David Ortiz made a key error Wednesday that allowed New York to tie game in the seventh inning, and Gary Sheffield's RBI double in the eighth sent the Yankees to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
"That kind of stuff seems to happen a lot to us, especially when we're playing the Yankees," Johnny Damon said. "Every single loss is just magnified right now."
The grounder in this New York setting was far less dramatic than when Bill Buckner made his infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but the play was eerily similar.
PHOTO: AFP
With the Yankees trailing 2-0, Tony Clark hit a sharp grounder right at Ortiz, the designated hitter in Boston's original lineup but switched to first base before the first pitch. The ball squirted through Ortiz into shallow right field for an error that allowed two runs to score.
"I thought I had it. I was starting to go to first base, and I saw the ball missing. My glove was kind of soft. Maybe that's why it went through," Ortiz said. "We should've won the game."
Mike Timlin (4-3) allowed two runs on two hits, including Sheffield's go-ahead double, in one inning of relief.
PHOTO: AFP
Tom Gordon (2-2) struck out two in a perfect eighth for the win, and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 30 chances.
Tigers 12, Indians 5
In Detroit, Ivan Rodriguez had three more hits as Detroit beat Cleveland for its sixth successive win and its longest winning streak since it took six straight in May 2002.
Detroit overcame a three-run deficit and improved to 37-39. Last year, when the Tigers set an AL record with 119 losses, they didn't get their 37th win until Sept. 4.
Rodriguez went 3-for-4, raising his major league-leading average to .381.
White Sox 9, Twins 6
In Minneapolis, Freddy Garcia got plenty of run support from his new team, winning his debut with Chicago.
Paul Konerko, Jose Valentin, Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand backed Garcia with home runs, and the White Sox moved one game ahead of the Twins in the AL Central -- two in the loss column.
Acquired Sunday in a trade with Seattle to solidify Chicago's rotation for the playoff race, Garcia (5-7) gave up seven hits and five runs -- four earned -- in six innings while striking out a season-high nine.
Orioles 13, Royals 4
In Kansas City, Missouri, newly promoted Chad Mottola hit his first major league home run since 1996, and Miguel Tejada and David Newhan also connected in the Baltimore's romp over Kansas City.
Every Orioles starter scored as they matched a season high for runs.
Pinch-hitter Bobby Hill singled home the winning run in the ninth and Tike Redman had three RBIs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over St. Louis 6-5 victory to complete their first home three-game sweep of the Cardinals in 15 years.
"I said it even when [the Pirates recently lost 21 of 24], this team never gives up," Pittsburgh's Jack Wilson said. "It's just unfortunate we didn't do it earlier."
Jose Mesa (2-0) blew his first save opportunity in 18 chances but got his second victory of the series, while Julian Tavarez (2-2) took his second loss in three days. Pittsburgh has won a season-high five straight games.
"We tried to pitch around Hill, not give him anything to hit, but I left a changeup up in the middle of the strike zone and I paid for that," Tavarez said.
Astros 3, Cubs 2
In Chicago, in his fifth game since Houston acquired him from Kansas City, Carlos Beltran homered off LaTroy Hawkins (1-1) with two outs in the ninth to give Houston a win over Chicago.
Roger Clemens' bid for his 11th victory was blown by Dan Miceli, who allowed Michael Barrett's eighth-inning homer, which tied it 2-all.
Reds 2, Mets 0
In Cincinnati, Cory Lidle topped stingy Tom Glavine and shut down New York for the second time in a week for Cincinnati.
Adam Dunn homered and Ryan Freel hit an RBI single off Glavine (7-5), whose 2.16 ERA run average is by far the best in the majors.
The Reds snapped a three-game losing streak behind Lidle (6-5), who has beaten his former team in each of his last two starts. The right-hander gave up three singles in seven shutout innings.
Giants 7, Dodgers 1
In Los Angeles, Barry Bonds hit a three-run homer for his 1,300th career extra-base hit and Brett Tomko came within two outs of his first major league shutout for San Francisco in beating Los Angeles.
A.J. Pierzynski went 4-for-4 with a two-run double, helping the first-place Giants increase their lead over San Diego in the NL West to 2 1/2 games. The Dodgers dropped 3 1/2 games back. Ray Durham and former Dodger Marquis Grissom also homered off Hideo Nomo (3-10), who has given up 16 homers this season, the most by a Dodgers pitcher.
Tomko (3-4) allowed one run and seven hits, struck out six and walked two in 8 1-3 innings. He gave up three singles in the ninth, including Milton Bradley's run-scoring hit up the middle on Tomko's 118th -- and final -- pitch.
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