American League
AP, NEW YORK
Baltimore sent Roger Clemens to his quickest exit in a year, with Jeff Conine and B.J. Surhoff hitting early home runs to back Sidney Ponson and lead the Orioles over the New York Yankees 5-3 on Thursday.
Clemens (9-7), in the final season of his 20-year career in the major leagues, lasted just four innings, gave up nine hits and left trailing 5-0.
Ponson (14-5) tied Toronto's Roy Halladay and Atlanta's Russ Ortiz for the major league lead in victories, winning his fourth straight start since a June 30 loss to the Yankees. He had been 0-8 in 14 starts against the Yankees since Sept. 19, 1998.
Ponson, watched closely by teams in the trade market, tied for the major league lead with 14 wins as he led the Baltimore Orioles over Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees 5-3 Thursday.
"If it happens, it happens," Ponson said of a possible deal. "I just pack my bags and I'm gone."
He took a shutout into the sixth inning before the Yankees got a pair of runs. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked three.
Ponson says he's put the talks out of his mind.
"It just shows you how much Sidney has grown, to be able to separate the two," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said.
Devil Rays 15, Red Sox 9
In Boston, Damian Rolls hit a grand slam to highlight a seven-run fifth inning as Tampa Bay got a team-record 21 hits to beat Boston.
Rolls' first major league slam helped him drive in a career-high five runs. Antonio Perez also homered and had a career-best five RBIs as Tampa Bay matched its highest-scoring game of the season.
Twins 6, Royals 2
In Minneapolis, pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning after Shannon Stewart's hustle on a bunt forced a key misplay, leading Minnesota past Kansas City.
Tigers 7, Indians 4
In Cleveland, Craig Monroe homered as Detroit roughed up C.C. Sabathia and beat Cleveland to end a six-game losing streak.
Sabathia (8-6) retired the first seven batters, but lost his command after the Tigers scored an unearned run on third baseman Casey Blake's error in the third.
White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3, 13 innings
In Toronto, Frank Thomas hit a go-ahead single in the 13th inning as Chicago won its season-high seventh straight game, 4-3 over Toronto in a rain-soaked SkyDome.
Angels 10, Rangers 6
In Arlington, Texas, Kevin Appier beat Texas for the first time in over seven years and David Eckstein had four hits as Anaheim defeated the Rangers.
Athletics 3, Mariners 0
In Seattle, Mark Mulder had a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings and Eric Chavez hit a solo homer as Oakland beat Seattle.
National League
AP, SAN FRANCISCO
Barry Bonds threw himself quite a birthday bash.
Bonds led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his 646th career homer only moments after making a spectacular, run-saving throw to give the San Francisco Giants their eighth straight win, 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Playing on his 39th birthday, the star left fielder threw out Craig Counsell at the plate in the top of the ninth, sending fans at Pacific Bell Park into a frenzy.
Then, it got even more crazy. Bonds followed with his major league-leading 33rd homer, giving him a San Francisco record 470 to pass Willie McCovey (469).
The crowd of 42,666 remained standing for several minutes, chanting "Barry! Barry!" and Bonds stepped out of the dugout and waved.
It was Bonds' seventh career game-ending homer, but he didn't stick around to celebrate. He rushed off to a hospital to visit his father, Bobby, who has lung cancer.
"My dad's in the hospital right now and I've got to go," Bonds said.
Dodgers 1, Rockies 0, 11 innings
In Los Angeles, Shawn Green hit an RBI single in the 11th inning and Kevin Brown pitched eight scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies to earn a split of their four-game series.
Brown, who lost his previous four starts, allowed three singles and lowered his ERA to a major league-leading 2.12. But Colorado All-Star Shawn Chacon was just as tough for seven innings.
Phillies 14, Cubs 6
In Chicago, Bobby Abreu hit a grand slam along with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly during a nine-run burst in the sixth inning that sent the Philadelphia Phillies over the Chicago Cubs.
Placido Polanco drove in four runs with four hits and Todd Pratt homered for the Phillies.
Pirates 7, Reds 5, 11 innings
In Cincinnati, Matt Stairs had an RBI double in the 11th inning, and the trade-decimated Pittsburgh Pirates completed another sweep at Great American Ball Park by beating the Cincinnati Reds.
Braves 5, Marlins 2
In Atlanta, Russ Ortiz won his seventh consecutive start and became the NL's first 14-game winner and Javy Lopez hit a two-run homer as the Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins.
Brewers 2, Astros 1
In Milwaukee, Keith Ginter hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning to lift Milwaukee over the Houston Astros.
Expos 5, Mets 1
In Montreal, Livan Hernandez won his fourth straight decision and Wil Cordero homered to lead Montreal over New York.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but