Roger Clemens earned his 298th career victory, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning and leading the New York Yankees over the Oakland Athletics 5-2 Saturday.
Clemens ended his two-game losing streak by giving up one run and six hits in 6 2-3 innings.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Rocket (5-2) struck out five, leaving him 41 short of reaching 4,000. He walked one.
Clemens, a six-time AL Cy Young winner, won his rematch with Barry Zito, who got the award last year. Zito threw eight sharp innings at Yankee Stadium last Sunday in a 2-0 win.
The victory kept Clemens on pace to possibly win No. 300 at his old home, Fenway Park. Clemens is scheduled to pitch again next weekend against Texas, then make his following start at Boston.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his third save.
Zito (5-3) gave up four runs on five hits over six innings. He walked four and struck out seven.
Jorge Posada hit a three-run homer and Bernie Williams had a solo shot for the Yankees.
Red Sox 6, Twins 5
In Minneapolis, Manny Ramirez had three hits and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with smart baserunning as Boston ended Minnesota's five-game winning streak.
Matthew LeCroy homered twice for the Twins.
With the score tied at 4, Boston loaded the bases off Juan Rincon (1-1) with one out in the eighth. Jeremy Giambi hit a short fly ball to center fielder Torii Hunter, who made a strong throw home to keep Ramirez on third.
But when the ball short-hopped catcher AJ Pierzynski and rolled toward the mound, Ramirez raced home to put Boston ahead. Hunter was charged with an error on the play.
Royals 8, Orioles 4
In Kansas City, Missouri, Rookie Ken Harvey hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Kansas City topped Baltimore.
The Royals snapped a four-game losing streak. They had dropped 10 of 14.
Harvey connected off reliever Buddy Groom (1-2) for his fifth home run. Harvey has seven game-tying or go-ahead hits in his past 18 games.
Rookie DJ Carrasco (2-1) worked two hitless innings.
Devil Rays 3, Tigers 1
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Seth McClung allowed one run in seven innings and Aubrey Huff homered to lead Tampa Bay.
McClung (3-1) gave up five hits, struck out nine and walked two in his third career start and 10th appearance overall.
Huff put the Devil Rays up 1-0 with his ninth homer in the first inning against Jeremy Bonderman (2-5).
Eric Munson had a solo homer for the Tigers, who have the majors' worst record at 7-27.
Indians 6, Rangers 4
In Arlington, Texas, Cleveland starter CC Sabathia beat Texas for the fifth straight time and kept Rangers slugger Rafael Palmeiro from hitting his 500th homer.
Sabathia (2-2) is 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA in five career starts against Texas, including his only two wins this season.
The left-hander gave up five hits before leaving after seven innings with a 5-2 lead. Six days earlier, Sabathia had a complete game 3-1 win over Texas when he allowed just four hits.
Palmeiro, in his second game since hitting No. 499 on Thursday, went 0-for-3 with a walk.
White Sox 4, Mariners 3
In Seattle, Carlos Lee hit a solo home run in the fifth and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh to help Chicago beat Seattle.
Bartolo Colon snapped a three-game losing streak and defeated the Mariners for the first time in almost three years. Colon allowed six hits and two walks, leaving after Edgar Martinez's leadoff single in the ninth.
Damaso Marte got three outs for his fourth save.
Other than giving up home runs to Seattle's Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki, Colon (3-3) pitched effectively. He struck out five and walked two.
Blue Jays 7, Angels 4
In Anaheim, California, Vernon Wells hit a tiebreaking two-run homer to trigger a five-run sixth inning and Mark Hendrickson beat Anaheim for the second time in seven days.
Hendrickson (3-4), a former NBA player, allowed two runs and six hits over six innings.
Ramon Ortiz (4-4) pitched 5 1-3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits, including Wells' eighth home run and Greg Myers' fourth.
Alex Gonzalez hit his third extra-inning home run of the season, a solo shot with one out in the 10th that sent the Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
The Cubs won without star Sammy Sosa, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day after having the toenail removed from his right big toe.
Gonzalez has four homers this season, and three of them have come in the 10th inning. He also did it May 1 at San Francisco and on May 4 against Colorado at Wrigley Field.
This winning homer came off Cal Eldred (2-1). Mike Remlinger (1-0) pitched the top of the 10th to get his first victory with the Cubs.
Chicago starter Kerry Wood threw a career-high 141 pitches in seven innings, allowing just four hits.
Mets 4, Padres 2
In New York, Mike Piazza hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to lift the New York Mets over the San Diego Padres.
Jay Bell led off the 10th with a line single and Piazza followed with a towering drive into the left-field bleachers on a 1-0 pitch from Jaret Wright (1-5). Piazza's homer was his fourth of the season. Wright lowered his head and pulled his cap over his eyes as the ball sailed out of the park.
Expos 6, Dodgers 5
In Montreal, Vladimir Guerrero was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Montreal Expos rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fred McGriff hit his 483rd career home run for the Dodgers, who had won three in a row.
The Expos trailed 5-2 going into the seventh. After tying it with two outs, Paul Quantrill's first pitch to Guerrero grazed the Montreal slugger's arm.
Luis Ayala (2-1) got Daryle Ward -- the only batter he faced _ to ground into an inning-ending double play in the seventh after Brian Jordan's RBI single chased Javier Vazquez. Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities. Tom Martin (0-1) took the loss.
Braves 6, Giants 3
In Atlanta, Javy Lopez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning and Atlanta rallied to snap San Francisco's six-game winning streak.
Chipper Jones hit a game-tying homer earlier in the seventh and drove in three runs to lead Atlanta to its 20th win in 24 games.
After Vinny Castilla singled off Joe Nathan (4-1), Lopez hit the next pitch 413 feet over the center field wall to make it 4-2. Kevin Gryboski (2-2) got the win.
Phillies 2, Astros 0
In Philadelphia, Randy Wolf pitched a five-hitter and Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal drove in first-inning runs for Philadelphia.
Wolf (5-2) struck out six and walked one to notch his fifth career shutout and first this season.
The Phillies won their third straight game. Houston has dropped two in a row since winning a season-high seven straight.
Houston starting pitcher Wade Miller (1-4) left in the first inning when he was hit on the right thigh by a line drive off the bat of Jim Thome. He is day to day.
Rockies 5, Marlins 4
In Miami, Preston Wilson homered against his former team for the second straight night and drove in four runs as Colorado snapped a five-game losing streak.
Jason Jennings (3-3) pitched seven strong innings, giving the Rockies their first win by a starter this month. The staff was 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA in eight starts in May.
Wilson's three-run blast into the upper deck in left highlighted a four-run third inning against Michael Tejera (0-1). Wilson, who also homered Friday, is playing his first series in Florida since being traded to Colorado in November.
Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 4
In Pittsburgh, Brian Giles hit his first two homers this season and Kris Benson (4-4) pitched eight innings as Pittsburgh ended a seven-game losing streak. Giles, who returned Wednesday after sitting out nearly a month with a sprained knee, hit a two-run shot in the first and a solo drive in the third, both off Elmer Dessens (3-3).
Brewers 9, Reds 3
In Cincinnati, Richie Sexson homered and Milwaukee took advantage of 13 walks to snap Cincinnati's five-game winning streak. Sexson, Alex Sanchez and Geoff Jenkins each had two of Milwaukee's 10 hits to help Ben Sheets win for the third time in four decisions.
Sheets (4-3) allowed two runs and 10 hits in six innings, but walked only one. Reggie Taylor had four hits for the Reds.
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