Sammy Sosa hit his 586th home run to tie Frank Robinson for fifth place on the career list, and Baltimore ended a six-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over Texas on Tuesday.
Javy Lopez hit a tiebreaking homer off James Baldwin (0-1) in the eighth, and Luis Matos also connected for the Orioles, who avoided their longest losing streak of the season by winning for the first time since July 18.
"I believe that we're going to pick it up," Sosa said. "There's still a long, long way to go and we still believe in ourselves."
PHOTO: AFP
Sosa gave Baltimore a 4-1 lead in the sixth with his 12th homer, a two-run shot to center.
"Right now is no time to celebrate. It's very nice to tie Frank Robinson, but there's still a lot of baseball left," Sosa said.
Texas starter Kenny Rogers gave up four runs and eight hits over seven innings in what could be his final appearance before serving a suspension for shoving two TV cameramen last month. The 40-year-old went before commissioner Bud Selig on Friday to appeal the 20-game suspension handed down by Major League Baseball on July 1.
Lopez went 3-for-4 in his second game since returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list with a broken hand.
Reliever Jason Grimsley (1-1) got the win and B.J. Ryan got three outs for his 22nd save.
Yankees 4, Twins 0
At New York, Randy Johnson took a no-hit bid into the sixth, pitched two-hit ball for eight innings and struck out 11 to lead New York over Minnesota.
Johnson (11-6), who matched his season strikeout high, showed no signs of the minor back pain that caused the Yankees to cut short his start in Anaheim last week. He hit Shannon Stewart with his second pitch of the game, then got Nick Punto to ground into a double play, getting 17 straight outs until Juan Castro bounced a single up the middle with two outs in the sixth.
Johnson reached double digits in strikeouts for the third time this season and 207th in his career, trailing only Nolan Ryan (215). Tom Gordon followed with a hitless ninth.
Alex Rodriguez hit a second-inning homer off Brad Radke (6-10), who lost for the sixth time in seven decisions.
Blue Jays 8, Angels 0
At Toronto, Gustavo Chacin pitched eight scoreless innings and Shea Hillenbrand homered and had four RBIs to lead the Toronto past Los Angeles.
Hillenbrand had three hits for the Blue Jays, who moved one game over .500 (50-49).
Toronto third baseman Corey Koskie went 1-for-4 with a walk in his first game since breaking a thumb on May 19.
Chacin (10-5) and Miguel Batista combined on the eight-hitter. The Angels have been shut out five times this season.
Angels starter Paul Byrd (9-7) allowed a season-high seven runs and 10 hits in three-plus innings.
Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 9,
10 innings
At St. Petersburg. Florida, Boston rallied twice after a frightening injury to pitcher Matt Clement to beat Tampa Bay.
Clement was carted from the field and taken to a hospital after Carl Crawford's line drive caromed off the right side of his head and into left field for an RBI single in the third inning.
The Red Sox said the All-Star right-hander was alert and conscious.
The game resumed after an 11-minute delay with Chad Bradford replacing Clement and the Red Sox leading 5-1. Three batters later, Aubrey Huff hit his second grand slam in five nights for Tampa Bay to tie it.
Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek and Johnny Damon homered for the Red Sox, who snapped an 8-8 tie on Damon's solo shot on the first pitch of the 10th from Danys Baez (5-3). Varitek added an RBI double to give Curt Schilling (3-4) a two-run lead.
Royals 7, White Sox 1
At Kansas City, Missouri, Mark Teahen hit a three-run double and scored on a throwing error in a six-run sixth inning as Kansas City beat the Chicago for the first time this season.
The Royals beat All-Star starter Mark Buehrle and snapped an 11-game losing streak to the White Sox, defeating them for the first time since Oct. 2.
Kansas City sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth, got five hits and took advantage of two Chicago throwing errors.
Jose Lima (4-8) held the White Sox to one run in six innings for his sixth straight quality start. He is 3-1 in his past four starts. Lima limited the White Sox to five hits, walked three and struck out five.
Buehrle (12-4) gave up eight hits and seven runs in six innings. It was just his fifth loss in 17 career decisions against Kansas City.
Tigers 8, Mariners 5
At Seattle, Dmitri Young hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning and tied his career high with five RBIs to lead Detroit past Seattle.
Young's one-out homer greeted reliever Ron Villone, who came on after Julio Mateo (2-4) hit Rondell White with a pitch and gave up a single to Ivan Rodriguez. Young's 17th homer made it 7-5.
Young had five RBIs in a game for the sixth time in his career, twice this season.
Jason Johnson (7-8), loser of five of his previous six decisions got the win. He pitched eight innings and allowed five runs -- four earned -- and nine hits.
Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth inning for Detroit, for his sixth save in eight opportunities.
Andruw Jones drew a bases-loaded walk from Luis Ayala in the 10th inning, capping a comeback that gave the Atlanta Braves a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday and sole possession of first place in the National League East.
"In that situation you've got to be smart enough, after a guy throws you a 2-0 tough sinker, you have to go out there and be really patient and let him at least throw you one over the plate, and he didn't," Jones said.
Washington closer Chad Cordero blew a 2-1 lead in the ninth, spoiling a strong start by Livan Hernandez against Atlanta's John Smoltz in a matchup of All-Star pitchers. The Braves tied it when Jones doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam LaRoche, who homered earlier.
Chris Reitsma (3-2) worked a perfect 10th for the win.
It was Cordero's fourth blown save in 38 chances.
Pirates 6, Marlins 3
At Miami, Matt Lawton and Chris Duffy had four hits apiece to help Pittsburgh come from behind twice and beat Florida.
Josh Fogg (5-6) lasted just 5 1-3 innings but won for the first time in 10 starts since his most recent victory on June 1, also against Florida. He gave up three runs and nine hits but singled home the Pirates' first run for his first RBI of the season.
Daryle Ward drove in three runs for the Pirates, who overcame deficits of 1-0 and 3-2 to win for the fourth time in five games.
Brian Moehler (6-7), who had won his four previous starts in July, gave up nine hits in 4 1-3 innings and left trailing 4-3.
Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.
Astros 2, Phillies 1
At Houston, Mike Lamb led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run and Roy Oswalt threw a complete game to move into a tie for the most wins in the National League and give Houston a win over Philadelphia.
Oswalt (14-8) tied St. Louis' Chris Carpenter for the NL lead in victories as he improved to 10-1 at home. Oswalt leads the majors in wins since the 2004 All-Star break with 26.
Oswalt, who has taken the decision in every start this season, won for the eighth time in his last nine games and dropped his ERA to 2.33, third in the NL. He allowed eight hits and struck out nine, walking four.
Ryan Madson (4-4) took the loss, facing only Lamb, who hit his sixth homer, and throwing two pitches.
Craig Biggio hit his 16th homer in the first to give Houston a 1-0 lead. It was the 250th of his career.
Rockies 4, Mets 3
At Denver, Jeff Francis pitched into the seventh and Dustan Mohr homered for Colorado, which played without All-Star first baseman Todd Helton, who strained a calf muscle running the bases Monday.
He was replaced by Ryan Shealy, who arrived an hour before the game after flying in from Round Rock, Texas, where minor league Triple-A Colorado Springs was playing. He had a run-scoring single in Colorado's three-run third and made a tough stop on a one-hopper by Cliff Floyd to start an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
New York's David Wright had three hits, including his 15th homer, to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
Cardinals 4, Padres 2
At San Diego, Albert Pujols homered and John Gall had a hit and scored twice in his major league debut as St. Louis handed the San Diego its season-high eighth straight loss.
San Diego fell to .500 (50-50) for the first time since May 4.
Mark Mulder (12-5) won his fourth straight decision for the Cardinals. Woody Williams (5-7), who made four postseason starts for St. Louis last year, took the loss.
Xavier Nady went 3-for-3 with a walk and a run for the Padres, who stranded 10 runners and hit into three double plays.
Dodgers 7, Reds 4
At Los Angeles, Cesar Izturis hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and Los Angeles got homers from Jeff Kent and Olmedo Saenz to beat Cincinnati.
Odalis Perez (6-5) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits in seven innings. It was the third straight start the left-hander didn't allow a walk.
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 523rd career homer in the eighth against rookie Steve Schmoll. But Yhency Brazoban, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, got three outs for his 19th save.
Eric Milton (4-11) took the loss despite hitting his second career homer.
Giants 3, Cubs 2, 11 innings
At Chicago, Greg Maddux got his 3,000th strikeout and Jason Ellison singled home the go-ahead run in the 11th inning to send San Francisco Giants over Chicago.
Maddux became the 13th pitcher in major league history to strike out 3,000 batters when he fanned San Francisco's Omar Vizquel to end the third. He got Vizquel on a 2-2 pitch on the inside corner and the crowd at Wrigley Field that had waited out a 2-hour, 43-minute rain delay at the start, erupted. It was the final out of the inning.
Catcher Michael Barrett took the ball and put it in Maddux's glove as he crossed the third base line on the way to the dugout, and several of his teammates stopped to hug him and shake his hand.
Seconds later Maddux emerged from the dugout for a curtain call to acknowledge the loud cheering and doffed his cap.
Deivi Cruz and Mike Matheny hit consecutive one-out singles in the 11th off Glendon Rusch (5-4). Michael Wuertz then struck out pinch-hitter Yorvit Torrealba before Ellison hit a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score Cruz.
Jason Christiansen (6-1) worked two innings of scoreless relief for the win, and Tyler Walker got three outs for his 16th save in 21 chances.
Needing two strikeouts to reach 3,000 before the game started, Maddux struck out Giants leadoff hitter Jason Ellison swinging in the first.
Maddux, with 313 wins entering the game, also became just the ninth pitcher to have 3,000 strikeout and 300 victories.
That elite club includes Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Walter Johnson and Phil Niekro. Clemens and Maddux are the only active members.
Maddux got his 300th victory last August against the Giants in San Francisco.
The 39-year-old Maddux won the first of four straight Cy Young pitching awards in 1992, his final season of a first go-around with the Cubs before leaving as a free agent and signing with the Braves. He spent 11 seasons with Atlanta before returning to Chicago as a free agent last season.
The Seattle Mariners signed first-round draft pick Jeff Clement on Tuesday.
Clement, a catcher from University of Southern California who was the third overall pick in June's draft, led USC with a .348 average, 15 home runs, 54 RBIs, 17 doubles, 44 walks and a .472 on-base percentage this past season. The left-handed power hitter is expected to be an excellent match with Safeco Field, with its right-field foul pole just 327 feet from home plate.
The 21-year-old Clement hit 46 career homers at USC to rank second on the school's career list, trailing only Mark McGwire (54).
Clement also has played for the US national team over the past two seasons.
He was the highest overall draft pick by Seattle since the Mariners took Jose Cruz Jr. with the third selection in 1995. Seattle landed a high pick because of their 99-loss season in 2004.
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