American LeagueAfter Kevin Millar tied the score in the eighth inning with his third solo home run, Alex Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the ninth that gave the New York Yankees an 8-7 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night and extended their American League East lead to a season-high 9 1/2 games.
"Every loss to me is huge," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We're just trying so desperately to get on the right track."
New York overcame a 4-1, fifth-inning deficit against Curt Schilling. Keith Foulke (2-3) retired his first batter in the ninth before allowing two straight drives off the Green Monster wall in left field -- a double by Gary Sheffield and the single by Rodriguez.
PHOTO: AP
"We were tenacious. We played with intensity," Schilling said. "If we play like we played tonight, every night for the rest of the season, we're going to go to the World Series."
Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect bottom half for his 35th save in 36 chances. Tom Gordon (3-3) got the win.
White Sox 6, Tigers 4
In Chicago, after learning that Magglio Ordonez could miss the rest of the season because of an injured knee, Chicago won as Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs and Juan Uribe hit a tiebreaking solo homer.
Ordonez, a four-time All-Star, went back on the disabled list Friday and could spend up to eight weeks on crutches. Chicago already is missing two-time AL MVP Frank Thomas, expected to miss eight weeks with a broken bone in his left foot.
Esteban Loaiza (9-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings to win for the first time in four starts since June 27. Shingu Takatsu pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in eight chances.
Nate Robertson (9-5) gave up six runs and eight hits in six innings.
Twins 7, Orioles 3
In Baltimore, Corey Koskie homered and had a season-high four RBIs as Minnesota won downed Baltimore for its fifth straight win.
Jacque Jones also homered and Torii Hunter had three hits for the Twins, who maintained their half-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central.
Carlos Silva (9-7) allowed three runs and nine hits in six-plus innings to earn his first win in four starts since June 23.
John Maine (0-1) gave up four runs, seven hits and three walks over 3 2-3 innings in his major league debut.
Blue Jays 7, Devil Rays 4
In Toronto, Frank Menechino had three hits, including a solo homer, and Toronto scored six unearned runs in the third helped by two errors by first baseman Aubrey Huff to beat Tampa Bay.
Miguel Batista (9-6) allowed three runs and six hits in six inning to win for the seventh time in his last eight decisions at SkyDome. Rookie Jason Frasor got four outs for his 11th save.
Mark Hendrickson (7-8) gave up seven runs -- one earned -- and 11 hits in seven innings for Tampa Bay, 5-13 since July 3.
Rangers 8, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, Kevin Mench hit a three-run homer during a five-run rally in the sixth inning rally as Texas ended Mark Mulder's 11-game winning streak with a win over Oakland.
Kenny Rogers joined Mulder as the majors' only 13-game winners with his 18th straight home victory at the Coliseum. Rogers (13-3), who allowed three runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings, hasn't lost in 35 starts in Oakland since Aug. 7, 1994.
Eric Young added a two-run double for the Rangers, who increased their AL West lead over Oakland to 4 1/2 games.
Mulder (13-3) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in six innings, his first loss in 15 starts since April 28.
Angels 8, Mariners 2
In Seattle, Jose Guillen had three hits, a home run and five RBIs as Anaheim thrashed Seattle.
Bobby Madritsch hit Vladimir Guerrero in the right wrist with a pitch in the seventh, and both benches and both bullpens emptied onto the field at first base. No punches were thrown and there were no ejections.
Guerrero came out of the game for a pinch runner, but X-rays did not show any breaks in his wrist.
John Lackey (8-9) won for the fourth time in five decisions, allowing two runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Jamie Moyer (6-7) lost his fifth straight decision, allowing five runs and nine hits in six innings.
National League
Moises Alou, Sammy Sosa and Derrek Lee homered to back Kerry Wood, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Friday night for their third straight win.
Alou went 2-for-4 and has six homers and 13 RBIs in his last nine games. Lee's homer was his fifth in nine games, and fifth in 31 at-bats against Brett Myers (5-8).
"The guys are starting to swing the bats and it feels good," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "Their confidence levels are rising. It feels good to write almost the same lineup in every day."
Sosa hit a two-run drive in the eighth off Ryan Madson, a 445-foot drive to center that ended the pitcher's scoreless streak at 21 innings.
"It was a close game until Sammy went deep," Alou said. "You have to pitch well in this park because it's kind of small."
Wood (5-3) improved to 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA since returning from nearly two months on the disabled list caused by a strained right triceps.
Phillies first baseman Jim Thome, who leads the major leagues with 31 homers, missed the game because of tendinitis in his right index finger.
Expos 2, Marlins 1
In Montreal, Orlando Cabrera's sacrifice fly in the fourth ended Montreal's 42-inning scoreless streak against Florida, and Jose Vidro hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth to lead the Expos.
The Expos had been shut out in each of their last four games against the Marlins, but Cabrera's sac fly off Brad Penny (8-8) tied it at 1. It was the longest such streak in the majors since the California Angels shut out Cleveland over 44 consecutive innings in 1966, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The New York Highlanders had a major league-record 45-inning scoreless streak against Boston in 1906.
Tony Armas Jr. (2-3) pitched five strong innings for Montreal, which played its first game at Olympic Stadium in four weeks. Chad Cordero pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 opportunities.
Juan Pierre stole home for the only run for Florida.
Pirates 6, Reds 3
In Pittsburgh, Oliver Perez struck out 11 batters in seven innings, and Craig Wilson drove in two runs to lead the Pirates over Cincinnati.
The Pirates are 6-2 since the All-Star break and have won 18 of 24. They improved to 23-23 at PNC Park after starting 9-19 at home this season.
In 56 career starts, Perez (6-4) has 10 outings with 10 strikeouts or more, including five against the Reds. He leads the majors this season with 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Perez gave up five hits and three runs.
Jose Mesa worked the ninth for his 28th save in 29 opportunities.
Jose Acevedo (4-9) gave up nine hits and six runs in 3.1 innings and hasn't won since June 25, when he beat the Pirates.
Giants 7, Cardinals 2
In St. Louis, Dustin Hermanson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Barry Bonds hit a three-run homer, helping San Francisco end St. Louis' five-game winning streak.
Hermanson (4-3) allowed only a fourth-inning walk to Albert Pujols before Pujols' 28th homer ended his no-hit bid with one out in the seventh. Bonds never moved in left field as the ball sailed far above him -- a drive estimated at 434 feet.
Hermanson, released by the Cardinals last June, gave up two runs on three hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked one for his first victory since June 27.
Bonds' 25th homer of the season, and 683rd of his career, gave the Giants a 6-0 lead in the seventh off Jeff Suppan (9-6).
Dodgers 3, Padres 2
In Los Angeles, Adrian Beltre homered off Rod Beck with one out in the ninth inning to lead Los Angeles over the National League West-rival San Diego.
Beltre homered on the first pitch he saw from Beck (0-2) to give the Dodgers their 16th win in 18 games and increase their lead in the West over the Padres and San Francisco to 3{ games.
The teams played in front of a Dodger Stadium-record crowd of 55,311.
Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 2
In Phoenix, Vinny Castilla broke up Casey Fossum's no-hit bid with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, then added another two-run homer in the eighth to help Colorado send Arizona to a team-record 12th straight loss.
After walking a pair of batters with one out in the first, Fossum (2-9) retired 17 consecutive batters before walking Todd Helton leading off the seventh. Castilla then homered. Fossum allowed six runs, three hits and four walks in 7 1-3 innings while striking out seven.
Jeff Fassero (2-6) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings.
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