by The Star-Ledger

Detroit at Minnesota (8:10 p.m. EDT). Kevin Slowey goes for his 11th win when the contending Twins host the AL Central-leading Tigers in the opener of a weekend series. Left-hander Lucas French is scheduled to make his first major league start for Detroit.

STARS Wednesday

-Alex Rodriguez, Yankees , hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning of New York's 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

-Jose Contreras, White Sox, pitched eight solid innings to help Chicago beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2 for its fifth consecutive victory.

-Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs, homered to power Chicago to a 4-1 win at Pittsburgh.

-Joe Mauer, Twins, went 3 for 3 to raise his batting average to .392 and help Minnesota win 5-1 at Kansas City.

-Jason Giambi and Jack Cust, Athletics, each hit a two-run homer in Oakland's 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.

-Mike Pelfrey, Mets, allowed six hits in 7 2-3 sharp innings and New York beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 to end a five-game skid.-Johnny Cueto, Reds, struck out eight in six sparkling innings, leading Cincinnati to a 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

-Jair Jurrjens, Braves, carried a no-hitter into the seventh and gave up an unearned run in seven innings, helping Atlanta to an 11-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

-Ricky Romero, Blue Jays, pitched four-hit ball over eighth innings and Toronto blanked Tampa Bay 5-0 to end the Rays' seven-game winning streak.

-Brian Moehler, Astros, tossed six strong innings in Houston's 7-1 victory at San Diego.

MANNY HAPPY RETURNS

Rafael Furcal had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning Wednesday, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 1-0 in the final game of Manny Ramirez's 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. The Dodgers were 29-21 during Ramirez's absence. The 12-time All-Star will return to the lineup Friday night for the start of a three-game series at San Diego.

AIN'T IT COOL

Three National League teams needed just one run to get a victory, the first time 33 years there were three 1-0 games in one league on the same day. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time there were three 1-0 games in one league was Sept. 1, 1976, in the NL. On that day, St. Louis beat Cincinnati in 11 innings; Houston defeated Philadelphia; and New York beat San Francisco. The home teams won all those games. On Wednesday, the Mets, Dodgers and Reds came away with 1-0 victories.

AIN'T IT COOL II

Alex Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking two-run shot for career homer No. 566 as the New York Yankees overcame Ken Griffey Jr.'s 621st home run in a 4-2 win against the Seattle Mariners. The last time two players with at least 550 career homers connected in the same game was May 8, 1971, when Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did it, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

A REAL WILD ONE

One day after succumbing to the greatest comeback in Orioles history, the Red Sox staged an improbable rally of their own. Boston used a four-run ninth inning to pull even, Julio Lugo singled in the tiebreaking run in the 11th and Jonathan Papelbon became the team's career saves leader by closing out a 6-5 victory. Papelbon got three outs for his 133rd save with the Red Sox, breaking the team record held by Bob Stanley. Less than 24 hours earlier, Papelbon yielded the key hit in the eighth inning of a game in which Boston blew a 10-1 lead before losing 11-10.

A REAL WILD ONE II

Hank Blalock's second homer of the game, a two-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning, gave Texas a 9-7 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday night and moved the Rangers within one-half game of the Angels in the AL West. Juan Rivera's three-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth off Frank Francisco (2-1) tied it at 7 as the Angels erased a six-run deficit. Texas improved to 5-1 against Los Angeles this season.

SEIZING THE MOMENT

Colby Rasmus hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning after rookie third baseman Pablo Sandoval dropped his foul pop earlier in the at-bat, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Sandoval circled the rookie's foul ball off a 2-2 count against Bob Howry (0-4), arriving late and missing with what appeared to be a casual stab with his glove. Three pitches later, Rasmus homered to straightaway center for his first game-ending hit.

VERY IMPRESSIVE

Hanley Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games in the Florida Marlins' 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. Ramirez hit a two-run double in the third inning to become the first shortstop in NL history with an RBI streak of double-digit games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He is batting .450 (19 for 40) with 24 RBIs since June 21.

ON THE REBOUND

Jose Contreras pitched eight innings to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. He improved to 3-2 with a 2.17 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte, a month-long demotion prompted by the 37-year-old opening the season 0-5. The right-hander, who allowed two runs and five hits, was just 1-6 in his previous 10 road starts.

PLAY IN PITTSBURGH EVERY NIGHT

The Cubs beat the Pirates 4-1 and took two of three in Pittsburgh to avoid falling three games under .500 for the first time since they were 36-39 in 2007. The Cubs have won 21 of their last 27 overall against the Pirates, who trail the Cubs by 2 games despite having an 11-23 record in the NL Central.

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