"TORONTO (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox saw their AL East lead cut to 1 1/2 games -- their smallest edge since late April -- when the Toronto Blue Jays broke through against Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon for a 6-1 victory Wednesday night.

The Red Sox have lost four in a row and five of six, allowing the New York Yankees to close in. The Yankees beat Baltimore 2-1.

Russ Adams hit a clinching grand slam in the eighth inning as Toronto swept a three-game series from the Red Sox for the first time since May 2005.

The last time Boston's lead was so slim was April 25, when the Blue Jays were in second place. The biggest lead for the Red Sox was 12 games on July 5. "

"NEW YORK (AP) -- Andy Pettitte earned his 200th win, Mariano Rivera escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and the New York Yankees edged the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep that pulled them within 1 1/2 games of first-place Boston.

Hideki Matsui hit a solo homer and Doug Mientkiewicz scored on a wild pitch for New York, which has won 12 of 14.

The Yankees (88-64), a season-high 24 games over .500, closed within 1 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Red Sox (90-63) and opened a 5 1/2 -game lead over Detroit (83-70) in the wild-card race. It's the closest New York has been to first place since the Yankees trailed by one game before play on April 20. "

Robert