CHICAGO — Jim Thome has reached the stage of his career when every home run, every RBI and every milestone is special.

Fortunately for him and the Chicago White Sox, the milestones are coming pretty often these days.

Thome hit a grand slam and a three-run homer for a career-high seven RBIs last night, carrying the Chicago White Sox to a 12-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

"As you get older ... you definitely savor every moment," said Thome, who turns 39 next month. "You don't know how many more you're going to have so you try to take advantage of it every time. I felt like a little kid again."

He might have felt little but he hit big. His sixth-inning grand slam, which broke open what had been a one-run game, easily cleared the center-field fence and was estimated at 448 feet.

Thome has 557 career homers — only six fewer than Reggie Jackson, who ranks 12th on baseball's all-time list — and can tell when he hits one purely.

"You don't feel it off the bat," he said. "When you hit a ball like that, everything kind of stops. It's very special. You get the crowd into it. You come in the dugout, they're all excited and it's a big hit for the team. It's pretty awesome when it happens, almost like time stops."

With 14 RBIs in his last three games, Thome increased his career total to 1,545 and passed Harry Heilmann and Willie Stargell into 41st place on baseball's all-time list. His previous single-game best was six; he did that four times, most recently at Baltimore on July 6, 2006 — which also was when he hit his last grand slam.

White Sox captain Paul Konerko was stunned that Thome hadn't "stumbled into" a seven-RBI game until last night.

"Anytime Jim gets a career high at this point it kind of surprises you because he's done so much," Konerko said. "Tonight, he has a tough first couple of at-bats and he hangs right in there and — Boom! Boom! — he has a great night. That's Jimmy. He's a monster."

Konerko also homered for the White Sox, who moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. John Danks (8-6) allowed three runs in five innings for Chicago, which is 31-21 since starting the season 15-22.

Nick Markakis hit a two-run homer for the Orioles, who have a league-worst 14-28 road record.

Rays 8, Royals 7: Pat Burrell's two-run homer off Ron Mahay in the top of the seventh cut Kansas City's lead to 7-6 and Evan Longoria's two-run shot in the eighth off Juan Cruz (3-3) helped Tampa Bay end a four-game road losing streak in the opener of a 10-day trip.

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1: Clay Buchholz gave up a run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first major league victory in more than a year and Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer to lift visiting Boston over Toronto. Buchholz was then sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Mariners 6, Indians 2: Felix Hernandez (10-3) allowed five hits and two runs in eight innings to improve to 6-0 since his last loss on May 19, and Franklin Gutierrez homered against his former team in leading visiting Seattle past Cleveland.

Twins 5, Rangers 3: Jason Kubel hit a three-run homer in the top of the third inning for a 5-2 lead against Vicente Padilla (7-5), helping Minnesota beat Texas, which turned four double plays, increasing its majors-leading total to 104.

Yankees 5, Tigers 3: Mark Teixeira hit his 22nd homer of the season, a three-run shot for a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, Phil Hughes (4-2) struck out six in two innings of relief and Mariano Rivera finished for his 24th save as host New York beat Detroit.

Athletics 7, Angels 3: Rajai Davis scored all the way from first base on an errant pickoff attempt by Joe Saunders (8-6) to break a 3-all tie in the sixth inning, helping Oakland snap a four-game home losing streak to rival Los Angeles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 11, Mets 0: Brian McCann hit a two-run double in the first and a two-run homer in the third, Jair Jurrjens (8-7) gave up two hits in six innings and three relievers completed the two-hitter for host Atlanta.

New York left fielder Gary Sheffield injured his right leg chasing down a double hit by Yunel Escobar in the fifth inning.

Cubs 3, Nationals 1: Carlos Zambrano (6-4) gave up an unearned run and four singles over five innings and hit a two-run double for a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, leading Chicago over Washington for its fourth win in five games.

Reds 4, Brewers 0: Bronson Arroyo (10-8) scattered five hits over seven innings and Edwin Encarnacion went 4 for 4 — including a solo homer — that left him 7 for 7 in the first two games of the series as host Cincinnati beat Milwaukee.

Pirates 2, Giants 1: Garrett Jones' second homer of the night and fifth in four games, a lead-off shot off Bob Howry (0-5) in the bottom of the 14th inning, lifted Pittsburgh over San Francisco to end a four-game losing streak.

Phillies 6, Marlins 5: Chase Utley's RBI single broke a tie in the top of the 12th inning, and Brad Lidge, pitching for the first time in a week, gave up a run in the bottom of the inning but earned his 19th save as Philadelphia extended its winning streak to seven.

Astros 8, Dodgers 1: Roy Oswalt (6-4) threw 105 pitches in a four-hitter for his third complete game of the season, Ivan Rodriguez homered among his four hits and Miguel Tejada also went deep, leading visiting Houston over Los Angeles.

Rockies 5, Padres 3: Ubaldo Jimenez (7-9) struck out 10 and allowed three run and three hits in seven innings, and Clint Barmes homered for the second straight game, leading visiting Colorado over San Diego.