Sat, Aug 28, 2004 - Page 18 News List

Athletics sweep Orioles

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Oakland didn't even give Baltimore a chance in the last game of a four-game series as starter Barry Zito won for the third time in four starts

AP , OAKLAND, CALIFORNIAAP, CHICAGOARLINGTON, TEXASAND CLEVELAND, OHIO

Starting pitcher Brian Anderson of the Royals pitches against the Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, Thursday. Kansas City won the game 7-3.

PHOTO: AFP

American League

Erubiel Durazo hit a three-run homer and Eric Chavez also connected for the Oakland Athletics, who completed a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 9-4 victory on Thursday.

Barry Zito (10-9) won for the third time in four starts, and the AL West-leading A's earned their ninth win in 10 games. Scott Hatteberg added a three-run double for Oakland, which swept the season series 7-0.

The Orioles have lost 10 straight overall, their longest skid since ending the 2002 season with 12 losses. All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada, who left Oakland to sign with Baltimore during the offseason, went 1-for-15 in the series.

Daniel Cabrera (9-7) allowed five runs, four hits and five walks in 2 2-3 innings.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4

In Toronto, Alex Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the ninth off Jason Frasor (4-4) as the Yankees overcame a 4-0 deficit and remained 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston in the AL East. New York has won seven times this year in games it trailed by four runs or more.

Rodriguez entered the at-bat hitting just .197 (23-for-117) with runners in scoring position. He grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the fifth, falling to 0-for-10 with the bases full this season.

C.J. Nitkwoski (1-1) got two outs in the eighth for his first win with the Yankees. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 44th save.

Red Sox 4, Tigers 1

In Boston, Bronson Arroyo (7-9) allowed only an unearned run and six hits in 7 1-3 innings, and Boston won for the ninth time in 10 games, improving to a season-best 20 games over .500 at 73-53. Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 24th save, completing a six-hitter.

Jason Johnson (8-12) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and nine hits in five innings.

Boston scored in the first inning on David Ortiz's RBI double and took the lead for good at 2-1 on Dave Roberts' sacrifice fly in the fourth.

White Sox 14, Indians 9

In Cleveland, Carl Everett homered and drove in four runs, sending Cleveland to its 10th loss in 11 games.

Ben Davis hit a two-run homer and Juan Uribe a solo shot for Chicago, which won for just the second time in eight games and tied the Indians for second in the AL Central. Paul Konerko had three hits and three RBIs.

Coco Crisp, Ben Broussard and Josh Phelps hit solo homers and Ronnie Belliard a two-run shot for Cleveland.

Neal Cotts (2-3) gave up two runs in 2 2-3 innings. Chad Durbin (5-6) trailed 4-0 after 15 pitches.

Royals 7, Mariners 3

In Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki homered for his 200th hit of the season, but Abraham Nunez hit his second grand slam in two weeks to lead Kansas City over Seattle.

Suzuki became the first player to reach 200 hits in each of his first four major league seasons when he sent the first pitch from reliever Jeremy Affeldt over the right-center fence in the ninth inning.

The 2001 AL MVP has a shot at breaking the major league record of 257 hits set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920. Suzuki, who played nine seasons in Japan before coming to Seattle, had 242 hits in 2001, 208 in 2002 and 212 last season.

He finished 1-for-5 and leads the AL with a .364 batting average. He went 0-for-11 after getting his 199th hit Tuesday night against Tampa Bay.

The Mariners dropped their fourth straight and sixth in seven games.

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