Mon, Jul 07, 2003 - Page 19 News List

Red Sox make Yankees and Clemens look bad

AP , NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES

New York Yankees Hideki Matsui hits a single against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York on Saturday.

PHOTO: AP

Ramiro Mendoza (2-3) worked out of trouble to pitch five shutout innings in his first start since June 2001, and the Boston Red Sox blew out Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees again with a 10-2 victory Saturday.

Clemens (8-6) became the second straight Yankees starter to give up eight runs against Boston's major league-leading offense.

David Ortiz homered twice for the second game in a row, and Trot Nixon hit a two-run shot in the second that put Boston ahead as the Red Sox connected three times after hitting seven homers in Friday's 10-3 win.

Ortiz had a solo shot in the fourth against Clemens and a two-run drive off Jason Anderson in the ninth.

Boston, with its second straight win in the four-game series, pulled within two games of the AL East leaders.

Devil Rays 3, White Sox 2

Javier Valentin homered off Esteban Loaiza (11-4) and Jorge Sosa (2-6) won for the first time since April as Tampa Bay won three straight for the first time under manager Lou Piniella.

Piniella pledged last month to dye his hair if his young team won three in a row at any point this season.

It didn't come easy. Lance Carter nearly blew a three-run lead in the ninth, allowing a solo homer to pinch-hitter Magglio Ordonez and a one-out RBI double to Frank Thomas. Carter recovered for his 14th save in 20 opportunities.

Indians 13, Twins 2

Casey Blake went 5-for-5 with two homers and seven RBIs against his former team, leading Cleveland past struggling Minnesota.

Matt Lawton -- another former Twin -- and Milton Bradley homered for the Indians, who got seven solid innings from starter Brian Anderson (6-6).

Matthew LeCroy and Corey Koskie hit solo homers for the Twins, who have lost 15 of 21.

Tigers 9, Royals 5

Dmitri Young and Kevin Witt hit solo home runs and Alex Sanchez drove in three runs with his first homer in 307 at-bats, powering Detroit past Kansas City.

The Tigers, whose 21-64 record is the worst in the major leagues, have hit seven home runs in their last two games and 12 in their last seven. Sanchez's shot in the fourth inning was the second of his career and put the Tigers on top 6-0 in the fourth.

Mike Maroth (4-12) gave up four runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings to win for the third time in four decisions.

Orioles 9, Blue Jays 2

Jeff Conine hit two homers and drove in five runs, and Sidney Ponson (11-5) pitched eight strong innings for Baltimore.

Brook Fordyce also homered, and AL batting leader Melvin Mora had four hits to help the Orioles extend their winning streak to four -- tying a season high.

Greg Myers and Shannon Stewart homered for the Blue Jays, who have lost seven of eight.

Mariners 3, Rangers 2

Dan Wilson's RBI single with one out in the 10th inning lifted Seattle over Texas.

Randy Winn greeted reliever Ugueth Urbina (0-4) with a single to open the 10th. Winn went to second on Jeff Cirillo's sacrifice bunt and raced home on Wilson's bloop single over the head of Rangers second baseman Michael Young.

Rafael Soriano (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for his first major league victory. Shigetoshi Hasegawa got three outs for his third save.

Angels 6, Athletics 3

Tim Salmon homered twice and Ramon Ortiz won for the sixth time in seven starts to lead Anaheim over Oakland.

Salmon connected on a 2-0 pitch from Aaron Harang (1-3) for a three-run homer in the first inning and a solo shot off John Halama in the fifth. It was Salmon's second multihomer game this year, both against the A's.

This story has been viewed 2123 times.
TOP top