Bernie Williams hit two two-run homers to help Randy Johnson win for the first time in a month and lead New York to a 5-1 victory over Kansas City on Friday.
Alex Rodriguez also homered, helping the Yankees beat the Royals for the first time this season. New York lost all three games at Kansas City from May 31-June 2 in Buddy Bell's first series as Royals manager.
"We are making our push," Williams said. "We are obviously trying to catch up for the shaky start we had."
PHOTO: AFP
Johnson (12-8) allowed four hits and struck out six in eight innings. He had been 0-2 with a 6.49 ERA in four starts since beating Minnesota 4-0 on July 26.
"That was as good as I've seen him, just in the attack mode," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Williams hit his 11th homer in the sixth, two batters after Rodriguez homered. He added another drive in the eighth for his first multihomer game since Sept. 13, 2003, against Tampa Bay.
Mike Wood (4-5), the winning pitcher last Saturday when Kansas City beat Oakland to snap its 19-game losing streak, allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. The Royals had followed their skid by winning four of five, but Friday's loss dropped them to 0-9 at Yankee Stadium since Aug. 6, 2002.
Indians 9, Blue Jays 3
In Toronto, Grady Sizemore stole home, Travis Hafner homered twice and C.C. Sabathia won his fifth straight start for Cleveland, which won for the eighth time in nine games, while Toronto lost for the seventh time in eight.
Sizemore got off to a huge lead from third in the first inning and broke for home before Dustin McGowan (1-2) started his windup. Catcher Guillermo Quiroz didn't attempt a tag as Sizemore easily slid in safely for Cleveland's first straight steal of home since Omar Vizquel at Detroit on May 27, 2003.
Hafner hit a solo shot off McGowan in the first and a two-run homer off Justin Speier in the ninth, his second two-homer game this season and the seventh multihomer game of his career.
Victor Martinez and Ronnie Belliard also homered for the Indians. Martinez had four hits, including a solo homer, and scored four runs.
Devil Rays 12, Angels 8
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jorge Cantu, Travis Lee and Jonny Gomes all homered in a nine-run fourth inning as Tampa Bay beat Los Angeles.
Cantu also had a first-inning RBI double and a two-run double in the seventh to finish with a career-high five RBIs.
Casey Fossum (8-10) won his second straight start despite allowing seven runs and nine hits over five innings.
Maicer Izturis homered and drove in three runs for Los Angeles. His homer stopped the Angels' stretch of 57 consecutive innings without one.
Ervin Santana (7-6) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Athletics 4, Orioles 1
At Baltimore, Joe Blanton allowed four hits over six shutout innings and Bobby Crosby hit a two-run homer to lead Oakland past Baltimore.
Eric Chavez drove in a run and scored one for the Athletics, who have won three straight after losing seven of eight. Oakland is 15-3 in its last 18 road games.
Blanton (8-9) struck out six and walked three in winning his third straight decision. The rookie is 3-0 with an 0.95 ERA in five starts in August.
Blanton outpitched Bruce Chen (10-8), who allowed one earned run before yielding Crosby's homer in the eighth that gave the A's a 4-1 lead.
Rangers 6, Twins 0
At Arlington, Texas, David Dellucci and Alfonso Soriano homered in a four-run third inning, and rookie Kameron Loe pitched five shutout innings in his second major league start for Texas.
Loe (6-4) was making his first start of the season after 40 relief appearances. He allowed five hits and struck out five without a walk. Rookie C.J. Wilson allowed one hit over the final four innings for his first career save to help the Rangers to their fifth shutout of the season.
Michael Young also homered for the Rangers, who have won three of four at home following a 1-12 road trip, while Mark DeRosa went 3-for-4.
Michael Ryan had three hits for the Twins, who have lost three straight and were shut out for the seventh time this season.
Red Sox 9, Tigers 8
At Boston, Manny Ramirez drove in three runs and Boston rallied after a reversed call gave Detroit a disputed homer for its 14th consecutive win at Boston.
Boston, which leads the second-place New York Yankees by 2.5 games in the AL East, came off a 4-6 trip that ended with two losses in three games at Kansas City.
Brandon Inge and Curtis Granderson hit two-run homers in the fourth to give Detroit a 5-3 lead. First-base umpire Jim Wolf ruled that Granderson's high fly near the Pesky Pole in right was foul, but the call was reversed after the four umpires consulted. Boston manager Terry Francona ran from the dugout and was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Randy Marsh.
Tim Wakefield (13-10) then retired nine of his next 10 batters and left after six innings with the Red Sox leading 9-5.
White Sox 5, Mariners 3, 12 innings
At Seattle, Tadahito Iguchi's two-run homer with two outs in the top of the 12th inning off closer Eddie Guardado gave Chicago the victory over Seattle.
Brian Anderson, a rookie playing in his fifth major league game, hit two homers off Seattle's 19-year-old rookie sensation Felix Hernandez, who had not given up an extra base hit in his first four starts.
Juan Uribe opened the top of the 12th with an infield single off Jeff Nelson (1-3) and Anderson sacrificed him to second. After Guardado struck out pinch-hitter Aaron Rowland, Iguchi homered to left, his 13th of the season.
Luis Vizcaino (6-5) pitched the 11th for Chicago and Dustin Hermanson worked the 12th for his 32nd save.
Willie Bloomquist's RBI triple in the eighth tied it at 3 for the Mariners, who have lost six of eight.
Hernandez went seven innings, allowing three runs and seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. His ERA rose from 1.24 to 1.75.
Jeff Conine had three hits with two RBIs and three runs scored, and Miguel Cabrera knocked in two runs to help the Florida Marlins defeat the Chicago Cubs 7-5.
"When you have guys ahead of you who get on base, I don't care what spot you're hitting in, you want to take advantage of that and drive them in," Conine said.
Marlins rookie left-hander Jason Vargas (5-1) pitched five scoreless innings before the Cubs rallied with five runs in the sixth to cut into a 7-0 lead.
Vargas, making his sixth career start and 10th appearance, allowed nine hits and five runs in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out three and walked three, and had two singles in three at-bats.
"I wasn't tired, I just wasn't fooling anybody," Vargas said. "I don't think my pitches we that bad. They were just hitting pitches that they were missing earlier in the game."
The Marlins got scoreless relief work from Randy Messenger and Antonio Alfonseca, and Todd Jones got the final four outs for his 30th save, including 20 straight successful opportunities.
Chicago starter Glendon Rusch (5-7) lost his fifth straight decision. He lasted 4 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.
Brewers 3, Braves 1
At Milwaukee, Ben Sheets strained his upper back and left the game in the eighth inning of Milwaukee's victory over Atlanta.
Chipper Jones was batting with two outs in the eighth and behind in the count 0-2 when Sheets bounced a pitch behind the batter. Sheets came off the mound in obvious pain, holding his right shoulder as Brewers manager Ned Yost and trainer Roger Caplinger rushed to his aid.
Sheets (10-9), who was replaced by Kane Davis, struck out eight, allowed five hits and left with a 3-0 lead. He was to be evaluated again Saturday, and the Brewers said he was day to day.
Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee, and Derrick Turnbow struck out three in the ninth for his 29th save.
Horacio Ramirez (10-8) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and five hits in seven innings.
Reds 6, Pirates 1
At Pittsburgh, Ken Griffey Jr. hit two homers, giving him three in two games and 32 this season, and winner Aaron Harang (9-11) hit an RBI single to end an 0-for-49 slump, the longest hitless streak by a major leaguer since San Diego pitcher Andy Benes went 0-for-50 in 1991.
Harang (9-11) allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings on a rainy night.
Adam Dunn hit his 35th homer, a two-run drive. Mark Redman (5-14) lost for the 10th time in 11 decisions since June 10, giving up four runs and nine hits in six innings.
Nationals 4, Cardinals 1
At Washington, the Nationals won their 67th game of the season, matching the Montreal Expos' total from 2004, as Esteban Loaiza (9-9) allowed one run and three hits over seven-plus innings.
Brad Wilkerson hit a leadoff homer for Washington, which had lost six of its previous nine games. Chad Cordero pitched the ninth for his 41st save, and the Nationals stayed 2 1/2 games off the wild-card lead.
Jeff Suppan (12-10) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings. He had won his prior five road starts.
Phillies 11, Diamondbacks 3
At Phoenix, Bobby Abreu capped the Phillies' six-run seventh inning with a grand slam, and Philadelphia beat Arizona for its fifth win in six games.
Chase Utley hit two solo homers for the Phillies, who moved within 2 1/2 games of National League East-leading Atlanta and maintained a 11/2-game lead over Florida, Houston and New York in the wild-card race.
Aaron Fultz (3-0) pitched two hitless innings for the victory.
Brad Halsey (8-11) allowed four runs, four hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings, losing his fourth straight start after going 4-0 in six starts from July 3 to Aug. 4. Arizona has lost six straight games and has been outscored 119-49 while dropping 11 of its last 13.
Mets 1, Giants 0
At San Francisco, Steve Trachsel made a triumphant season debut, allowing two hits in eight innings in his first start since surgery on March 19 to repair a herniated disc in his back as New York edged San Francisco.
David Wright homered in the second inning off Kevin Correia (2-5), and the Mets (68-60) won their fifth straight to move eight games over .500 for the first time since their pennant-winning season of 2000.
Braden Looper pitched around a leadoff double to Omar Vizquel in the ninth, getting three straight groundouts to finish for his 27th save.
Astros 2, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Andy Pettitte (12-9) outdueled former American League East rival Derek Lowe (8-13) by allowing one run and six hits in eight innings, and Craig Biggio hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning of Houston's win over Los Angeles.
Lowe allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings as the Dodgers (57-71) dropped a season-worst 14 games under .500.
Brad Lidge got three outs for his 31st save, his 15th straight.
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