Ortiz sets Red Sox record

A day after an 8-2 loss to the Twins helped the New York Yankees clinch a ninth consecutive AL East title, the Red Sox gave the Detroit Tigers' post-season hopes a boost.

While the Red Sox were beating the Twins, the Tigers were being edged 4-3 by the Baltimore Orioles, to leave Detroit clinging to a half-game lead top the Central.

The night, however, belonged to Ortiz.

Known as "Big Papi" to his swelling base of fans, Ortiz blasted his way into the Red Sox history books surpassing Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx's mark of 50 home runs set in 1938.

Ortiz made the historic hit off Minnesota Twins left-hander Johan Santana in the first inning, receiving a thunderous ovation from the Fenway faithful as he rounded the bases, tipping his helmet to the crowd after reaching home base.

In the seventh inning, Ortiz connected on his second homer of the night, a solo shot to deep center helping the Red Sox to a comfortable win.

Only 10 players in American League history have hit 52 home runs in a single season.

New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle also hit a 51st home run at Boston's Fenway Park.

Lost in the Ortiz fireworks was a brilliant pitching performance Josh Beckett (16-10), who scattering six hits over eight shutout inning while striking out five without a walk to claim his career high 16th victory.

Keith Foulke came on in the ninth to record the final three outs to complete the shutout.

In Baltimore, Melvin Mora stroked a two-run double in the eighth inning to lift the Orioles past the Tigers in a make-up game for a May 11 rainout.

After a first inning two-run homer from Magglio Ordonez and a third inning solo shot by Curtis Granderson had given Detroit a 3-0 lead, the Tigers had looked poised to extend their slim lead.

But the Orioles hit back with a pair of runs in the fourth and a game winning two-run double from Mora to deny the Tigers a badly needed win.

Kris Benson (11-11) took credit for the win, giving up three runs on three hits in eight effective innings of work.

Chris Ray tossed a spotless ninth to earn his 33rd save.

Mike Cameron drove in two runs to help the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 and maintain their half-game lead over the Dodgers atop the NL West.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, kept the pressure on the Friars with a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and continue to set the pace in the NL wildcard race, a half-game clear of the idle Philadelphia Phillies.

In San Diego, the Padres scored all the runs they would need with a three-run burst in the second inning.

Cameron drove a triple into deep left to bring across a pair of runs and then scored on Geoff Blum's sacrifice fly.

Orlando Hudson scored the Diamondbacks' only run on Conor Jackson's RBI single in the sixth.

Woody Williams (10-5) allowed one run on five hits in 5 2/3 innings of work to pick up his third straight decision while Trevor Hoffman came on in the ninth to get the final three outs and nail down the win and his 41st save of the season.

It was also career save number 477 for the 38-year-old righthander, leaving him one shy of the all-time record of 478 held by Lee Smith.

In Los Angeles, Olmedo Saenz slammed a two-run homer to help the Dodgers keep pace with the Padres.

J.D. Drew, Marlon Anderson and Russell Martin contributed an RBI each to the Los Angeles cause while Chad Billingsley (6-4) took credit for the win, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Takashi Saito tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his 20th save.

Los Angeles opened the scoring on Saenz's first-inning two- run homer but watched the Pirates hit back, pushing across a run in the third and fifth to tie the game at 2-2.

The Dodgers retook the lead in the bottom of the inning when Josh Sharpless issued Drew a bases-loaded walk to push across Rafael Furcal with the go-ahead run.

Los Angeles added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on Martin's RBI and Anderson's sacrifice fly.