Johan Santana set a franchise record with 17 strike outs in eight innings to give the Minnesota Twins a big help in their win over the Texas Rangers 1-0 on Sunday.

His 17 strikeouts were the most in the MLS since Ben Sheets recorded 18 on May 16, 2004, and broke the Minnesota record of 15, accomplished four times - the last by Bert Blyleven on Aug. 1, 1986, against Oakland.

"I didn't try to do anything different, I was just trying to stay aggressive, get ahead in the count and throw my fastball for strikes,'' Santana said.

The 2-time American League Cy Young Award winner allowed two hits in eight shutout innings before giving way to closer Joe Nathan. The left-handed pitcher retired the first 12 he faced before Sosa led off the fifth with a single to left-center. Sosa also doubled in the seventh.

This spectacular performance came after the Twins celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1987 championship team but Santana stole the day. The performance continued his record as an August master - he is 20-2 with a 1.85 ERA in August starts since 2003.

In other AL games, it was: Los Angeles 3, Boston 1; New York 9, Detroit 3; Seattle 11, Chicago 5; Tampa Bay 4, Cleveland 3 in 12 innings; Toronto 3, Baltimore 2 in 10 innings; and Oakland 6, Kansas City 1.