Tim Wakefield pitched seven innings of three-hit ball for his first win in six weeks, and Johnny Damon singled five times Tuesday night as the Boston Red Sox rebounded from a horrible trip to rout the Oakland Athletics 11-0.
"This is the 2004 Red Sox that you see," Boston first baseman Kevin Millar said. "This is the first time we're back in our house with our lineup."
Wakefield (5-5) allowed only two batters to reach second base. He struck out six and walked one.
PHOTO: AP
"It was huge for all the guys in the clubhouse in there," said Wakefield. "We needed to win this one."
Bill Mueller hit a three-run homer in the second, and the Red Sox scored four times in the fourth off Barry Zito (4-6).
Zito allowed seven runs -- six earned -- on nine hits and three walks in four innings, walking in two runs in the fourth.
The Red Sox returned to Fenway Park after going 1-5 on the road, including a three-game sweep by the American League East-leading Yankees.
Tigers 9, Yankees 1
In New York, Jason Johnson pitched eight dominant innings and Rondell White and Bobby Higginson hit two-run homers to help the Detroit beat New York and five game losing skid.
Dmitri Young had three doubles and scored two runs, Carlos Guillen had a two-run single, and White added an RBI single against his former team as the Tigers won for the first time at Yankee Stadium since Sept. 7, 2002.
Johnson (6-7) retired his first 12 batters. He allowed six hits and a run without walking a batter. He struck out four.
Mike Mussina (9-6), working on three days' rest, gave up seven runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out eight.
Devil Rays 3, Orioles 1
In Baltimore, Mark Hendrickson pitched eight shutout innings as Tampa Bay halted a three-game losing streak with a win over Baltimore.
Hendrickson (6-6) allowed six hits, struck out two and walked one. He allowed only two runners to reach third base. Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.
Rodrigo Lopez (6-5) gave up three runs on eight hits in 6 innings.
Blue Jays 7, Mariners 6
In Toronto, Carlos Delgado doubled in his first at-bat off the disabled list, and Reed Johnson and Josh Phelps homered in a six-run first inning as Toronto defeated Seattle.
Delgado, who missed 33 games because of a strained ribcage, went 1-for-3. Toronto went 13-20 while he was sidelined.
Miguel Batista (8-5) won this fourth straight start despite allowing four runs, six hits and six walks in six innings. Rookie Jason Frasor pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances.
Randy Winn and Scott Spiezio homered for the Mariners, who have lost four straight and six of eight. Jamie Moyer (6-5) lost his third straight decision, allowing seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.
Indians 4, Rangers 1
In Cleveland, the Indians halted a three-game losing streak and relief pitcher Bob Wickman pitched for the first time in almost two years as Cleveland downed Texas.
Wickman allowed one hit in the eighth. He hadn't pitched in the major leagues since Aug. 10, 2002, after undergoing "Tommy John" surgery.
Starter Cliff Lee (8-1) allowed four hits, struck out five and improved to 7-1 in starts following an Indians' loss. David Riske picked up his third save.
Texas starter Nick Bierbrodt (1-1) allowed three runs and just one hit, but walked seven. Mark Teixeira hit his 16th homer for the Rangers.
Twins 4, Royals 0
In Minneapolis, Johan Santana pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game and tied his high with 13 strikeouts as Minnesota blanked Kansas City.
Torii Hunter homered in the second inning and went 2-for-3 for the Twins, and the Royals lost for the 12th time in 13 games -- including a season-high seven straight defeats. They have been blanked five times this year, including a 9-0 loss to Minnesota on Monday.
Santana (7-5) reached double-digit strikeouts for the fifth time in his last six outings. He walked two.
Kansas City starter Zack Greinke (1-6) lost his fifth straight start. He allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Angels 6, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Jeff DaVanon hit a three-run homer for Anaheim off Freddy Garcia, who lost his first home game with Chicago.
Anaheim broke a two-game losing streak and picked up a game on the American League West leaders, Oakland and Texas, who are 3 1/2 games ahead. The Angels had lost six of their last seven.
Garcia (5-8) struck out his first four batters and seven in eight innings, but allowed seven hits, two walks and four earned runs.
Earlier in the day, the 28-year-old right-hander agreed on a $27 million, three-year contract extension. He was acquired from the Seattle Mariners on June 27 and won his first start for the White Sox.
The Angels took a 3-1 lead in the fourth when DaVanon hit his fourth homer.
John Lackey (6-8) allowed four hits in seven innings.
Russ Ortiz pitched seven scoreless innings to put the Atlanta Braves over .500 for the first time in nearly a month with a 1-0 win over the Montreal Expos on Tuesday night.
"That was our goal going into the All-Star break," closing pitcher John Smoltz said. "We still got some more games to go, so hopefully we can keep it up and stay above [.500]."
Atlanta (42-41) has won nine of 12 since June 24, when the Braves were 32-38. They last had a winning record at 29-28 on June 9.
After allowing back-to-back singles to Brad Wilkerson and Endy Chavez to start the game, Ortiz (9-6) retired 14 of the next 16 batters.
He pitched seven innings, allowed three hits, walked three, and struck out three.
"It's frustrating to get a loss like this, because Downs and our relievers pitched a great game for us," Wilkerson said. "We just didn't come through."
Smoltz got the final four outs for his 15th save.
Scott Downs (0-3) worked 6 1-3 innings, and allowed seven hits.
Marlins 6, Pirates 3
In Miami, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 10-game winning streak ended, with Alex Gonzalez hitting a tiebreaking, three-run homer for Florida in the seventh inning to secure a win over Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh's winning streak was its longest since an 11-game streak from Sept. 12-22, 1996.
NL Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis remained winless in four starts since June 13 despite allowing just one run and five hits in six innings.
Trailing 3-2, Florida rallied in the seventh against Mark Corey (0-2), who walked Hee Seop Choi leading off and allowed Miguel Cabrera's tying double to right-center.
Corey walked two before Salomon Torres relieved. One out later, Gonzalez homered on an 0-2 pitch.
Nate Bump (2-3) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings, and Armando Benitez pitched a perfect ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.
Mets 4, Phillies 1
In Philadelphia, Al Leiter pitched seven solid innings and Kaz Matsui went 3-for-5, leading New York past Philadelphia.
Leiter (5-2) won for the fourth time in six starts and helped the Mets pull within two games of the National League East-leading Phillies. New York has won five of its last six.
After allowing two singles in the ninth, Braden Looper struck out Placido Polanco to get his 17th save in 19 chances.
Richard Hidalgo went 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs for the Mets, though his team-record streak of homers in consecutive games ended at five.
Randy Wolf (3-4) lasted only 4 2-3 innings as the Phillies ended a three-game winning streak.
Cardinals 5, Reds 3
In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds homered and saved one with his glove, and Edgar Renteria hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning as St. Louis defeated Cincinnati.
Matt Morris (9-6) overcame a shaky second to work seven solid innings for St. Louis (51-32), which won its fifth straight to improve the NL's best record.
The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 30-8 in the first five games of a nine-game homestand. They have won 12 of their last 14 at home, including seven straight.
Reggie Sanders, 5-for-8 as a pinch-hitter, doubled off Gabe White (0-1) to start the seventh and scored on Renteria's fifth homer.
Steve Kline allowed one hit in two innings for his second save.
Brewers 4, Cubs 2
In Milwaukee, Keith Ginter hit a two-run homer off Mark Prior (2-2) and Victor Santos (8-3) won for the sixth time in seven starts, allowing two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings to give Milwaukee the win over Chicago.
Milwaukee is 43-38, its first winning record at the halfway point since 1998. Dan Kolb pitched the ninth for his 26th save.
After Ginter's homer, Prior struck out eight of the next 13 batters before being lifted for a pinch-hitter leading off the fifth.
In the first two games of their four-game series, the Cubs have allowed just seven hits -- just two after the first inning -- but lost both times.
Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 1
In Los Angeles, one night later, Eric Gagne started a new streak, pitching a perfect ninth to save the game for Jose Lima as Los Angeles downed Arizona.
Gagne, whose major league-record streak of 84 consecutive saves ended when he blew a 5-3 lead in the Dodgers' 10-inning, 6-5 victory Monday, retired Quinton McCracken and Robby Hammock before Roberto Alomar singled. But Gagne struck out pinch-hitter Tim Olson to end it, earning his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Lima (7-3) allowed a run and seven hits and struck out five as Los Angeles won for the fourth straight time. Beltre triggered a three-run sixth with his 22nd home run, homering off Casey Fossum (2-7) for a 2-1 lead.
Padres 5, Astros 3
In San Diego, Brian Giles and Mark Loretta hit solo home runs to lead San Diego past Houston for its eighth straight home win.
Terrence Long hit a two-run double in the first inning to spark the NL West leaders, who have won five in a row overall and 12 of their last 15.
Houston has lost three straight, dropping nine games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central.
Ismael Valdez (7-5) combined with four relievers on a five-hitter, winning for the second time in six starts. Valdez allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.
Blaine Neal, Scott Linebrink, Akinori Otsuka pitched one inning each before Trevor Hoffman threw a hitless ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances.
Rockies 8, Giants 6
In San Francisco, Jeromy Burnitz homered and drove in three runs, including a go-ahead single in the ninth to lead Colorado over San Francisco.
Burnitz singled off Jason Christiansen (1-2) with two outs. Christiansen hit Larry Walker with a pitch and walked Matt Holliday ahead of Burnitz. Charles Johnson added an RBI single.
Tim Harikkala (2-1) pitched the eighth. Shawn Chacon pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 25 chances, walking Barry Bonds and Dustan Mohr with one out before A.J. Pierzynski popped up and Marquis Grissom hit a grounder to second to end it.
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