Erik Bedard remained unbeaten, Miguel Tejada homered and drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles rallied for a 9-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday.
Javy Lopez, Jeff Conine and Tejada each had two RBIs during a six-run sixth that erased a 4-3 deficit and gave Baltimore its sixth win in eight games.
Eduardo Perez and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland. Martinez was 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest in US Major League Baseball this season.
PHOTO: AP
Bedard (4-0) pitched six innings and joined Boston's Curt Schilling and Atlanta's Oscar Villareal as the majors' only four-game winners.
Devil Rays 5, Red Sox 1
In Boston, Jonny Gomes homered twice, and Scott Kazmir held Boston to four hits before a sixth-inning injury as Tampa Bay handed knuckleballer Tim Wakefield another tough-luck loss.
Kazmir (3-1) allowed one run -- Dustan Mohr's solo homer -- and one walk while striking out seven in 5 2-3 innings to stop Boston's four-game winning streak. He was pulled from the game after 101 pitches with a 2-2 count on Manny Ramirez; the team announced Kazmir had muscle cramps in his left thumb and wrist.
Travis Harper pitched 2 2-3 innings before loading the bases in the ninth, and Dan Miceli got two outs for his fourth save, striking out Trot Nixon and retiring pinch-hitter Jason Varitek on a flyout.
Wakefield (1-3) allowed three runs -- two of them earned -- four hits and two walks, striking out two in eight innings. In his previous start last Saturday, he pitched a complete game but lost 3-0; the Red Sox have scored a total of one run in his three losses.
Tigers 4, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, Curtis Granderson drew a bases-loaded walk that brought home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and Detroit rallied to beat the A's.
Brandon Inge drew a walk from Justin Duchscherer (1-1), filling in for regular closer Huston Street, on a 15-pitch at-bat that loaded the bases for Granderson.
A's manager Ken Macha opted to stick with Duchscherer rather than immediately turn to reliever Kirk Saarloos, who had already been warming up for several minutes.
Fernando Rodney (1-0) pitched two innings, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to extend his scoreless streak to start the season to 7 2-3 innings.
Devil Rays 5, Red Sox 1
At Boston, Jonny Gomes homered twice, and Scott Kazmir held Boston to four hits before a sixth-inning injury as Tampa Bay beat Boston and handed knuckleballer Tim Wakefield another tough-luck loss.
Kazmir (3-1) allowed one run -- Dustan Mohr's solo homer -- and one walk while striking out seven in 5 2-3 innings to stop Boston's four-game winning streak. He was pulled from the game after 101 pitches with a 2-2 count on Manny Ramirez; the team announced Kazmir had muscle cramps in his left thumb and wrist.
Travis Harper pitched 2 2-3 innings before loading the bases in the ninth, and Dan Miceli got two outs for his fourth save, striking out Trot Nixon and retiring pinch-hitter Jason Varitek on a flyout.
Wakefield (1-3) allowed three runs -- two of them earned -- four hits and two walks, striking out two in eight innings. In his previous start Saturday, he pitched a complete game but lost 3-0; the Red Sox have scored a total of one run in his three losses.
Rangers 4, Mariners 3
At Seattle, closing pitcher Eddie Guardado walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning and then walked Phil Nevin to force in Texas pinch-runner Gerald Laird with the go-ahead run to beat the Mariners.
Guardado (0-2), appearing for the first time since allowing a two-run, game-winning home run Sunday at Boston, imploded again. He angrily pounded his thigh with his glove after his third walk, to Michael Young. He then struck out Mark Teixeira for the second out.
But Guardado then walked Nevin to send the Mariners to their fourth loss in five games.
Francisco Cordero, pitching for the fourth straight game and one night after allowing Carl Everett's game-winning, three-run home run, finished the ninth for his third save.
Seattle's Raul Ibanez tied the game 3-3 with two outs in the eighth inning on a double off Texas' Brian Shouse. Rick Bauer (1-0) then came on to retire Richie Sexson and earn the victory.
Frank Robinson got his 1,000th win as a manager, with Nick Johnson hitting a pair of homers in the Washington Nationals' 10-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 70-year-old Robinson is 1,000-1,095 in 16 seasons with Cleveland, San Francisco, Baltimore and Montreal-Washington. He's the 53rd manager to reach the milestone.
Pat Burrell and Chase Utley had two-run doubles for the Phillies, just 2-7 at home.
Billy Traber (1-0) allowed four runs -- three earned -- and two hits in his first outing in three years. The left-hander, who lasted 5 2-3 innings, hadn't pitched in the majors since Sept. 16, 2003, for Cleveland, due to elbow surgery.
Ryan Madson (1-1) recorded just three outs, allowed nine runs, seven hits and four walks. His ERA rose from 2.77 to 8.36.
Reds 12, Brewers 8
In Milwaukee, Brandon Phillips hit his first grand slam and added another shot for his first two-homer game to lead Cincinnati.
Trailing 6-2, the Reds scored 10 straight runs to make it 12-6, including five in the sixth when Phillips hit his two-out grand slam off reliever Mike Adams.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Brewers reliever Justin Lehr (1-1), who had just entered for starter Tomo Ohka, to give the Reds a 7-6 lead.
Milwaukee scored two runs in the eighth to make it 12-8. Chad Moeller hit a homer off Matt Belisle (1-0) and Carlos Lee drove in his 16th run of the season with an RBI single.
Giants 9, Diamondbacks 7
At Phoenix, Mark Sweeney drew a bases loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run and Pedro Feliz added a two-run double to lead San Francisco over Arizona.
It was the second time in four days that the Giants blew a big lead and then won in the ninth inning.
In the series opener Monday, the Diamondbacks spotted San Francisco a 7-0 lead after three innings. Arizona rallied to take a 9-7 lead but the Giants came back to win 10-9.
On Thursday, San Francisco led 6-0 in the fourth inning. But Arizona tied it at 6-6 when catcher Johnny Estrada hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning off Tim Worrell (2-0), who blew his first save in seven chances.
Barry Bonds, who did not start for the second straight day, was intentionally walked as a pinch-hitter in the ninth to load the bases before Brandon Medders (0-1) got Ray Durham to pop out to third. Sweeney then walked to score Steve Finley. Feliz followed with a double off reliever Luis Vizcaino to make 9-6.
Chad Tracy added a solo homer in the ninth off Worrell for the final score.
Mets 7, Padres 2
At San Diego, Julio Franco became the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run when he connected for a two-run, pinch-hit shot in the eighth inning to help New York rally past San Diego.
Franco, 47, drove a 1-0 pitch from reliever Scott Linebrink (1-2) into the home-run porch down the right-field line at Petco Park, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead and Franco the fourth pinch-hit homer of his career.
Franco knocked Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn out of the record book. Quinn was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930.
Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit homer and have a multihomer game.
Kazuo Matsui hit another notable homer for the Mets. His inside-the-park homer leading off the third made this the third straight year he's homered in his first at-bat of the season. The last player to do that was Ken Griffey Jr. from 1997-99, while with Seattle.
Duaner Sanchez (1-0) retired two batters for the win.
Major League Baseball gave Barry Bonds a slap on the wristbands on Wednesday.
Bonds was fined US$5,000 for wearing wristbands that violated baseball's apparel rules because of their size and logo design.
Bob Watson, the MLB's vice president for on-field operations, confirmed that a letter was sent to Bonds on Tuesday.
Bonds has appealed the ruling, Watson said.
"It probably will go to an arbitrator," Watson said.
Watson also said Bonds had previously run afoul of baseball's uniform guidelines before.
"He's appealed it before," Watson said. "He's been fined before."
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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