Rafael Palmeiro and Jay Gibbons hit solo home runs and Rodrigo Lopez won his eighth game, leading the Baltimore Orioles over the Boston Red Sox 4-1 Sunday.
Palmeiro's homer off Tim Wakefield (8-7) was his third in three games. Palmeiro also hit a sacrifice fly, and his 1-for-3 afternoon left him two hits short of becoming the fourth player in baseball history to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
The Orioles took three of four from the defending World Series champions to move within two games of first-place Boston in Major League Baseball's American League East Division.
Yankees 9, Indians 4
In New York, Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer, and Ruben Sierra drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single to lift New York to its seventh win in eight games.
Randy Johnson (9-6) struggled through six unremarkable innings, but the Yankees improved to a season-high six games over .500 for the third time behind Giambi's 10th homer of the season -- fifth in six games, Gary Sheffield's late three-run homer and Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook's wildness.
Tigers 9, Devil Rays 4
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Magglio Ordonez drove in three runs, and Dmitri Young hit a two-run homer to lead Detroit past Tampa Bay.
Ordonez had a two-run double during a three-run seventh that put Detroit ahead 9-4. He has 11 RBIs in nine games since his return from a hernia on July 1.
Mike Maroth (7-9) allowed four runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings. The Tigers have won five of six, reaching the All-Star break at 42-44.
Twins 3, Royals 2, 12 innings
In Kansas City, Missouri, Nick Punto scored on third baseman Mark Teahen's fielding error with two outs in the 12th inning and Minnesota overcame Mike Sweeney's two home runs.
Punto singled off Mike Wood (3-3) and went to third when Joe Mauer singled off the glove of first baseman Matt Stairs. Torii Hunter's bat cracked, and one piece flew toward Teahen as the rookie infielder attempted to make the stop. He couldn't, and Punto came home with the decisive run.
Rangers 9, Blue Jays 8
In Arlington, Texas, Mark Teixeira hit his AL-leading 25th homer, and Mark DeRosa had a two-run shot in a four-run eighth inning as Texas completed a three-game sweep of Toronto.
DeRosa was making a rare start in place of All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano, who was in Panama to be with his wife, who is expecting the couple's second child.
Athletics 9, White Sox 8,
11 innings
In Chicago, Nick Swisher hit an RBI double in the 11th inning and Oakland beat Chicago, completing a three-game sweep of the team with MLB's best record.
Swisher also homered, and Dan Johnson added a solo shot and a two-run double for the A's, who finished the season series 7-2 and have won 13 of 16 overall. They also moved one game over .500 for the first time since May 1.
Mariners 7, Angels 4
In Anaheim, California, Miguel Olivo and Richie Sexson hit two-run homers in a five-run fourth, and Seattle beat Los Angeles to complete an four-game sweep of the AL West leaders.
The Angels' lead over second-place Texas was trimmed to five games, while the last-place Mariners are 12 1/2 games off the pace.
The Mariners have the third-worst record in the AL, and had lost 12 of 16 entering the series. The Angels have the league's second-best mark, and had won 13 of 16 coming in.
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Pedro Martinez the only runs he needed, and the New York Mets avoided a sweep by beating the outmatched Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 Sunday.
Mike Cameron added a two-run double to help the Mets get back to .500 at 44-44 at the Major League Baseball All-Star break.
Martinez (10-3) struck out four in the first two innings and nine overall in seven innings to win his eighth in 10 decisions.
Cubs 9, Marlins 2
In Miami, Derrek Lee hit his 27th homer and drove in four runs, Greg Maddux allowed four hits in eight innings, and Chicago completed a three-game sweep.
Chicago had lost eight in a row before getting its third series sweep of the season.
Lee hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth and homered for the second straight game after missing three straight starts with left shoulder irritation.
He added an RBI double in the ninth for his 72nd RBI.
Brewers 8, Braves 4
In Atlanta, Geoff Jenkins homered and drove in three runs, and National League leader Carlos Lee had two more RBIs, helping Milwaukee's Chris Capuano beat Atlanta.
Capuano (10-6) earned his career-high fifth consecutive win, pitching five innings and leaving with a 5-4 lead after the Brewers rallied for three runs in the fifth.
Rookie Jeff Francoeur and Rafael Furcal homered, but the Braves committed three errors and dropped their second straight after they had won six in a row.
Astros 6, Dodgers 5
In Houston, Brad Ausmus snapped an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single and Houston rallied from four runs down to beat Los Angeles and sweep the three-game series.
Russ Springer (2-3) pitched a hitless eighth for the victory.
Brad Lidge worked the ninth inning for his 20th save in 23 chances. The game ended when Oscar Robles was thrown out by center fielder Willy Taveras as Robles tried to stretch a single into a double.
Phillies 5, Nationals 4,
12 innings
In Philadelphia, Ryan Howard hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning, and pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez drove in the winning run in the 12th to lift Philadelphia over Washington.
David Bell hit a one-out single to center off Kim Sun-Woo (1-2) in the 12th and went to third on Todd Pratt's single. Jason Michaels flew out and Jimmy Rollins was intentionally walked to load the bases. Martinez then chopped a grounder into left to end the 4-hour, 1-minute game and make a winner of Rheal Cormier (3-2).
Padres 8, Rockies 5
In Denver, Brian Giles tripled and drove in three runs, and Ramon Hernandez had two RBIs to lead San Diego over Colorado.
Damian Jackson had three hits, and Xavier Nady and Khalil Greene added solo home runs for the NL West-leading Padres.
Diamondbacks 2, Reds 0
In Phoenix, Tony Clark broke up a scoreless game with a seventh-inning home run, and Arizona beat Cincinnati.
After Clark's two-out solo shot, Shawn Green doubled and pinch-hitter Luis Terrero lined an RBI single into right field.
That ended what had been a superb outing for Eric Milton, who had allowed only two hits -- a pair of singles by Alex Cintron -- in 6 2-3 innings.
Cardinals 4, Giants 3
In San Francisco, Jeff Suppan (9-7) pitched into the seventh inning, had two hits and drove in a run to help St. Louis win for the sixth time in eight games.
Einar Diaz drove in two runs for the Cardinals.
Their 11-game lead over the Houston Astros is their largest ever at the All-Star break.
Jason Isringhausen gave up two hits in the ninth but struck out Lance Niekro with runners on the corners for his 25th save in 27 chances.
Noah Lowry (5-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. The Giants have lost six of nine and enter the All-Star break with a losing record for the first time since 1996.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was