The Minnesota Twins overcame a five-run deficit, taking advantage of a throwing error by pitcher Doug Brocail on a bunt to score two runs in the sixth inning and beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 on Wednesday.
Mike Redmond and Luis Rodriguez drove in two runs each for the Twins, who trailed 5-0 in the second inning for the second game in a row. On Tuesday, they took a one-run lead into the ninth before losing to the Rangers 10-7.
"That's the team I remember," said Jacque Jones, who had two hits and scored two runs. "You bounce back like that and don't hang your head."
PHOTO: AP
Joe Mays, J.C. Romero (4-3), Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan combined for seven innings of one-run, five-hit relief. With runners on second and third, Nathan struck out Kevin Mench for his 26th save.
"It's really nice to get out there the next day," said Nathan, who allowed a three-run homer to Mark Teixeira on Tuesday. "You don't want to be sitting down there thinking about it any longer than you have to."
Rangers starter Chris Young left after one inning complaining of arm fatigue. Brocail (5-3) gave up eight runs -- six earned -- and six hits in two-plus innings.
PHOTO: AP
Athletics 8, Mariners 7
At Oakland, California, Mark Kotsay and Eric Chavez hit two-run doubles in the ninth off Eddie Guardado (1-2) and Nick Swisher walked on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded against Jeff Nelson.
The Athletics had not overcome a four-run ninth inning deficit in a win since July 1957, when the Kansas City A's beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Chavez drove in four runs as the A's stopped a four-game losing streak. Huston Street (5-1) got the win.
Richie Sexson hit his 33rd homer, and Raul Ibanez doubled twice for Seattle.
Red Sox 6, Angels 3
At Boston, Bronson Arroyo recovered from a rough beginning, and the Red Sox overcame a three-run deficit with the help of David Ortiz's two-run single.
Ortiz, whose homer in the bottom of the ninth gave Boston a 3-2 win in Tuesday night's series opener, tied the game with his single, one pitch after he appeared to swing his bat far enough for a third strike. Angels manager Mike Scioscia yelled from the dugout and was ejected.
Later in the third inning, Trot Nixon doubled in the go-ahead run.
Arroyo (12-9) gave up three runs and five hits in the first two innings then allowed just three singles in the next six. Mike Timlin retired three batters for his seventh save.
Ervin Santana (8-7) allowed six runs in four innings.
Yankees 5, Devil Rays 4
At New York, Jason Giambi hit a go-ahead, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Yankees got a much-needed victory against a surprising nemesis.
Hideki Matsui hit his 400th professional homer and drove in three runs for the Yankees. New York fought back from a 4-0 deficit and improved to 5-10 against last-place Tampa Bay.
Tanyon Sturtze (5-3) worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings, and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save.
With Tampa Bay ahead 4-3, Joe Borowski (1-3) retired his first two batters in the eighth before Alex Rodriguez reached out and punched a single to center. Giambi then drove an 0-1 pitch over the right-field fence for his 27th homer.
Indians 4, Tigers 1
At Detroit, Cleveland's Casey Blake homered twice, and C.C. Sabathia pitched his first complete game of the season in Cleveland's three-game sweep of Detroit.
The loss was a season-high seventh straight and 12th in 14 games for Detroit, which scored just two runs in the series.
Sabathia (13-9), who retired the final 21 batters, gave up four hits in his first complete game since Sept. 6 last year. He struck out 10 and did not walk a batter.
Roman Colon (1-1) gave up three runs and five hits in three innings in his first American League start.
Blue Jays 7, Orioles 4
At Baltimore, Frank Catalanotto singled in the tiebreaking run in a four-run seventh inning, and Gregg Zaun homered for Toronto, which took two of three games from Baltimore to win a series for the first time since mid-August.
Pete Walker (6-4) won in relief, and Miguel Batista worked the ninth for his 26th save.
Javy Lopez had two hits, drove in a run and scored one for the Orioles, who blew two leads in losing for the 14th time in 19 games. Toronto trailed 4-3 before batting around in the seventh against Jorge Julio (3-5.)
White Sox 1, Royals 0
At Chicago, Paul Konerko homered for the fourth straight game, and Chicago beat Kansas City to extended its winning streak to seven.
Konerko connected off Mike Wood (4-6) in the third inning. He has 36 homers and a 12-game hitting streak.
Jose Contreras (11-7) won his fourth consecutive start, allowing six hits in 7 2-3 innings. Dustin Hermanson got his 34th save, completing the six-hitter by retiring Mike Sweeney on a game-ending popup with runners at the corners.
Kansas City has lost five of six overall, and 16 of its last 18 road games.
Rookie J.J. Hardy hit his first grand slam and set a career high with four hits, and the Milwaukee Brewers had their best day at the plate in four years as they routed the Cincinnati Reds 14-5 on Wednesday.
"It's just one of those things," said Hardy, who raised his overall average to .235. "I'm seeing the ball good and finding holes. The first half was the hardest struggle I've ever had. I'm a lot more comfortable now."
Brady Clark, Lyle Overbay, Chad Moeller and Geoff Jenkins also homered for Milwaukee, which scored its most runs since a 15-5 win over Arizona in October 2001.
Jenkins also singled and doubled, and Clark also had three among the Brewers' 17 hits.
Chris Capuano (16-9) matched his season high with eight strikeouts. He allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Eric Milton (7-14) gave up two of the homers, raising his total to a major league-high 39. Milton, who last lost 14 games in one year as a rookie in 1998, allowed six runs and 10 hits in three innings.
"Again, I'm not getting it done," Milton said. "It's frustrating. I've been trying to figure it out all year. It's one of those things I can't explain. I'm embarrassing myself. I'd like to just crawl into a hole and forget what's happened."
Cincinnati was eliminated from playoffs contention in the National League Central.
Astros 8, Phillies 6
At Philadelphia, Craig Biggio hit a three-run homer off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth inning, giving Houston a three-game sweep of Philadelphia.
The Astros won their 12th straight over the Phillies, who lost their fifth in a row.
Bobby Abreu hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth and pinch-hitter Shane Victorino gave the Phillies a short-lived lead with an RBI single.
Wagner (4-3) got two outs before Jose Vizcaino reached on third baseman David Bell's fielding error. Willy Taveras beat out an infield hit before Biggio's 20th homer made a winner of Chad Qualls (5-4). Brad Lidge got his 35th save.
Mike Lamb had a three-run homer, and Lance Berkman also connected for Houston.
Marlins 12, Nationals 1
At Washington, Dontrelle Willis became the first 20-game winner in Marlins history, allowing four hits over six innings to help Florida beat the Nationals.
Willis (20-8) beat John Halama (0-3) to match St. Louis' Chris Carpenter for the major league lead in wins.
Carlos Delgado hit a two-run homer -- his 28th -- in the third homer, and added a sacrifice fly to reach 100 RBIs. Miguel Cabrera also got to 100, and had two singles and three walks.
Jeff Conine, Juan Encarnacion, Damion Easley and Paul Lo Duca had two hits apiece, as did Willis, who collected a single and a double, scored twice and drove in a run.
Diamondbacks 4, Pirates 2
At Pittsburgh, Brandon Webb allowed two runs over seven innings and had an RBI single to lead Arizona past Pittsburgh.
Webb (12-11) gave up seven hits in handing the Pirates their 10th consecutive home loss. Pittsburgh has lost a season-high six straight games overall and 11 of 12.
Craig Counsell and Shawn Green had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Diamondbacks. Jose Valverde got his sixth save.
Mark Redman (5-15) lasted 2 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and five hits. Redman has lost his last five starts and 11 of his last 12 decisions.
Cubs 2, Cardinals 1
At St. Louis, Greg Maddux pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings, and Chicago beat Mark Mulder and St. Louis.
Neifi Perez had an RBI double and Matt Murton a run-scoring single on consecutive at-bats with two outs in the second for the Cubs.
Maddux (12-11) allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked two in his 317th career victory. Mulder (15-7) scattered 10 hits in his third complete game of the year.
Albert Pujols hit his 37th homer and singled twice for the Cardinals.
Braves 4, Mets 3, 10 innings
At Atlanta, Ryan Langerhans hit a two-out, two-run single in the 10th inning and Atlanta rallied twice to complete a three-game sweep of slumping New York.
Langerhans tied it in the ninth with an RBI double off Braden Looper (4-7), then came through again in the 10th with Shingo Takatsu just one pitch from escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam inherited from Looper.
John Foster (4-1) got the win despite giving up Chris Woodward's pinch-hit single in the top half of the 10th, which pushed the Mets back ahead. But New York lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Padres 4, Rockies 2
At San Diego, Mark Loretta homered and scored twice in San Diego's win over Colorado, and Adam Eaton won his 10th game for the Padres.
Eaton (10-3) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 36th save. It was his 33rd straight and the 429th of his career.
With the score tied at 2, San Diego's Xavier Nady was walked with the bases loaded by Jeff Francis (12-11) to force in the go-ahead run with two outs in the fifth.
Loretta gave San Diego a 2-0 lead with his leadoff homer in the third. Colorado tied it in the fourth on two-out RBI singles by Brad Hawpe and Luis Gonzalez.
Dodgers 9, Giants 8
At Los Angeles, Mike Edwards' bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a three-run rally after a two-run homer by Oscar Robles as Los Angeles edged San Francisco.
Giants closer Armando Benitez (1-2) came on in the ninth and walked pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee with one out before Robles' hit.
Benitez walked Jeff Kent, who earlier hit his 27th homer. Rookie Jeremy Accardo, who gave up Kent's walk-off homer Tuesday night, fielded a comebacker by Olmedo Saenz but threw the ball into center field, putting Kent at third.
An intentional walk to Jose Cruz Jr. loaded the bases for Edwards, who lined a 3-2 pitch to right center with the infield and outfield playing in.
Yhency Brazoban (4-8) pitched a scoreless ninth.
Cruz drove in four runs with a pair of homers, the second of which cut San Francisco's lead to 8-6 in the eighth.
Giants starter Jason Schmidt gave up four runs and three hits in 4 1-3 innings before he strained his right groin.
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