OAKLAND, Calif. — Justin Duchscherer was in a playful clubhouse stare down with teammate Donnie Murphy before the game when the pitcher joked about throwing a no-hitter like Boston's Jon Lester.

A few hours later, Duchscherer nearly did it.

He carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Ryan Sweeney homered and the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-0, last night for their first series win in their last five.

"I said, 'Those guys don't want none of me today 'cuz I'm going to pull a Lester on 'em," Duchscherer recalled with a grin. "In the sixth inning, I was thinking, 'Did I really say that before the game?' "

Duchscherer (4-3) — who received some of his early professional pitching training in the Red Sox farm system — outdueled Josh Beckett and had a perfect game going into the sixth before he plunked Jason Varitek to start the inning. David Ortiz broke up the no-hit bid with a single up the middle with one out in the seventh and Duchscherer said he was "a little deflated."

Duchscherer struck out four and didn't issue a walk in eight innings, allowing just that one hit. Huston Street finished the team's second shutout of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances.

Duchscherer campaigned to stay in the game, but manager Bob Geren turned to Street with Duchscherer at 101 pitches.

"You always hope to finish it out," said Duchscherer, who took a no-hitter through 8 2/3 in Double-A. "Every time you go out there and want to go nine. I fought with him a little bit. That's Bob decision. I'm not going to argue."

The 2-hour, 17-minute game was the fastest for Boston this year.

The 30-year-old Duchscherer lost his previous two outings and had all of three career starts in the big leagues coming into this season, then spent a stint on the disabled list with a strained biceps muscle.

Duchscherer's gem came one day before Lester takes the mound for his first start since pitching the majors' first no-hitter of 2008 on Monday over Kansas City. Boston was blanked for the third time.

"He commanded every pitch he threw tonight," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "His command was phenomenal. He did not throw one pitch without a purpose. He kept us off balance."

Beckett (5-4) struck out nine for the second straight start to match his second-highest amount this year. He allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings and didn't walk a batter for the second time in 2008, throwing 76 strikes among his 107 pitches.

Angels 2, White Sox 0: Jered Weaver pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and Vladimir Guerrero hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth to lead visiting Los Angeles over Chicago.

Weaver (4-5) struck out six, walked two and improved to 3-0 with a 0.34 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 21st save in 22 changes.

Yankees 12, Mariners 6: Mike Mussina (7-4) survived five shaky innings before turning it over to Joba Chamberlain as host New York beat Seattle for its first four-game winning streak of the season.

Jason Giambi hit a three-run homer and Bobby Abreu added a two-run shot for the Yankees.

Mussina allowed four runs, while Chamberlain pitched two scoreless innings.

Tigers 19, Twins 3: Magglio Ordonez homered twice and drove in six runs to help host Detroit rout Minnesota.

Ordonez hit a two-run homer to left in the first inning, then doubled in two runners during a four-run third that gave the Tigers the lead for good.

He added a two-run shot in a six-run fourth. Detroit's Gary Sheffield had three RBIs, and Placido Polanco was 4 for 5 and scored four runs.

Blue Jays 6, Royals 0: Jesse Litsch pitched a seven-hitter for his first career complete game, Brad Wilkerson hit a grand slam and host Toronto extended Kansas City's losing streak to six.

Litsch (6-1) struck out three, walked one and won his fourth straight decision.

Kansas City was shut out for the sixth time this season — tied for second in the major leagues behind Detroit's seven.

Rays 11, Orioles 4: Evan Longoria homered twice and had six RBIs to lead host Tampa Bay past Baltimore.

The rookie hit a three-run shot during a four-run first, and had a two-run drive in a five-run second. He also hit a fourth-inning sacrifice fly.

Carlos Pena added three RBIs for the Rays, who are 21-9 since April 22.

Indians 5, Rangers 2: Cliff Lee bounced back from his only poor outing this season and Ben Francisco hit a three-run homer to help host Cleveland snap its seven-game losing streak.

Lee (7-1) allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Francisco's homer to left put Cleveland ahead 4-2 in the third inning.