Sun, May 30, 2004 - Page 23 News List

New York's Rivera gets his 300th save

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Reliever Mariano Rivera of thje Yankees worked a scoreless ninth for his American League-leading 17th save in a win over the Devil Rays

AP , ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDAAP, PITTSBURGHAP, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz watches his grandslam during the fifth inning against the Mariners at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday.

PHOTO: EPA

American League

Mariano Rivera became the 17th player to earn 300 saves, and a surging Derek Jeter hit one of the New York Yankees' four homers in a 7-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday night.

Javier Vazquez (5-4) pitched six-plus innings for the victory, and Rivera worked a scoreless ninth for his American League-leading 17th save. He became the first Yankee to record 300 in his career, and is the fourth pitcher to get 300 with one team, joining Trevor Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley and Jeff Montgomery.

"I don't care how many saves other people have," Jeter said. "The way he's gotten them -- not in the regular season, but more importantly in the postseason -- I think you have to put him at the top of the list."

Jeter continued his climb out of a season-long slump with three hits for the third straight game.

The win put the Yankees a season-best 11 games over .500 at 29-18.

Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Ruben Sierra also homered.

"It was a good game," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said. "We just couldn't keep them in the ballpark. That's really the story."

Sierra's two-run homer off Doug Waechter (2-5) in the fourth wiped out a 2-0 deficit.

Blue Jays 5, Rangers 4

In Toronto, Carlos Delgado hit a two-run homer in a four-run first, and Ted Lilly worked six innings for just the second time this season to lead Toronto past Texas for its fourth straight win.

Rod Barajas homered and tied a career high with four RBIs for the Rangers.

Barajas ended Texas' streak of 19 consecutive scoreless inning with a sacrifice fly in the second.

Lilly (3-2) won for the first time in five starts, allowing one run on six hits, while striking out four and walking a season-high five.

Rookie Jason Frasor pitched the ninth for his third save.

R.A. Dickey (4-5) lost his fourth straight start.

Indians 1, Athletics 0

In Cleveland, Casey Blake hit the third pitch by reliever Jim Mecir into the left-field bleachers to give Cleveland the victory over Oakland.

Blake lined a 1-1 pitch from Mecir (0-4) for his sixth homer -- and second game-winning shot this season at Jacobs Field.

Jose Jimenez (1-3) pitched a scoreless ninth for his first American League win.

Oakland starter Barry Zito pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and five walks while striking out seven.

The two teams were a combined 1-for-15 with nine strikeouts with runners in scoring position.

Orioles 7, Tigers 5

In Detroit, Miguel Tejada and Luis Matos homered as Baltimore beat Detroit to snap a seven-game losing streak.

B.J. Surhoff went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Orioles, who bounced back with a win after being outscored 41-17 in a three-game series against the Yankees.

The Tigers had 10 hits, a night after tying a team record with 27 in a 17-7 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Baltimore starter Eric Dubose (4-3) allowed three runs and six hits in five-plus innings. He walked five and struck out five.

Jason Johnson (3-6) faced his former team for the first time since leaving as a free agent in the offseason, allowing six runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Red Sox 8, Mariners 4

In Boston, Pedro Martinez remained undefeated against Seattle, and David Ortiz's grand slam capped a five-run fifth inning for Boston.

Manny Ramirez hit his 13th homer for Boston, which has won eight of 10.

Bret Boone and Rich Aurilia each had of the ninth to send Chicago past Anaheim for its eighth win in 10 games.

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