The Boston Red Sox can't afford to obsess about the New York Yankees coming to town this weekend. They have bigger problems to worry about now.
The third-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays are seven games behind -- closer to the Red Sox than their 8 1/2-game deficit with the Yankees. And Boston is in a tight American League wild-card race with the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox.
"The front office put together a real good ballclub," outfielder Johnny Damon said after Boston lost to Baltimore 8-3 Thursday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. "We need to find that team real soon before it's gone,"
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Red Sox won the night game, 4-0.
"There's still a number of games for us," Damon said. "They're coming in for three. It's a good time for us to start. We can't wait much longer."
Things in Boston are a lot different than the last time the Yankees visited.
Derek Jeter was slumping, Alex Rodriguez was trying to get acclimated to New York and the Red Sox won six of their first seven games against the Yankees this season.
But soon after a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, Boston began a prolonged stretch of .500 ball that put them far behind the Yankees.
"We're still waiting for that explosion that we know we have in us, the capability to run off 18 of 22," outfielder Gabe Kapler said. "I'm not worried. I don't think anyone in here is worried. But we would like to see something happen rather quickly."
Boston is 37-37 since opening the season 15-6. Asked if he feared that his players would begin to accept that they are part of a .500 team, manager Terry Francona said, ``I don't think this city would ever allow us to accept that.
"I don't think we would, either. No," he said, "that's not a possibility."
The Yankees have problems of their own. With Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown still sidelined, the Yankees were planning to pitch Jon Lieber, Tanyon Sturtze and Jose Contreras in Boston against Curt Schilling, Bronson Arroyo and Derek Lowe.
Although Jeter is hitting again, he broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch on Tuesday. Following the Yankees' 1-0 win over Toronto, manager Joe Torre said Jeter was unlikely to play Friday night.
"Hopefully, Jeter will be ready in a couple of days," Torre said.
Rodriguez's average has dropped from .307 to .274 since June 13, Jason Giambi is sidelined while recovering from an intestinal parasite, Jorge Posada is in a power drought and Bernie Williams has four hits in his last 47 at-bats.
But they also have a huge cushion in the division, and plenty of time to get better for the playoffs.
"We've got 70 games left. You can't ever look at it like, `Well, we have a lead, so we can take it easy,'" Jeter said. "We can, obviously, make it a little harder for them."
The Yankees have been doing that for more than 80 years, with several more chapters added to their storied rivalry last year.
First, Aaron Boone homered in the 11th inning of the seventh game of the AL championship series to eliminate the Red Sox, who had been five outs from the World Series.
Then, in the offseason, Boston pursued Rodriguez but ultimately passed at the cost of acquiring the reigning AL MVP from the Texas Rangers. But when Boone went down with an injury, the Yankees grabbed A-Rod and put him at third base. He struggled for a few weeks before pulling his average above .300; his 24 homers puts him among the league leaders.
Ruben Sierra gave the New York Yankees a win after Orlando Hernandez gave the frail pitching rotation a big boost heading into their weekend series at Fenway Park.
After El Duque bewildered Toronto for seven innings, Sierra homered with two outs in the ninth to lift New York over the Blue Jays 1-0 Thursday for a two-game sweep.
Ted Lilly pitched 6 2-3 innings against his former team, and New York was outhit 5-3 before the ninth.
But after Vinnie Chulk (0-2) struck out Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez to open the inning, Sierra connected for his 12th homer of the season. It was Sierra's first game-ending home run since April 1989 off Texas' Tom Henke.
Toronto lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Hernandez frustrated the Blue Jays in his third start since returning from a 1 1/2-year layoff caused by a shoulder injury.
El Duque, who won his first two starts, allowed four hits, walked one and struck out 10, reaching double digits for the fifth time in his career, the first since he fanned 11 at Oakland on April 23, 2002.
Tom Gordon pitched the eighth and Mariano Rivera (1-0) completed the five-hitter with a one-hit ninth.
Orioles 8, Red Sox 3, 1st game
Red Sox 4, Orioles 0, 2nd game
In Boston, Tim Wakefield pitched seven shutout innings five days after a line drive hit his pitching shoulder, and Boston beat Baltimore for a split of their day-night doubleheader.
The Orioles won the opener behind Melvin Mora's two homers and four RBIs, and the pitching of Rodrigo Lopez.
Boston salvaged the finale of the three-game series, ending its first three-game home losing streak of the season.
In the night game, David McCarty had a two-run single and Kevin Youkilis hit his fourth homer of the season, ending Baltimore's four-game winning streak.
Wakefield (6-6) didn't miss a start after being hit in the right shoulder with a liner in the fourth inning of last Saturday's 5-0 loss at Anaheim. He left after that inning.
The Red Sox went ahead 3-0 in the first against Dave Borkowski (1-2).
In the day game, Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Abe Alvarez (0-1), who lost his major league debut.
Royals 13, Tigers 7
In Detroit, Mike Sweeney hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to lead Kansas City over the Tigers.
Ken Harvey also connected for the Royals, who snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the 13th time in 44 road games this season. Sweeney matched a club record with seven RBIs.
Detroit's All-Star shortstop Carlos Guillen left the game after the fourth inning due to stiffness in his back. He is listed as day to day.
Jimmy Gobble (6-7) allowed two home runs to Omar Infante and one to Brandon Inge in 5 2-3 innings, but still improved to 2-0 against the Tigers this season.
Detroit starter Gary Knotts (5-5) allowed eight runs -- seven earned -- and six hits in 4 1-3 innings.
Twins 7, Devil Rays 5
In Minneapolis, Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Nick Punto had a grand slam, leading Minnesota over Tampa Bay.
Rocco Baldelli tied it at 5 with his first career grand slam for the Devil Rays, who have lost 12 of 17 since moving a season-high two games over .500 on July 3.
Cuddyer connected on an 0-2 pitch from Travis Harper (2-2) leading off the eighth, and Minnesota added a run on an error by right fielder Jose Cruz Jr.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 27th save.
Angels 11, Rangers 1
In Arlington, Texas, Bartolo Colon allowed just three singles in seven innings against Texas' powerful lineup, and Anaheim beat the AL West-leading Rangers.
Robb Quinlan had four hits for the Angels, who snapped a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in seven games.
The Rangers lost for just the second time in the same stretch since the All-Star break. Third-place Anaheim is still five games behind Texas.
White Sox 3, Indians 0
In Cleveland, Freddy Garcia struck out nine in seven-plus innings and Chicago blanked Cleveland for the second straight night.
Garcia (8-8) allowed five hits and improved to 4-1 since joining the White Sox in a trade with Seattle last month. Twenty-four hours after Mark Buehrle faced the minimum 27 batters and pitched a two-hitter in a 14-0 rout, Garcia nearly matched his new teammate.
Shingo Takatsu worked the ninth for his seventh save in seven attempts as the White Sox stayed a half-game behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
Greg Maddux pitched a four-hitter for his 298th career win, Moises Alou hit two of Chicago's four homers and the Cubs routed the Cincinnati Reds 13-2 Thursday.
"Runs, man. Runs are a a beautiful thing," Maddux said in his typically understated fashion. "When you get a lead like that, it changes the way the game is played."
Working quickly, Maddux (9-7) pitched his second straight complete game and 105th of his career. It was the first time he pitched back-to-back complete games since July 21 and 26, 1999.
Maddux walked none and struck out six. He needed just 92 pitches in a game that took 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Braves 2, Pirates 1, 10 innings
In Atlanta, Johnny Estrada drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to lead Atlanta past Pittsburgh.
The Braves rallied against Salomon Torres (6-4), who was pitching for the first time since serving a three-game suspension for throwing twice at Oakland's Damian Miller last month.
Eli Marrero reached on an error by shortstop Jack Wilson to open the 10th, and Marcus Giles walked. Rafael Furcal bunted perfectly down the third-base line for a hit, leaving catcher Jason Kendall with no play.
Estrada, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, followed with a long fly to left to bring in Marrero.
Dodgers 4, Rockies 2
In Los Angeles, Milton Bradley hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning as Los Angeles pulled off another late comeback to beat Colorado for its 15th victory in 17 games.
Aaron Cook pitched seven gritty innings for the Rockies in a spirited duel with Odalis Perez and handed a 2-1 lead to Tim Harikkala (4-2).
But Adrian Beltre led off the eighth with a single, and Bradley sent a drive into the second deck in right field for his career-high 11th home run.
Bradley became the 12th player to homer into the loge level at Dodger Stadium, and the first Dodger since Hiram Bocachica on June 19, 2001.
Padres 9, Giants 4
In San Francisco, Jay Payton hit a three-run homer in San Diego's six-run third inning and the Padres ended Jason Schmidt's 12-game winning streak by beating San Francisco.
Schmidt (12-3) was off from the outset in his worst start of the season, allowing nine hits, eight runs and four walks in 5 2-3 innings for his first loss in 17 outings since April 21.
David Wells (6-5) moved above .500 for the first time this season with his fourth straight victory. Rich Aurilia hurt his former teammates again with a two-run single for the Padres, who won their fourth straight and swept a two-game series with their fifth straight win over the Giants.
Mark Loretta also homered and had three hits for San Diego.
Cardinals 4, Brewers 0
In St. Louis, Jason Marquis threw eight sharp innings, Jim Edmonds homered off Ben Sheets as St. Louis shut out Milwaukee for the second consecutive game.
Edgar Renteria, Albert Pujols and John Mabry drove in a run apiece to help the Cardinals sweep the two-game series.
They also shut out the Brewers 1-0 on Wednesday, and Thursday was the eighth time Milwaukee has been blanked this year.
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