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Embarrassed Yankees hit back

New York Yankees' Hideki Matsui of Japan connects for a single and drives in teammate Raul Mondesi in the 4th inning against the Houston Astros on Thursday at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. The Yankees won 6-5. PHOTO: AFP

One day after New York were no-hit for the first time in 45 years, Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning to give the Yankees a 6-5 win Thursday over the Astros, bouncing back against the same Houston bullpen that shut them down.

Torre held a team meeting after Wednesday night's 8-0 loss, and the Yankees responded by showing some championship grit.

Houston took a 5-3 lead in the sixth, but this time, the Yankees were able to get some big hits against the Houston bullpen.

Juan Rivera's RBI single off Kirk Saarloos cut it to 5-4 in the sixth. Raul Mondesi singled off Brad Lidge with two outs in the seventh to tie it at 5.

Soriano's single off Octavio Dotel (5-2) completed the comeback. The Yankees won for the first time this season when trailing after six innings _ they had been 0-20.

Antonio Osuna (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory, and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

Derek Jeter, New York's second batter of the game, bunted for a single to snap New York's hitless string.

Reds 2, Devil Rays 1

St. Petersburg, Florida, Austin Kearns stole home and homered, and Ryan Dempster allowed one run over 7 1-3 innings as Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay.

Dempster (2-4) allowed four hits in his second start since spending 15 days on the disabled list with a neck injury.

He left with one out in the eighth inning and runners on second and third base, but reliever Gabe White got out of the inning and Scott Williamson threw a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 17 opportunities.

The Reds went up 1-0 in the second inning when Kearns scored from third on the back end of a double steal. Kearns came home after catcher Toby Hall threw toward second in an attempt to get Aaron Boone.

Tampa Bay starter Jeremi Gonzalez (2-2) gave up two runs and five hits over seven innings. The Devil Rays have lost a season-high seven straight games.

Braves 4, Athletics 2

In Oakland, California, Gary Sheffield and Andruw Jones each homered, and Shane Reynolds took a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning to lead Atlanta over Oakland.

Barry Zito (7-5), last year's American League Cy Young pitching award winner, dropped his first interleague game in eight starts as Oakland lost its third consecutive series for the first time in nearly a year.

Zito gave up three runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Reynolds (5-1) continued his successful comeback season by winning his fourth straight decision. He allowed two runs over 6 2-3 innings as the Braves won their seventh in eight games.

John Smoltz pitched one inning to record his 25th save in 26 opportunities.

Blue Jays 5, Pirates 4

In Toronto, Mark Hendrickson won for the first time in almost a month as Toronto completed a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh.

Carlos Delgado increased his major league-leading RBI total to 74 with a two-run single for the Blue Jays, who won their fourth straight.

Hendrickson (5-5) won for the first time since May 16, and Cliff Politte pitched the ninth -- allowing only pinch-hitter Matt Stairs' homer -- for his 10th save in 12 chances.

Pittsburgh's Aramis Ramirez went 0-for-4, ending his career-high hitting streak at 22 games.

Jeff Suppan (5-6) allowed five runs on seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He has lost six of his last seven decisions.

Twins 15, Rockies 3

In Minneapolis, A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam and a three-run homer for Minnesota, which scored seven runs in the first inning.

Pierzynski hit his second career grand slam, had his first multihomer game and finished 3-for-4. His grand slam came off Darren Oliver (3-5) with the Twins already leading 3-0 in the first.

Minnesota took two of three games against the Rockies, who haven't won a road series this season.

Twins starter Kenny Rogers (5-2) struggled to find the strike zone early. But Minnesota's big first inning gave Rogers all the cushion he needed to settle down. Rogers went eight innings, allowing three runs and nine hits.

Padres 9, Indians 4

In Cleveland, Jake Peavy got his first win since April 25 as home runs by Rondell White and Ryan Klesko helped San Diego rally past Cleveland.

Trailing 3-0 after four innings, the Padres scored four runs in the fifth and five in the sixth to help Peavy (5-5) and avoid being swept in their first ever series against the Indians.

Mark Loretta had three RBIs for the Padres, who finally got their 20th win.

Indians rookie starter Jason Davis (5-5) dominated the Padres for the first four innings, but was tagged for four runs -- three earned -- in the fifth and two in the sixth for his first loss since May 8.

Mets 11, Rangers 0

In Arlington, Texas, Vance Wilson homered and drove in five runs and Al Leiter pitched six shutout innings as the New York Mets beat Texas just hours after general manager Steve Phillips was fired.

Leiter, Graeme Lloyd and John Franco combined for New York's third shutout of the season.

Wilson's sixth homer, a two-run shot in the second, put the Mets ahead 3-0.

He added a two-run single an inning later when New York scored five times and chased Colby Lewis (4-5), and then was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in a three-run ninth.

Giants 8, White Sox 4

In Chicago, Barry Bonds hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth and Rich Aurilia hit a pinch-hit grand slam later in the inning to rally San Francisco past the Chicago White Sox.

Bartolo Colon (6-6) struck out Bonds in his first three at-bats and took a three-hitter into the ninth, but Ray Durham singled leading off the inning. Bonds hit the next pitch for his 631st home run, his 18th this season.

San Francisco then loaded the bases on singles by Benito Santiago and Pedro Feliz, and an intentional walk to Edgardo Alfonzo.

Cardinals 8, Red Sox 7, 13 innings

In Boston, Jim Edmonds hit an opposite-field, three-run homer in the 13th inning as St. Louis beat Boston after wasting a pair of late leads.

Edmonds also had a solo homer and Edgar Renteria went 5-for-6 for the Cardinals, who took two of three from the Red Sox.

Dodgers 3, Tigers 2

In Detroit, Japanese pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii allowed two runs over seven innings and Paul Lo Duca drove in the go-ahead run with a fifth-inning single as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of Detroit.

Lo Duca extended his hitting streak to 20 games, and Ishii (6-2) won despite walking six batters for the sixth time this season.

He struck out eight and allowed five hits.

Orioles 6, Cubs 1

In Baltimore, Melvin Mora homered and drove in three runs, and Rick Helling shrugged off two rain delays to pitch five shutout innings as Baltimore beat the Chicago Cubs.

Mora had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout before extending his hitting streak to 23 games in the seventh with a solo shot off Kyle Farnsworth. It's the third-longest streak in team history behind Eric Davis (30) and Rafael Palmeiro (24).

Helling (4-4) shook off both delays to earn the win, and Travis Driskill worked four innings for his first save.

Mariners 1, Expos 0

In Seattle, Ryan Franklin and Arthur Rhodes combined on a five-hitter, and Bret Boone hit his 18th homer of the season for Seattle.

Franklin (5-4) gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five. Rhodes pitched the ninth for his first save.

Franklin outpitched rookie Claudio Vargas (3-3), who gave up Boone's 427-foot (129-meter) homer to lead off the fourth.
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