New York's Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui broke a tie with a three-run homer in the sixth inning on Monday to give Cuban defector Jose Contreras his first major league victory as the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-9.
Jorge Posada and Raul Mondesi also homered for the Yankees in a sloppy game that lasted four hours, eight minutes and saw 12 pitchers issue a total of 20 walks and hit three batters.
Matsui homered off reliever Aquilino Lopez (0-1) into the third row of the upper deck in right to make it 9-6. Matsui was 2-for-3, raised his average to .306 and increased his team-leading RBI total to 14. He has two homers, the first a grand slam against Minnesota in his first game at Yankee Stadium.
Contreras (1-0) allowed one run in 1 2-3 innings and Chris Hammond got his first save. The Yankees improved to 10-2 with their sixth victory in seven games.
Toronto has dropped five straight games.
Royals 12, Indians 4
In Cleveland, Mike Sweeney hit a three-run double and a solo home run as Kansas City sought to start a new winning streak with a victory over Cleveland.
Rangers 4, Angels 0
In Arlington, Texas, Ismael Valdes threw eight sharp innings and Carl Everett homered twice to help Texas snap Anaheim's five-game winning streak.
Mariners 4, Athletics 3
In Seattle, Jeff Cirillo hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning for his first homer of the season, lifting Seattle past Mark Mulder and Oakland.
Ramon Hernandez homered for the A's, who have dropped five straight after starting the season 7-1. They did not have a five-game losing streak all of last season.
National League
Barry Bonds hit his 618th homer and the San Giants spoiled Jeff Kent's return to San Francisco with a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros.
The Giants improved to 12-1, keeping pace with their best start in 65 years.
Kent, the 2000 National League Most valuable Player who played the previous six years in San Francisco and helped lead the Giants to the World Series last season, went 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI. He signed an $18.2 million, two-year contract in the offseason with the Astros, who have lost three straight games after winning four of five.
Damian Moss (2-0) gave up a run on five hits in six innings as the Giants beat Houston for the 17th time in 22 games. Tim Worrell got his sixth save in seven opportunities.
The Giants' 12-1 start matches their best since the 1938 team also began 12-1. Only the 1918 Giants started better at 18-1.
Expos 5, Mets 3
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dominican slugger Fernando Tatis hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning as Montreal completed a four-game sweep of their first series in their new part-time home, beating New York.
Rey Sanchez, one of the Puerto Rican stars getting to play major league ball in their home country, set up the winning rally when he misplayed Vladimir Guerrero's one-out grounder to shortstop for an error.
The National League East-leading Expos (9-4), who play 22 of their home games in San Juan, extended their winning streak to five.
New York (4-9) lost its sixth straight game and dropped five games behind. The Mets hadn't been swept by the Expos in a four-game series since September 1972.
Dan Smith (1-0) got the win and Rocky Biddle earned his fourth save.
Scott Strickland (0-1) took the loss.
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Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
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