out, Cesar Izturis' soft grounder to second gave Ryan just enough time to beat Mark DeRosa's throw to the plate.

Reds 5, Brewers 4: Brandon Phillips hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the 11th inning, moments after apparently breaking his finger on a bunt attempt, and visiting Cincinnati beat Milwaukee. After the game, Reds spokesman Rob Butcher said Phillips had a broken finger and was headed back to Cincinnati to see a doctor.

METS 10, NATIONALS 8: Carlos Delgado hit two homers for the second straight game, Carlos Beltran had a go-ahead shot to reach 100 RBIs and host New York beat Washington. Ryan Church also homered and Jose Reyes snapped an 0-for-15 slide with two hits for the Mets.

Marlins 10, Phillies 8: Jorge Cantu, Mike Jacobs and Cody Ross homered for visiting Florida, which nearly blew an eight-run lead. Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 41st homer, but Philadelphia, which trailed 9-1, couldn't overcome a terrible outing by Kyle Kendrick (11-9).

Astros 9, Pirates 3: Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer and Randy Wolf pitched seven solid innings for host Houston. Wolf (10-11) allowed four hits and struck out four to improve to 4-1 since the Astros acquired him from San Diego on July 22.

Dodgers 6, Padres 2: Andre Ethier drove in four runs, Manny Ramirez homered and visiting Los Angeles beat San Diego. Los Angeles was leading 3-2 when Ethier hit a three-run double into the right-field corner with two outs in the ninth.