Ryan Drese pitched seven shutout innings and former Yankee Alfonso Soriano doubled twice and scored three times, leading the Texas Rangers over New York 7-1 Tuesday night.
David Dellucci, another former Yankee, and Mark Teixeira both hit two-run homers to help the Rangers end a season-high four-game losing streak.
PHOTO: AFP
Kevin Brown (9-2) lost for the first time in six starts, turning in his worst performance since returning from the disabled list on July 30.
Brown, who had been bothered by a back injury, allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings against his former team, one start after pitching eight shutout innings against Oakland. Both his losses this year have been to the Rangers.
Drese (9-6) allowed five hits and three walks against the Yankees, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.
Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two strikeouts and drew a chorus of boos each time he came to the plate in his latest trip back to Arlington.
Red Sox 8, Devil Rays 4
In Boston, Jason Varitek and Bill Mueller each had two hits and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Red Sox over Tampa Bay for their third win in four games.
Varitek, Orlando Cabrera, Mueller and Kevin Youkilis -- the bottom four hitters in Boston's lineup -- drove in two runs each. The Red Sox improved to 8-3 against Tampa Bay this season.
Bronson Arroyo (5-8) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out six and walking two.
Manny Ramirez started in left field and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts after missing three straight games because of the flu.
Jorge Sosa (3-1), a converted outfielder in just his fourth season as a pitcher, started with four perfect innings but wound up giving up seven runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings.
White Sox 9, Royals 3
In Chicago, Willie Harris went 5-for-5, Carlos Lee hit a three-run homer and Paul Konerko added a two-run shot to lead the White Sox past Kansas City.
Joe Crede also hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which won for only the fourth time in 16 games. Harris has reached base safely in nine straight plate appearances.
Kansas City has lost five in a row to fall a season-low 33 games under .500 at 39-72, the worst record after 111 games in the franchise's 36-year history.
White Sox starter Jon Garland (8-8) pitched seven solid innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Before the game, the Royals optioned AL Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa to Double-A Wichita. He was batting just .249 with five home runs and 30 RBIs. Last year, the shortstop hit .287 with 17 homers and 73 RBIs in his first full season on a major league roster. Zach Greinke (4-9) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings. He gave up three home runs.
Athletics 5, Tigers 4
In Oakland, California, Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and Barry Zito won for the third time in four starts, helping Oakland beat Detroit.
The A's ended a five-game homerless drought, winning their third straight and fourth in five.
Zito (8-8) allowed three runs and five hits in seven strong innings. The Tigers loaded the bases with none out in the eighth against Justin Lehr and cut the lead to 5-4 on Rondell White's sacrifice fly. But Lehr got Craig Monroe to ground into a double play, ending the threat.
Octavio Dotel finished with a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 14 tries with Oakland.
Carlos Pena hit his 15th homer for Detroit. Jason Johnson (8-10) fell to 1-7 in 12 career starts against the Athletics.
Albert Pujols ended Josh Beckett's no-hit bid with a sixth-inning homer, and Jim Edmonds homered on the first pitch in the 10th inning to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 2-1 Tuesday night for their sixth straight win.
Florida had seven hits but was shut out after Alex Gonzalez doubled home a run in the second. St. Louis won for the 19th time in 24 games since the All-Star break.
Julian Tavarez (5-3) pitched 2 2-3 hitless innings, and Jason Isringhausen followed with a perfect 10th for his 30th save. Guillermo Mota (8-5) gave up Edmonds' 31st home run.
Cardinals right-hander Chris Carpenter pitched just 2 1-3 innings before departing because of tightness in his lower back.
Mets 7, Astros 3
In New York, rookie David Wright singled home the go-ahead run and hit his first Shea Stadium homer as New York ended a three-game losing streak and handed Houston its fifth loss in six games.
Richard Hidalgo delivered a key double against the club that traded him in mid-June, and Jose Reyes hit a two-run triple for the Mets, playing without injured catcher Mike Piazza (knee) and shortstop Kaz Matsui (back).
Steve Trachsel (10-8) won for the first time in six starts since the All-Star break, allowing three runs and seven hits in seven innings. Pete Munro (2-4), who grew up near Shea Stadium, gave up four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in five innings.
Dodgers 5, Reds 2
In Cincinnati, Steve Finley hit his first homer with LA, Adrian Beltre also homered and Jose Lima (11-3) pitched allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings.
Eric Gagne got three straight outs for his 34th save in 35 chances.
Cincinnati's Adam Dunn, who leads the major leagues with 35 homers, hit a solo shot in the fourth that traveled an estimated 535 feet, the longest in the two years the Reds have played in Great American Ball Park.
Aaron Harang (7-4) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings.
Pirates 8, Giants 7
In Pittsburgh, Barry Bonds set a major league record by reaching 30 home runs for the 13th straight season.
Rob Mackowiak hit an RBI double off Matt Herges (4-5) with two outs in the ninth as Pittsburgh won its third straight.
Michael Tucker had tied the score 7-all in the top half against Jose Mesa (3-1) with his second homer of the game, his 12th this season.
Padres 8, Cubs 6
In Chicago, Ramon Hernandez had three hits, including a three-run homer, as San Diego moved within one game of the Cubs for the lead in the NL wild-card race. Sammy Sosa hit his 564th homer.
Mark Prior (3-3) allowed six runs, eight hits, five walks, a hit batter and a balk in three innings.
Adam Eaton (7-10) lasted five-plus innings, allowing solo homers to Sosa, Moises Alou, Derrek Lee and Nomar Garciaparra.
Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa hit his 564th homer Tuesday night and moved past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of eighth place on the career list.
Sosa, in an 0-for-15 slump, connected for a solo shot in the second inning off San Diego's Adam Eaton. It was Sosa's 25th homer of the season.
Harmon Killebrew is seventh with 573.
Glavine in car crash
Mets pitcher Tom Glavine lost his two front upper teeth in an automobile accident Tuesday while going from LaGuardia Airport to nearby Shea Stadium in a taxi cab.
Glavine also got stitches for a cut lower lip. He was to be released from a hospital Tuesday night and miss his scheduled start Wednesday night against Houston.
The accident occurred at 2:15pm as Glavine headed to the ballpark for New York's game against the Astros. The left-hander had spent Monday's off-day with his family in Atlanta.
Glavine was leaving LaGuardia in a taxi that collided with an SUV on the overpass of the Grand Central Parkway as he left the airport grounds, the Mets said.
Port Authority police and the New York Police Department responded to the crash, and the Emergency Medical Service took Glavine by ambulance to NYU Medical Center in Manhattan.
Glavine was conscious, Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella said. Mets' oral surgeon Dr. Robert Glickman treated the pitcher.
Mets' team physician Joseph Bosco said Glavine was resting comfortably, and the pitcher was to go straight to his home in Connecticut.
Growing up in Massachusetts, Glavine was a two-sport prep star and was picked by the NHL's Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of the 1984 draft.
Once asked why he picked baseball over hockey, he joked, "I had all my own teeth and I wanted to keep it that way."
Edgar Martinez to retire
Two-time AL batting champion Edgar Martinez announced Monday that he will retire at the end of the MLB season, ending his 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners as one of baseball's greatest designated hitters.
Martinez, 41, was a seven-time All-Star. He batted over .300 in 10 seasons, and led the league in hitting in 1992 and 1995.
Martinez rarely showed emotion on the field, but choked up while calling it quits. Former Seattle slugger Jay Buhner and several players turned out to support Martinez, and team chairman Howard Lincoln said his No. 11 would be retired.
"I have decided that this will be my last season," Martinez said at Safeco Field.
"I am very fortunate and grateful that I have been able to play my entire career with the Seattle Mariners. The fans here have always been and continue to be great."
The sleepy-eyed Martinez was a hitting machine, spraying extra-base hits to all fields.
Five-plus years from now, he could become a test case for whether a player who spent most of his career as a DH should be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Martinez holds the DH record for home runs and RBIs, and has the highest batting average among DHs with at least 1,000 at-bats, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Overall, Martinez is a .312 lifetime hitter with 305 home runs and 1,244 RBIs. He has 2,205 hits, including 510 doubles.
A third baseman when he began his major league career in 1987, he played most of his games at DH. Of his 7,060 lifetime at-bats, almost 5,000 have come as a DH.
Phillies acquire Cory Lidle
Trying to bolster a rotation depleted by injuries, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired starting pitcher Cory Lidle from the Cincinnati Reds on Monday for two minor leaguers and a player to be named.
Lidle, who is 7-10 with a 5.32 ERA in 24 starts, will step into an inconsistent rotation that had been missing Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla. Lidle is tied for second in the National League with three complete games, and he led the Cincinnati Reds with 149 innings pitched.
"He's shown in the past he can help a contending club," Phillies general manager Ed Wade said.
Cincinnati obtained Class-A outfielder Javon Moran and left-handed pitcher Joe Wilson in the trade.
While the Phillies improved their pitching, their offense took a major hit when slugger Pat Burrell decided he will have season-ending wrist surgery on Friday.
Lidle probably will take Paul Abbott's spot in Philadelphia's rotation. Abbott is 1-6 with a 6.24 ERA in 10 starts since signing with the Phillies after being released by Tampa Bay.
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