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Chicago beats up Boston

kevin Millar of the Red Sox is tagged out by White Sox third baseman Joe Crede during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the AL division series in Chicago on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

American League

A.J. Pierzynski homered twice, Paul Konerko, Juan Uribe and Scott Podsednik also connected, and Chicago scored five times in the first inning Tuesday en route to a 14-2 rout of the World Series champion Red Sox in their playoff opener.

Boston's eight-game postseason winning streak that carried the team to its first Major League Baseball title in 86 years last season, came to a sudden halt.

Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday at US Cellular Field with Chicago's Mark Buehrle facing Boston's David Wells.

The victory was Chicago's first playoff victory since 1993.

Pierzynski's three-run homer off Matt Clement capped Chicago's first-inning outburst and sent a raucous, towel-waving crowd of 40,717 into delirium.

Konerko added a solo shot in the third and Uribe a two-run drive to finish Clement in the fourth. Podsednik, Chicago's speedy leadoff hitter who didn't have a homer all season, hit a three-run shot off Jeremi Gonzalez in the sixth. Pierzynski connected again in the eighth.

Jose Contreras, who was 2-4 with an 11.67 ERA in his career against the Red Sox, allowed eight hits and two runs in 7 2-3 innings in his first playoff start.

Clement, who lost three of his final five regular-season starts, struggled with his control at the outset, hitting Podsednik and Jermaine Dye with pitches.

Podsednik stole third and after Konerko sent a long drive to left that was foul, he put the White Sox ahead with an RBI grounder to third.

Carl Everett followed with a single before Aaron Rowand sent an RBI single over shortstop for a 2-0 lead. The din increased moments later when Pierzynski, a veteran of playoff games with Minnesota, lined his three-run homer to left-center.

Yankees 4, Angels 2

At Anaheim, California, Mike Mussina pitched scoreless ball into the sixth inning, rookie Robinson Cano lined a three-run double in the first and New York beat Los Angeles' Bartolo Colon again to win Game 1 of their American League division series.

Mariano Rivera saved it for the Yankees, who looked completely fresh -- even after a cross-country trek on the heels of a seven-game road trip to end the regular season. They traveled West late Sunday, one day after clinching their eighth consecutive AL East title with a victory over the rival Red Sox in Boston.

Darin Erstad's RBI single cut it to 4-2 in the ninth, only the 10th earned run Rivera has allowed in 71 career postseason appearances. But the right-hander got pinch-hitter Casey Kotchman on a popup with a runner on first to seal the victory.

New York wasted little time getting to Colon, a 21-game winner and leading contender for the AL Cy Young Award.

The Angels' ace allowed three straight two-out singles in the first to the middle of New York's order -- Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui -- prompting a visit from pitching coach Bud Black. Cano then lined a double to left, clearing the bases.

Colon, who allowed three home runs to A-Rod on April 26 in the first of 10 meetings between the teams this season, plunked Rodriguez in the back in the second after allowing a two-out single to Jeter. Giambi followed with an RBI double to the corner in right.

Bengie Molina hit a solo home run for the Angels, who captured their second straight AL West crown a week earlier and won 14 of their final 16 games.

Mussina struck out four and gave up five hits in 5 2-3 innings. Setup man Tom Gordon got four outs, and Rivera worked the ninth to extend his record to 33 postseason saves in 37 opportunities.

National League
AP, St. Louis, Missouri

Reggie Sanders hit a grand slam and set an National League division series record with six RBIs Tuesday, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres in their playoff series opener.

Chris Carpenter pitched six scoreless innings before leaving the game with an 8-0 lead, enabling the Cardinals to withstand San Diego's late-game surge.

The Padres scored once in the seventh, another in the eighth and three in the ninth, when it loaded the bases with two outs before Jason Isringhausen struck out Ramon Hernandez.

St. Louis' Mark Mulder is scheduled to oppose San Diego's Pedro Astacio in Game 2 of the best-of-five series on Thursday.

Jim Edmonds helped out St. Louis with a home run, double and single. Eric Young had a pinch-hit homer in the eighth for San Diego and an RBI groundout in the ninth.

The 37-year-old Sanders had been on pace for the first 30-homer, 30-steal season of his Major League Baseball career before missing 54 games after breaking his right leg in an outfield collision with Edmonds in mid-July.

Sanders rediscovered his stroke in the final week, driving in 10 runs in the last six games, homering three times in the final four games.

His two-run single off the glove of diving first baseman Mark Sweeney put the Cardinals ahead 4-0 in the third, and his grand slam into the left-field seats on a 3-0 fastball knocked out starting pitcher Jake Peavy in the fifth.

Peavy pitched with an injury that worsened in the third and was taken to a hospital after lasting only 4 1-3 innings. An MRI showed one broken rib on his right side and the possibility of a second break. A Padres spokesman said the injury would take four to six weeks to heal.
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