American League
Teams have no idea how to pitch to Ichiro Suzuki these days.
PHOTO: AP
"He's got everybody in the other dugout shaking their heads," Seattle manager Bob Melvin said. "It's almost laughable."
Suzuki went 5-for-5, but Paul Konerko hit two home runs and Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings to lead the Chicago White Sox to an 8-7 win over the Mariners on Saturday.
Suzuki leads the major leagues with 223 hits, 34 short of the all-time single-season record. He has 27 games remaining to reach the record of 257 hits, set by George Sisler in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns.
"You pitch the guy wide, inside, up or down and it doesn't matter," said Buehrle, who allowed four of Suzuki's five singles.
"He didn't hit the ball hard -- it barely got out of the infield -- and he's still 5-for-5."
Suzuki has had five or more hits in a game three times -- all this season. He has two or more hits in six of his last seven games.
Buehrle (13-8), who left after seven innings with an 8-3 lead, even lobbed an eephus pitch to start Suzuki's seventh-inning at-bat.
"In Japan, I saw that a lot," Suzuki said through a translator. "But here, it's probably the first time."
After Suzuki's fifth hit in the ninth, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
"To give an ovation to an opposing player, I think they really love the game," Suzuki said. "It really made me feel good to see that."
The White Sox opened an 8-2 lead after six innings, powered by a pair of home runs by Konerko and solo shots by Carlos Lee, Perez and Willie Harris.
Konerko's homers were his 33rd and 34th, breaking his previous season high of 32.
"Konerko has had a great year and played great for me," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's carried this team and showed up to play every day."
Although the White Sox hit five home runs and got a solid peformance from Buehrle, Chicago's bullpen made things dramatic at the end.
Reliever Neal Cotts gave up and unearned run in the eighth as Seattle trimmed the White Sox's lead to 8-4.
Jeff Bajenaru, making his first major league appearance, started the ninth for Chicago. Jose Lopez led off and grounded out, but Bajenaru then allowed singles to Willie Bloomquist, Suzuki and Randy Winn as Seattle closed to 8-5.
Shingo Takatsu got two outs for his 16th save in 17 chances. He came in with one out and runners on first and third in the ninth, and struck out Edgar Martinez before walking Bret Boone to load the bases.
Raul Ibanez singled to right to drive in two runs, but Perez threw out Boone trying to advance to third to end the game.
Buehrle allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings.
Seattle starter Ryan Franklin (3-14) took his 10th straight loss.
Rangers 8, red sox 6
The Boston Red Sox lost for the first time in 11 games, falling to the Texas Rangers 8-6 Saturday and missing a chance to pull within 1 1/2 games of the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Michael Young hit a three-run homer off Tim Wakefield (11-8), and Rod Barajas went 3-for-4 with a two-run shot to help Texas snap a five-game losing streak.
The Red Sox, who had won 10 straight and 16 of 17 to climb from 10 1/2 games back in the AL East, remained 2 1/2 games behind the division-leading Yankees.
"I couldn't let that stuff affect me," Young said of Boston's run. "If you get wrapped up in that stuff, you're done before you start."
New York lost to Baltimore 7-0, and had the Red Sox won, they could have pulled within 1 1/2 games for the first time since June 2, when they began the day one game back.
Texas pulled within six games of the Red Sox in the AL wild-card race with the victory.
Mark Bellhorn hit his second career grand slam and David Ortiz added a solo shot for Boston, which rallied from an 8-1 deficit with a five-run seventh.
Chris Young (1-1) held Boston to two hits and one run over 5 2-3 innings for his first major league win.
Orioles 7, Yankees 0
In New York, Sidney Ponson pitched a two-hitter for his fourth career shutout, and Rafael Palmeiro hit one of the Oriole's three homers as Baltimore trounced New York.
Ponson (10-13) struck out four and walked one in his 27th career complete game and fifth this season. He faced just 29 hitters, two more than the minimum, and did not allow a runner past first base.
Jay Gibbons and Brian Roberts also connected for the Orioles, who scored four against Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Baltimore has won six in a row following a 12-game losing streak.
Mike Mussina (9-9) allowed just two runs in seven innings for the AL East-leading Yankees, his best outing since coming off the disabled list.
Athletics 9, Blue Jays 5
In Toronto, Oakland scored twice on wild pitches to tie it and Eric Byrnes provided insurance with a three-run double in the ninth inning as Oakland beat Toronto for its 16th win in 18 games.
Oakland pulled within 5-4 in the eighth on a wild pitch from Vinnie Chulk, then tied it in the ninth on another miscue by Jason Frasor. Mark McLemore put the A's ahead with a sacrifice fly before Byrnes' big hit.
Billy McMillon led off the ninth with a double off Frasor (4-5), who then hit Bobby Crosby with a pitch before Mark Kotsay advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt.
With McLemore batting, Frasor sent a pitch past catcher Kevin Cash, allowing pinch-runner Nick Swisher to tie the score at 5-all. McLemore's fly ball to center scored Crosby with the go-ahead run.
Chris Hammond (4-1) pitched two innings in relief of Mark Mulder for the win.
Twins 4, Royals 3
In Minneapolis, Terry Tiffee led off the bottom of the ninth with his first major league home run as Minnesota beat Kansas City for its fifth straight victory.
Tiffee went 3-for-4 and is hitting .462 since arriving in Minnesota on Sept. 1.
Justin Morneau put the Twins up early with a three-run shot in the first, his 17th homer of the season and 15th since he was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on July 16.
J.C. Romero (6-1) extended his team-record scoreless streak to 33 2-3 innings. Dennys Reyes (3-8) took the loss.
Angels 6, Indians 1
In Cleveland, Jarrod Washburn returned from the disabled list and won for the first time since July 15 as Anaheim downed Cleveland.
Washburn (11-5), sidelined since July 20 with an injured rib cage, allowed two hits in five innings to help the Angels remain four games behind Oakland in the AL West.
Scot Shields pitched three shutout innings, and Troy Percival worked the ninth for the Angels, who moved within 3 1/2 games of Boston in the wild-card race.
Beginning in the third inning, the unidentified flying objects -- they appeared to be gnats -- infested the playing field and the lower tier of seats.
Between pitches, batters swatted at the insects and fans used whatever they could to keep the winged critters out of their faces. Angels DH Troy Glaus had to be attended by a trainer after one of them flew in his eye during an at-bat in the fifth inning.
National League
Dustan Mohr doubled in the tying run in the eighth and Deivi Cruz followed with a go-ahead two-run single, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 9-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Marquis Grissom hit a grand slam and also started the eighth-inning rally with a single.
San Francisco came back from a 7-1 deficit to beat the Diamondbacks for the seventh straight time. They pulled within a half-game of the idle Chicago Cubs in the National League wild-card race. The Cubs had their weekend series at Florida postponed because of Hurricane Frances.
"We've got to keep winning, that's all," slugger Barry Bonds said.
Bonds went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, but didn't homer on a day manager Felipe Alou predicted would be a "hitter's festival" because of the heat. It was 87 degrees at first pitch.
Scott Eyre (1-2) pitched the eighth for the win and Dustin Hermanson finished for his ninth save.
Mike Koplove (3-3) allowed three runs in 1 1-3 innings.
Cardinals 5, Dodgers 1
In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds hit his 300th career home run, Jason Marquis won his 11th straight decision and St. Louis beat Los Angeles for its eighth straight win.
The NL Central leaders needed only two hits -- tying their season low -- to beat the NL West-leading Dodgers for the second straight night. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 45,692, they tied their longest winning streak of the season and won for the 13th time in 15 games.
Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in his 100th run with an eighth-inning double for the Dodgers to cut the gap to 5-1. He's only the third third baseman in franchise history to reach the milestone, joining Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero.
Marquis (14-4) became the fourth Cardinal starter to reach 14 wins and first to win 11 straight since John Tudor accomplished the feat in 1985.
Kazuhisa Ishii (13-7) lasted 5 2-3 innings and surrendered five runs -- three earned -- on two hits.
Astros 6, Pirates 5
In Houston, Mike Lamb hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning as Houston extended beat Pittsburgh to extend its season-high winning streak to eight games.
Houston has won 10 of its last 12 games, and 16 of its last 19 to move two games behind idle Chicago in the NL wild-card race.
Chad Qualls (3-0) threw one inning of relief for the win. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 23 opportunities.
Jason Bay and Jack Wilson each homered for Pittsburgh, which has lost 13 of its last 18 and were mathematically eliminated from the NL Central Division race.
Nelson Figueroa (0-2) didn't retire the only batter he faced and took the loss.
Braves 9, Expos 0
In Montreal, Russ Ortiz pitched a three-hit shutout and Andruw Jones hit a grand slam to help the Atlanta blank Montreal and win its fifth straight game.
Ortiz (14-7) retired the first 15 batters before Einar Diaz lined a clean single to right-center to lead off the sixth.
The Braves are 35-12 since the All-Star break.
Adam LaRoche went 3-for-5 and fell a triple short of the cycle.
J.D. Drew extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a one-out single in the sixth.
Phillies 7, Mets 0
In Philadelphia, Cory Lidle threw a three-hitter for his second straight shutout as Philadelphia extended New York's losing streak to eight games.
Lidle is the first Philadelphia pitcher to toss consecutive shutouts since Curt Schilling in 1992.
Jimmy Rollins hit a three-run homer and Jason Michaels scored twice for the Phillies, who are 8-13 since Aug. 12 -- with all of their wins against last-place Milwaukee and the Mets.
Lidle (9-12) also drove in three with a double.
Al Leiter (9-6) walked five and allowed four hits and six runs in five innings for New York.
Brewers 7, Reds 3
In Milwaukee, Russell Branyan and Keith Ginter each hit three-run home runs and rookie Ben Hendrickson earned his first major league victory as Milwaukee downed Cincinnati.
Branyan hit his seventh home run of the season off Josh Hancock (3-2) in the third to give Milwaukee a 4-0 lead. Ginter hit his 13th in the fourth to make it 7-1.
Dan Kolb got the final out for his 36th save.
Rockies 8, Padres 2
In San Diego, Shawn Estes pitched seven solid innings and had two hits, and J.D. Closser hit his first major league homer as Coloirado downed San Diego.
Estes (14-6) allowed two runs and four hits, matching the single-season team record for wins by a left-hander, first set by Mike Hampton in 2001. He also singled in the fifth, tripled in the sixth and scored two runs.
Todd Helton also homered for the Rockies, who won for the third time in four games following an eight-game losing streak.
Closser hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning off Dennis Tankersley (0-5) to start a five-run outburst that put the Rockies ahead 6-2. Tankersley gave up six runs and six hits in 4 1-3 innings
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