American League
Jorge Posada had the bandage removed from his broken nose on Friday and much of the swelling to his face had subsided, but he remained out of lineup for the New York Yankees' game against Seattle.
PHOTO: AP
The catcher, who was injured by a throw while trying to break up a double play on Wednesday against Anaheim, said he expected to sit out today's game, too.
"Maybe, Sunday," he said of a possible return to action. "Most likely Tuesday."
Posada said he was still having headaches, but was feeling better two days after surgery.
He said he could be available to pinch hit today or tomorrow, but the decision probably will be made by team doctors and manager Joe Torre.
"They're going to try to keep me out," Posada said.
Torre said he'll be cautious with the four-time All-Star.
"With an off day Monday, we're not going to push the envelope," he said.
The Yankees play at Anaheim on Tuesday.
David Parrish, who was called up to give New York a third catcher, will remain with the team until Posada is back in the starting lineup, Torre said. John Flaherty replaced Posada behind the plate for a second straight game.
Posada was batting .302 with a team-leading eight homers and 23 RBIs.
Meanwhile, first baseman Jason Giambi was also out of New York's starting lineup on Friday. He left Thursday's game early.
Giambi, who has a nagging left knee injury, was out with a sore left hip. Torre said he planned to have the All-Star back at first base for Saturday's game.
"It's nothing serious," Torre said.
Tony Clark started at first, and designated hitter Ruben Sierra was inserted in Giambi's usual cleanup spot.
Yankees 9, Mariners 5
In New York, Mike Mussina labored through six innings, but New York took advantage of a wild night by Seattle's pitchers.
Tony Clark drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth for the Yankees and Bernie Williams broke open the game with a two-run double in the seventh. The first four Seattle pitchers combined for 10 walks -- four with the bases loaded -- made two errors and a run-scoring wild pitch.
Mussina (4-4) allowed 11 hits and five runs in the first 3 1-3 innings, then shut down the Mariners. Ron Villone (3-2) took the loss, a season-high sixth straight by Seattle.
Tigers 7, Rangers 1
Gary Knotts did not allow a hit until the fifth inning in his first start of the season, and Brandon Inge and Omar Infante hit consecutive homers in the second for the Detroit Tigers in a 7-1 win Friday night over the Texas Rangers.
Knotts (1-0) retired the first eight batters he faced, and Esteban Yan didn't allow a hit in four innings for his second save. Knotts allowed a run on two hits while striking out five and walking one. Ivan Rodriguez added a two-run homer.
Joaquin Benoit (1-1) allowed five runs on six hits in 6 1-3 innings for Texas.
Red Sox 9, Blue Jays 3
In Toronto, Brian Daubach hit a tiebreaking double in a six-run eighth inning to lead Boston over Toronto.
Boston, which had lost four of its previous five games, sent 10 batters to the plate in the eighth. Kerry Ligtenberg (1-1) didn't get an out in the inning, allowing five straight batters to reach.
Alan Embree (2-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief of Derek Lowe.
Indians 8, Devil Rays 7, 10 innings
In Cleveland, after Julio Lugo hit a tying, two-run homer for Tampa Bay in the ninth inning, Casey Blake homered in the 10th for Cleveland.
Blake homered off Lance Carter (1-2) leading off the inning. Tampa Bay has lost seven of eight and has not won consecutive games all year.
Rick White (1-0) pitched one inning for his first win since July 23, when he was with the Chicago White Sox.
Athletics 6, Royals 2
In Kansas City, Missouri, Oakland's Tim Hudson pitched eight strong inning and moved into second place in career winning percentage.
Hudson (4-1) improved to 84-34 for a .712 winning percentage, second only to Spud Chandler (.717) among pitchers with 50 or more wins.
Eric Karros and Scott Hatteberg homered and had two RBIs apiece.
Hudson allowed five hits, struck out two and walked two. Jimmy Gobble (1-2) was the loser.
Angels 10, Orioles 9, 10 innings
In Baltimore, Chone Figgins hit a grand slam for his first major league homer and drove in a career-high six runs, including a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, to lead Anaheim.
Rafael Palmeiro hit his 534th home run, tying Jimmie Foxx for 12th on the career list, and the Orioles rallied from a 9-6 deficit in the ninth against Troy Percival (2-0), who blew a save. Scot Shields pitched the 10th for his third save.
Adam Kennedy started the decisive rally with a one-out single off Jorge Julio (1-1). With two outs, Kennedy stole second and scored on Figgins' career-best fifth hit, a single to left.Twins 3, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Jacque Jones went 3-for-3 and tied the game with an RBI single, and Lew Ford drove in the go-ahead run to rally Minnesota.
Aaron Rowand homered for Chicago, but the White Sox managed only two hits in the final five innings as they lost for the sixth time in nine games.
Protecting a 2-1 lead in the eighth, Damaso Marte (1-2) walked Doug Mientkiewicz and Torii Hunter with one out. Jones singled, scoring Mientkiewicz to tie the game at 2. Shingo Takatsu relieved Marte, but Ford hit a grounder up the middle that Takatsu couldn't grab and Hunter easily scored.
Juan Rincon (5-2) struck out two and walked one in 1 1-3 inning for the Twins, and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.
National League
The St. Louis Cardinals roughed up World Series MVP Josh Beckett on and got dominant pitching from Jason Marquis in a 6-3 victory Friday night over the Florida Marlins.
Ray Lankford homered, Hector Luna had two RBI singles and Jim Edmonds doubled twice, drove in a run and scored twice to help the Cardinals win for the fourth time in five games. Beckett (3-3), who shut out the Yankees in Game 6 to clinch the World Series title, gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings.
Marquis (2-3) allowed two runs on five hits in 7 2-3 innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Jason Isringhausen got his seventh save.
Braves 2, Brewers 0
In Milwaukee, J.D. Drew and Chipper Jones hit consecutive homers in the eighth inning in support of Horacio Ramirez.
Drew and Jones connected off Luis Vizcaino (0-2), who started the eighth in relief of Victor Santos. Drew has homered in three straight games.
Ramirez (1-3) allowed five hits in eight innings while striking out five and walking three. John Smoltz worked the for his sixth save in seven tries.
Santos, making just his third major league start, struck out six and walked two while giving up five hits and no runs in a career-high seven innings.
Mets 8, Astros 3
In Houston, Cliff Floyd hit a grand slam and Mike Piazza had his seventh homer of the season for New York, which has won eight of 12.
Steve Trachsel (4-3) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, and Ricky Bottalico and Orber Moreno combined for one-hit relief.
Roy Oswalt (2-2) struck out seven in seven innings, giving up five runs and seven hits as Houston lost its third straight. It was the first time in his career he allowed a grand slam. Craig Biggio hit his eighth homer for the Astros.
Phillies 6, Rockies 4
In Denver, Pat Burrell homered and drove in four runs, Bobby Abreu also connected and Philadelphia beat struggling Colorado.
Eric Milton (4-0) was helped by three double plays, and the Phillies improved to 6-1 on their 10-game road trip.
After All-Star closer Billy Wagner went on the disabled list earlier in the day, Tim Worrell worked the ninth for his second save.
Vinny Castilla and Jeromy Burnitz homered for the Rockies, who have lost seven of 10. Joe Kennedy (4-1) allowed four runs in six innings.
Cubs 6, Padres 1
In San Diego, Sammy Sosa homered to tie Mike Schmidt for ninth place on the career list with 548, and Greg Maddux pitched eight strong innings to lead Chicago over San Diego.
Cubs leadoff batter Jose Macias hit a bases-loaded triple into the left-field corner with one out in the ninth. He also tripled in the eighth and scored. Macias and Moises Alou each had three hits.
Ismael Valdez (3-2) gave up Sosa's ninth homer of the season in the fourth. Corey Patterson also connected to help give Maddux (3-3) his 22nd win in 40 career starts against the Padres.
Expos 4, Diamondbacks 3
In Phoenix, Orlando Cabrera's ninth-inning single sent Montreal to a win over Arizona.
Brian Schneider hit his fourth home run for the Expos, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Endy Chavez hit a two-out double in the ninth off Jose Valverde (0-1), and Jose Vidro was walked intentionally.
Cabrera then hit a shot just under the glove of third baseman Chad Tracy, scoring Chavez for a 4-3 Montreal lead.
Chad Cordero (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, and Rocky Biddle got his eighth save.
Steve Finley hit his major league-leading 12th home run for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three straight games.
Reds 2, Dodgers 1
In Los Angeles, Paul Wilson won his fifth straight decision and Cincinnati capitalized on a wild outing by Kazuhisa Ishii to beat Los Angeles.
Wilson (5-0) pitched seven innings in his eighth start of the season, allowing a run and five hits. It's the first time in his career that he's won five consecutive decisions.
Todd Jones pitched a scoreless eighth, and Danny Graves got his major league-leading 15th save in 18 attempts.
Ishii (5-2) allowed two runs, one hit and seven walks in four innings after winning his last three starts.
The NL West-leading Dodgers fell to 10-1 in one-run games.
Pirates 4, Giants 2
In San Francisco, Daryle Ward tied it with a two-run homer, then singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to lead Pittsburgh past San Francisco.
Ward connected for his second homer in two days in the seventh following a triple by Jack Wilson. In the eighth, Ward lined an RBI single off Felix Rodriguez (1-3).
Rob Mackowiak homered for the Pirates leading off the ninth.
Brian Boehringer (1-1) pitched the seventh for the win, and Jose Mesa worked the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances.
Ward, called up just last week when Pittsburgh placed Raul Mondesi on the restricted list, hit his first home run since 2002 on Thursday in Colorado.
Barry Bonds was removed from San Francisco's lineup before the game because of back spasms.
Sammy Sosa hit his 548th career home run Friday night, tying Mike Schmidt for ninth place on the career list.
Sosa homered on the first pitch of the fourth inning, driving a chest-high, hanging curveball from Ismael Valdez an estimated 417 feet into the first row of seats in center field. It was his ninth this year and gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
Boone takes time off
Bret Boone and Seattle manager Bob Melvin made a decision earlier this week to give the Mariners second baseman three days off to rest his aching left hip.
After two days, Boone was already thinking about trying to talk his way back into the lineup.
"I was thinking about how I was going to convince Bob to let me play," Boone said on Friday before the Mariners played the Yankees.
The All-Star wised up when he got to the park and missed his third straight start.
Boone missed just 14 games over the last three seasons, during which he has been Seattle's top power hitter.
The Mariners have lost five straight games and are 10 games under .500 for the first time since 1998 and in last place in the tough AL West, 10 1/2 games out of first.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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