Pinch-hitter David Ortiz's two-out RBI single off Armando Benitez in the ninth inning gave the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Home runs by Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez helped the Red Sox build a 4-0 lead against Mike Mussina. But the bullpen blew it, nearly wasting an outstanding start by John Burkett.
PHOTO: AP
The Yankees rallied to tie the game against closer Kim Byung-hyun on Karim Garcia's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth.
Benitez (0-1), acquired from the Mets on July 16, gave up a one-out single to Jeremy Giambi in the ninth.
Giambi stole second -- his first career steal -- as Jason Varitek struck out. After Johnny Damon was intentionally walked, Ortiz hit a drive off the wall in left-center to win it.
After losing the series opener 4-3 Friday night, Boston trimmed New York's lead in the AL East to 2 1/2 games.
Mariners 4, Rangers 0
In Seattle, Joel Pineiro pitched a career-best three-hitter to win his seventh straight decision, leading Seattle over Texas.
Pineiro (12-5) struck out seven and walked two in his third career shutout and second this season.
Ichiro Suzuki hit an RBI single and Bret Boone had a sacrifice fly for the AL West-leading Mariners, who lead the majors with 12 shutouts. Surprisingly, the powerful Rangers have been blanked nine times, second-most in the majors. The three hits were a season low for Texas.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 2
In Toronto, Pat Hentgen beat his former team, and Jeff Conine and Melvin Mora homered in Baltimore's victory over Toronto.
Former Blue Jays third baseman Tony Batista had three hits and scored twice.
Hentgen (3-5) won his second straight start, allowing two runs and five hits in six innings.
Toronto starter Mark Hendrickson (6-7) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Athletics 8, Angels 1
In Anaheim, Rich Harden earned his first major league win and Billy McMillon hit a leadoff homer as Oakland beat Anaheim.
McMillon, Miguel Tejada and Scott Hatteberg had three hits apiece for Oakland. Eric Chavez added a two-run double.
Harden (1-0) allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings. He also pitched well at Kansas City in his big league debut last Monday.
The 21-year-old right-hander is considered perhaps the top pitching prospect in baseball.
The Angels grounded into five double plays -- including one in each of the first four innings. Aaron Sele (6-8) allowed four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits over five innings.
Tigers 5, Royals 1
Detroit, Jeremy Bonderman took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning and Ramon Santiago hit a two-run triple as Detroit beat Kansas.
The Tigers improved to 13-36 at home, winning for the second time in three games overall following a six-game losing streak. The AL Central-leading Royals have dropped four of six.
Bonderman (4-14) won for the second time in three starts. Three outs shy of his first shutout, he walked Aaron Guiel leading off the ninth and was lifted after throwing a wild pitch.
Chris Mears came on and finished the three-hitter, a game that took only 2 hours, 7 minutes.
Indians 9, Twins 2
In Cleveland, rookie Jody Gerut hit a grand slam to highlight Cleveland's eight-run second inning, powering Cleveland over Minnesota.
Billy Traber (5-5) made the huge, early lead stand up by holding the Twins to one earned run and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. The rookie left-hander is 5-1 in six starts at home this season.
Gerut and Travis Hafner each had three hits as Cleveland matched a season high with 17. Gerut's first career slam capped Cleveland's outburst off Kyle Lohse (6-9), who hasn't won in his last eight starts and was tagged for seven earned runs in just 1 2-3 innings.
Devil Rays 10, White Sox 6
In Chicago, Rocco Baldelli homered and drove in four runs as Tampa Bay snapped Chicago's eight-game winning streak.
Aubrey Huff went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for the Devil Rays, who won for just the 15th time in 49 road games. Tampa Bay finished with 15 hits, including a season-high seven doubles.
Baldelli broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning with a two-out, two-run double off reliever Rick White.
Albert Pujols had four hits and drove in four runs and Jason Isringhausen hit a bases-loaded triple, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 13-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
"He's a phenomenon because he's so young," Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said. ``We didn't do a very good job against him.''
Tino Martinez went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, Edgar Renteria added three hits and Scott Rolen hit a three-run homer for St. Louis, which got 19 hits.
Isringhausen got one out in the eighth, then got his first hit with the Cardinals to make it 13-6 in the bottom half. He gave up two runs in the ninth but finished for his eighth save in nine opportunities.
Cardinals starter Woody Williams (14-3) benefited from St. Louis' offensive outburst. He won his fourth straight start, allowing five runs and eight hits over a shaky 5 2-3 innings.
Astros 3, Cubs 1
In Houston, Tim Redding allowed two hits in seven strong innings and Jeff Bagwell homered as Houston beat the Cubs.
Lance Berkman had an RBI double for the NL Central-leading Astros, who took a 3-1 lead on Bagwell's 22nd homer in the sixth.
Redding (7-9) did not allow a hit until Aramis Ramirez's triple to the hill in center field with one out in the fifth. Brad Lidge and Billy Wagner completed the two-hitter, with Wagner getting four outs for his 31st save in 34 opportunities.
The Astros scored in the first inning for the second straight game, getting two runs off Juan Cruz (1-4), who made his first start of the season after 18 relief appearances.
Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0
In Phoenix, Elmer Dessens drove in a run with his first triple and pitched seven shutout innings to lead Arizona over Los Angeles.
It was Arizona's second straight narrow decision over the Dodgers, coming hours after a 2-1 victory in 15 innings Friday night.
Eddie Oropesa and Jose Valverde worked out of a jam in the eighth and Matt Mantei pitched the ninth for his 11th save, finishing the Diamondbacks' sixth shutout of the season -- a six-hitter.
Dessens (6-7), the only member of the Diamondbacks' opening day rotation to make every start this year, allowed four hits and one intentional walk while striking out six.
The Dodgers' Andy Ashby (2-8) allowed five hits and one run in seven innings.
Marlins 10, Phillies 5
In Miami, two errors by center fielder Marlon Byrd led to a pair of unearned runs, and Josh Beckett allowed one run in six innings to help Florida beat Philadelphia for the seventh time in a row.
Ivan Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera each drove in three runs for the Marlins, who climbed six games above .500 for the first time since they finished the 1997 season 92-70. That team went on to win the World Series.
Beckett (5-4) allowed seven hits but struck out nine and stranded six runners in scoring position. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA in five games since returning July 1 from an elbow sprain that sent him to the disabled list for nearly two months.
Braves 15, Expos 4
In Montreal, Javy Lopez's bases-loaded triple keyed a five-run first inning and Andruw Jones had four hits and three RBIs as Atlanta routed Montreal.
Gary Sheffield had three hits -- including his 25th homer -- and three RBIs for Atlnta, which tied a season-high with 18 hits.
Lopez, who also singled, is 18-for-34 (.529) with 18 RBIs over the course of a nine-game hitting streak.
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