American LeagueGary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui hit consecutive homers in the ninth inning, and the New York Yankees took advantage of 14 walks Sunday in a 9-7 comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
New York, which reopened a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Boston in the AL East, trailed 6-2 in the fifth before winning for the seventh time in eight games. The Yankees, who have rallied from deficits of four or more runs in nine wins this year, stranded 17 runners and went 0-for-5 with the bases loaded. New York had not received as many as 14 walks in a game since 1980.
PHOTO: AFP
With the score 7-all, Sheffield hit his 34th home run of the season leading off the ninth against Jorge Julio (2-5).
Tom Gordon (7-4) got four outs and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his major-league leading 48th save.
Baltimore used 10 pitchers, a major league record for a nine-inning game.
Mariners 2, Red Sox 0
In Seattle, Gil Meche (5-6) pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout and Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Derek Lowe (14-11).
Boston, shut out for the third time this season, has a five-game lead over Anaheim in the wild-card race.
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with singles in the first and eighth, boosting his total to 231 hits this season. He has 20 games left to reach the 84-year-old major league record of 257, set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns.
Athletics 1, Indians 0
In Oakland, California, Barry Zito (11-10) struck out 10 for the first time since May 27 last year at Minnesota, and Erubiel Durazo hit his career-high 22nd homer, a second-inning drive off Jake Westbrook (12-8). Oakland maintained its two-game AL West lead over Anaheim.
Chris Hammond, Chad Bradford and Octavio Dotel completed the five-hitter, with Dotel getting his 20th save when he threw a called third strike past Coco Crisp with runners on first and second.
Angels 11, White Sox 0
In Anaheim, California, Bartolo Colon (15-11) allowed six hits and struck out six in seven innings to win for the 10th time in 13 decisions. Garret Anderson drove in three runs for the Angels, who began the day two games behind Oakland in the AL West.
Jose Contreras (12-9) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in three innings.
Twins 8, Tigers 5
In Detroit, Terry Tiffee, Torii Hunter and Cristian Guzman homered was Minnesota (82-60) won its fifth straight game and ensured its fourth consecutive winning season.
Terry Mulholland (5-8) allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings, and Joe Nathan got one out for his 42nd save. Pinch-hitter Ivan Rodriguez had a ninth-inning RBI single that ended J.C. Romero's team-record scoreless streak at 36 2-3 innings.
Nate Robertson (12-9) gave up six runs and a season-high 10 hits in four innings.
National League
Barry Bonds hit his 699th home run, and the San Francisco Giants regained the National League wild-card lead with a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Bonds walked twice Sunday, increasing his record total to 203, before homering in the ninth off Mike Koplove, a drive off the bottom of the center-field scoreboard. With 41 homers this season, he is third on the career list behind Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). It was the 100th September homer of his career.
San Francisco (79-65) won for the sixth time in eight games and moved one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs (76-64).
Jason Schmidt (16-6) pitched a four-hitter, struck out nine and walked two in his fourth complete game. A.J. Pierzynski, J.T. Snow hit solo homers against Brandon Webb, and Pedro Feliz followed Bonds to give the Giants consecutive homers in the ninth. Randy Choate (1-3) was the loser in Arizona's 100th defeat this season.
Marlins 11, Cubs 1
In Chicago, Juan Pierre had three of Florida's 15 hits, and A.J. Burnett (7-6) allowed one run and six hits in eight innings as the Marlins gained a four-game split and remained 2 1/2 games behind the Giants.
Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run double and Paul Lo Duca added a two-run single for the Marlins.
Glendon Rusch (6-2), starting because of Matt Clement's shoulder injury, gave up five runs _ four earned -- and seven hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Padres 15, Rockies 2
In Denver, Brian Giles hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth off Steve Reed (3-6), then capped a 12-run ninth with a three-run homer against Chris Giselle. San Diego, which stayed 2 1/2 games back of the Giants, had 18 hits and won for just the fourth time in 12 games.
San Diego tied a team record with 10 hits in the ninth and finished one run shy of the team record for an inning. Ramon Hernandez singled and doubled in the inning, and Sean Burroughs tripled and singled.
Jake Peavy (12-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings and struck out eight.
Phillies 4, Mets 2
In New York, Vicente Padilla (6-7) allowed four hits in 6 2-3 shutout innings as Philadelphia won its sixth straight and completed its second three-game sweep of the Mets in 10 days. Tim Worrell pitched the ninth for his 19th save as the Phillies remained 4 1/2 games off the wild-card lead.
Tom Glavine (9-13) lost for the 10th time in 12 decisions, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings. New York (61-81) had dropped 19 of 21 games, ensuring it will not have a winning season for the third straight year.
Cardinals 7, Dodgers 6
In Los Angeles, Larry Walker went 4-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs, ending the Dodgers' five-game winning streak. The Cardinals went 2-4 on their first losing road trip of the season.
Chris Carpenter (15-5) allowed six runs -- five earned _ and eight hits in five innings, and Jason Isringhausen got four outs for his 41st save. The Dodgers' NL West lead remained at five games over San Francisco. Edwin Jackson (2-1) was the loser.
Braves 9, Expos 8
In Atlanta, Andruw Jones hit a winning double in the 12th off Luis Ayala (5-10) after an error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez.
John Smoltz, who failed to convert a save for the fourth time in 41 chances, had an 8-5 lead but gave up run-scoring singles in the ninth to Endy Chavez, Terrmel Sledge and Juan Rivera.
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