Gary Sheffield flashed some mesmerizing power Friday, beating the Boston Red Sox with a rare home run into Yankee Stadium's left-field upper deck.
Sheffield's three-run drive off Alan Embree capped a five-run sixth inning, and the New York Yankees opened the latest installment of baseball's best rivalry with a 6-3 victory.
Randy Johnson (5-3) won despite another perplexing start, and rookie Robinson Cano began the big rally with a two-run homer off a wild Tim Wakefield (4-4).
PHOTO: AFP
"We just didn't get that knockout punch," Kevin Millar said.
Johnson struck out just three and allowed hits to his final five batters, but Boston managed only one run in the sixth inning, with Cano and Tony Womack throwing out runners at the plate.
"As long as I've got some air in my lungs, don't count me out," he said.
Mariano Rivera, who had blown his first two save attempts of the year against Boston, got two outs for his 12th save in 14 chances.
Twins 7, Blue Jays 2
In Toronto, Johan Santana pitched seven innings, and Shannon Stewart and Juan Castro homered to lead Minnesota past Toronto.
Santana (6-2) allowed two runs and four hits, struck out eight and walked two.
Toronto starter Josh Towers (5-3) allowed a club-record 14 hits and gave up seven runs -- five earned -- in six innings. The Twins tied their season high with 16 hits
Tigers 4, Orioles 3
In Baltimore, Dmitri Young and Craig Monroe homered for Detroit, which beat Baltimore to end a four-game losing streak.
Tigers starter Nate Robertson (2-3) allowed three runs, six hits and a walk in 7 2-3 innings, and the bullpen held on. Robertson has a 1.97 ERA in five starts this month.
Ugueth Urbina gave up a leadoff double in the ninth to Rafael Palmeiro, then walked Geronimo Gil and Brian Roberts to load the bases with two outs before striking out Jeff Fiorentino to earn his sixth save.
Sidney Ponson (5-3) gave up four runs and 10 hits in eight innings.
Devil Rays 5, Mariners 4
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Josh Phelps hit a two-run homer to lead Tampa Bay over Seattle for its fourth straight win.
Phelps' fourth homer in his last seven games put the Devil Rays ahead 5-2 in the seventh. He homered just once in his first 29 games this season.
Tampa Bay starter Mark Hendrickson (2-2) gave up two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. Danys Baez went 1 1-3 innings for his seventh save in 10 opportunities.
Mariners starter Gil Meche (4-3) lasted just 4 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and four hits.
Indians 4, Athletics 1
In Cleveland, Cliff Lee outpitched Barry Zito, overcame two rain delays and combined with four relievers on a four-hitter for Cleveland's win over Oakland.
Lee (6-2) allowed two singles in six shutout innings for his fourth win in five starts. Ronnie Belliard hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Grady Sizemore went 2-for-4 with two steals and an RBI for the Indians.
David Riske got one out for his first save since July 17.
The A's have lost six straight and were nearly shut out for the seventh time. Oakland has lost 15 of 18.
Zito (1-6) allowed just one run and two hits in six innings. The lefty walked four and struck out seven.
Rangers 6, White Sox 2
In Arlington, Texas, Alfonso Soriano homered twice, Chris Young pitched eight strong innings and Texas beat Chicago for its season-high seventh straight win.
Michael Young and Mark Teixeira also connected to give the Rangers 21 homers during their current winning streak, the longest active in the majors.
Young (5-2) allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and didn't issue a walk to beat Brandon McCarthy (0-1). The Chicago rookie allowed six runs and six hits over five innings.
Paul Konerko homered in the seventh for the White Sox.
Angels 9, Royals 8, 10 innings
In Anaheim, California, Dallas McPherson's solo homer off Mike MacDougal in the 10th inning capped a wild Los Angeles comeback that edged Kansas City.
Down 8-3 after the Royals scored four times in the ninth, the Angels stormed back with five runs -- four unearned -- in the bottom of the inning. Kansas City shortstop Angel Berroa made two costly errors to let the Angels tie it.
McPherson's one-out shot over the wall in right center, his third of the season and second in two nights, came on a 1-0 pitch from MacDougal (2-2).
Scot Shields (4-1) pitched a perfect 10th inning.
Pedro Martinez pitched five-hit ball for eight dominant innings Friday and struck out 10, and Cliff Floyd had a run-scoring double to help the New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins 1-0.
Martinez (5-1) reached double-digit strikeouts for the third time in 10 starts this season and walked none. He lasted more than seven innings for the second time with New York -- he pitched a complete game April 10 at Atlanta.
"That's why you go out and get a guy like Pedro -- he shut a good offense down," said Braden Looper, who pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save, completing the Mets' fourth shutout.
Brian Moehler (2-2) nearly matched Martinez for eight innings. He retired his first 11 batters before Mike Cameron lined a two-out double to left in the fourth. Floyd followed by pulling a 1-0 pitch down the right-field line for an RBI double.
"All it takes for Pedro is one run, he proved that tonight," Moehler said. "You have to be on your game, he rarely has an off night. I knew I was going to have to be sharp."
Cubs 10, Rockies 3
In Chicago, Mark Prior was injured by a fourth-inning line drive that hit his pitching arm, marring an offensive outburst that led Chicago over Colorado.
Neifi Perez drove in four runs for Chicago and Derrek Lee homered twice to take over the National League lead with 14.
But the injury-plagued Cubs suffered another blow when Prior was hit in the right elbow by a drive off the bat of the Rockies' Brad Hawpe. Prior collapsed and rolled in pain on the mound before being helped off the field by the training staff.
X-rays on his elbow were negative and MRI scan results were expected Saturday.
Prior was replaced by Todd Wellemeyer (1-0) who pitched 3 2-3 innings of hitless relief. Joe Kennedy (3-5) lasted five-plus innings for Colorado, allowing seven runs on eight hits and five walks.
Reds 6, Pirates 5
In Cincinnati, Jason Romano scored the winning run on Felipe Lopez's infield chopper in the bottom of the ninth inning for Cincinnati's win over Pittsburgh.
Romano doubled off reliever Mike Gonzalez (0-1) with one out. Romano moved to third on Ryan Freel's infield single and scored on Lopez's chopper to shortstop Freddy Sanchez, whose throw home was late.
Ryan Wagner (2-1) got the win despite letting Pittsburgh score twice in the ninth to tie it.
The Reds have won four of their last five games.
Brewers 3, Astros 0
In Milwaukee, Doug Davis allowed two hits over seven innings to help Milwaukee shut out Houston.
Davis (6-5) extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 17 despite walking five batters. He struck out seven.
Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth, earning his seventh save in nine chances.
Damian Miller had a two-run single in the eighth for Milwaukee.
Before leaving with back stiffness, Roy Oswalt (5-6) gave up one run and two hits in six innings for the Astros.
Phillies 5, Braves 1
In Atlanta, Jim Thome hit a three-run homer off John Smoltz in a four-run first inning, and Philadelphia snapped Atlanta's eight-game home winning streak.
It was only the second home run of the season for Thome. The slugging first baseman, who had 42 homers last season and 47 in 2003, came off the disabled list on Saturday after missing 19 games with a lower back strain.
Phillies starter Cory Lidle (5-3) allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings. He gave up six hits and struck out seven.
Smoltz (3-4) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings for Atlanta.
Cardinals 6, Nationals 3
In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds homered, doubled twice and had four RBIs, and Matt Morris remained unbeaten in nine starts to help St. Louis beat Washington for its fourth straight win.
Morris (5-0) worked seven innings and gave up three runs -- two earned -- on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks to win his third consecutive start.
Edmonds, who had been in a 1-for-14 slump, hit a two-run homer to straightaway center in the first off Tony Armas Jr. (1-3). He added a two-run double in the third.
Armas gave up five runs on five hits and five walks in five innings for Washington.
Jason Isringhausen worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 4
In Phoenix, Jeff Kent hit his 12th career grand slam and Olmedo Saenz added a two-run shot as Los Angeles downed Arizona.
The Dodgers have won two in a row for the first time since May 1, a span of 23 games.
Arizona's Tony Clark tied the game at 4-all with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning. But reliever Jose Valverde (1-2) walked Milton Bradley leading off the eighth, and with one out, Saenz hit a 1-2 pitch into the Arizona bullpen in left field to put the Dodgers back in front.
Kelly Wunsch (1-0) got one out for the win, and Eric Gagne, who missed the first 35 games because of a sprained right elbow, pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in as many nights.
Padres 9, Giants 3
In San Francisco, Brian Giles homered and drove in three runs, and Phil Nevin had a two-run double and finished with three RBIs as San Diego thrashed San Francisco.
Brian Lawrence (3-5) pitched a six-hitter for his seventh career complete game and first since Aug. 25 last year against the New York Mets. He retired the final 18 batters of the game.
Geoff Blum hit a two-run double and Dave Roberts added a sacrifice fly for the first-place Padres.
Ray Durham hit his first homer of the season for San Francisco. Brad Hennessey (2-1) allowed four runs in 2 1-3 innings in the loss.
Masahiko Kaneda went six strong innings Saturday as the Rakuten Golden Eagles edged the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers 2-1 for their fourth straight win.
Kaneda gave up one run on four hits over 6-1/3 innings at Fullcast Stadium as the expansion Eagles continued their longest winning streak of the season.
Yosuke Takasu and Yuji Yoshioka each drove in a run for the Eagles, who are coming off a three-game sweep of the defending Central League champion Chunichi Dragons.
Yuya Ando took the loss for the Tigers after giving up two runs on seven hits over eight innings.
BayStars 6, Marines 3
At Chiba Marine Stadium, Shuichi Murata connected for a two-run homer and Takuro Ishii followed with a solo blast as the Yokohama BayStars scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning on their way to a 6-3 win over the red-hot Chiba Lotte Marines.
Lotte reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta gave up both homers as Bobby Valentine's Marines lost for the first time in seven games.
Yuji Yoshimi picked up the win after giving up two runs on two hits over eight innings.
Swallows 13, fighters 5
At Sapporo Maruyama Stadium, Shinya Miyamoto and Akinori Iwamura each drove in three runs to power the Yakult Swallows to a 13-5 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Masanori Ishikawa benefited from the generous run support and earned the victory despite giving up four runs on nine hits over five innings of work.
Lions 4, Carp 3
At Invoice Seibu Dome, Toru Hosokawa hit a bases-loaded single to left in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Seibu Lions to a 4-3 walkoff win over the Hiroshima Carp.
Koji Onuma picked up the win after retiring the side in the top of the 10th.
Pitcher Rick Helling of minor league team the Nashville Sounds was impaled in his left arm by a piece of a broken bat Friday night and taken to a hospital.
Helling, who pitched in the major leagues for 10 seasons, was facing New Orleans' Craig Kuzmic in the seventh inning when the bat shattered and struck his non-pitching arm.
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