BOSTON — The public address announcer had already gone through the lineups and the first strains of the national anthem were about to follow when Boston's scheduled No. 4 hitter, first baseman Kevin Youkilis, was scratched with back spasms.

There was only one place for manager Terry Francona to turn: Dustin Pedroia.

The diminutive second baseman filled in at cleanup for the third time in four games and delivered a career high-tying five RBIs last night to lead Boston to a 14-2 victory over the struggling Baltimore Orioles.

"It was a quick move tonight," Francona said. "We put Petey in the four-hole and he just continues to get hits."

Pedroia had a double, his 16th homer of the season and a single, and is batting .600 (18-for-30) over the last seven games to raise his AL-leading average to .330.

The numbers are typical of a cleanup hitter, but not the kind that were expected from a feisty, 5-foot-9 second baseman. But with Youkilis ailing, Pedroia has gone 7-for-12 while providing protection for slugger David Ortiz.

"It's funny to see him come up after Ortiz, a big burly guy," teammate Mark Kotsay said.

Ortiz and Coco Crisp also had three hits yesterday, and Ortiz added four RBIs as the Red Sox won for the 10th time in 14 games. Boston cut its deficit in the AL East to four games behind Tampa Bay, which lost 7-2 to the New York Yankees; the Red Sox lead the wild-card by four games.

Jon Lester (13-5) allowed one run and six hits, striking out five and walking four in five innings.

Yankees 7, Rays 2: Mike Mussina (17-7) ) allowed two runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings, Alex Rodriguez and Xavier Nady hit homers and Joba Chamberlain came off the disabled list and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to lead visiting New York.

Indians 9, White Sox 3: Victor Martinez put host Cleveland ahead 2-0 in the second with his first homer in 57 games and 203 at-bats since Sept. 29. Chicago remained tied with Minnesota for the AL Central lead despite losing for the fifth time in six games.

Blue Jays 7, Twins 5: Jose Bautista and Alex Rios both had four hits and hit back-to-back homers, and Lyle Overbay hit a two-run homer for a 6-5 lead in sixth to rally host Toronto to its seventh straight victory over Minnesota.

Angels 5, Tigers 4: Torii Hunter drove in three runs and Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to score Chone Figgins with one out in the bottom of the ninth as Los Angeles reduced its magic number to clinch the AL West to eight.

Rangers 6, Mariners 4: Brandon McCarthy (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits over six innings in his third start of the season and Josh Hamilton drove in three runs to increased his major league-leading RBI total to 121 as host Texas beat Seattle.

Royals 5, Athletics 2: Billy Butler homered and drove in four runs, and Zack Greinke (10-9) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings to lead host Kansas City past Oakland in a game between teams that combined for 40 losses in August.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 0: Cole Hamels (12-8) gave up five hits in 7 1/3 innings and Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs as visiting Philadelphia snapped Washington's seven-game winning streak and remained two games behind first-place New York in NL East.

Astros 9, Cubs 7: Geoff Blum hit a two-run homer off Kerry Wood in the top of the 11th inning to send Houston to its seventh straight victory. Chicago lost its fourth straight at home, but remained 4 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Braves 16, Marlins 14: Pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay singled in Martin Prado for the go-ahead run and Kelly Johnson added an RBI single to cap a two-run top of the ninth as Atlanta rallied to beat Florida, which trailed 10-3 after 4 1/2 innings.

Pirates 3, Reds 2: Rookies Brandon Moss and Andy LaRoche hit back-to-back home runs for a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning to help Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati and snap a 10-game losing streak.

Rockies 6, Giants 5: Ryan Spilborghs singled off closer Brian Wilson to score Omar Quintanilla with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning as Colorado beat San Francisco for its seventh win in 10 games.

Dodgers 8, Padres 4: Manny Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and rookie Clayton Kershaw (3-5) allowed a run and three hits in seven innings to help host Los Angeles defeat San Diego and close to 1 1/2 games of Arizona in the NL West.

Cardinals 8, Diamondbacks 2: Adam Wainwright (8-3), in his third start since returning from 2 1/2 months on the disabled list, gave up a run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings and also doubled in two runs as visiting St. Louis beat Arizona.

SHORT HOPS

Jeff Kent had arthroscopic surgery — an outpatient procedure to clean out debris from a cartilage tear in his left knee — and trainer Stan Conte said the Dodgers second baseman might be able to return to action this month. ... Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones said he is day-to-day with a twisted right knee he suffered during infield practice and did not play in the Braves' 16-14 win over the Florida Marlins last night. ... Washington catcher Jesus Flores was carted off the field with a sprained left ankle last night after Philadelphia's Chase Utley, attempting to steal home, barreled into him and was called out on a play at the plate. ... Right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Indianapolis, was recalled yesterday by Pittsburgh and is scheduled to start tonight's game at Cincinnati. ... Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets, pulled from Monday's game after five innings because of slight tightness in his left groin, is expected to make his next scheduled start Saturday against San Diego.