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Willis leads Marlins to record win

Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis delivers against the Orioles during the second inning in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday. Florida defeated Baltimore 6-2. PHOTO: AP

The Florida Marlins tied a franchise record with their ninth straight win, using a fine pitching performance by Dontrelle Willis and three home runs to beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 in interleague play on Tuesday.

Dan Uggla, Matt Treanor and Alfredo Amezaga connected against Daniel Cabrera (4-4), who had yielded only two home runs in his previous 11 starts.

Willis (4-6) came within one out of his third complete game. He allowed two runs and 12 hits, striking out four and walking none. It was his 50th career win, breaking a tie with A.J. Burnett for the most in Marlins history.

Joe Borowski got the final out for his 12th save.

Florida, which began play in 1993, twice before won nine straight -- in 1996 and 2004.

Miguel Tejada had two hits for the Orioles, whose 67-97 interleague record since 1997 is second-worst in the majors. Third baseman Melvin Mora left in the sixth with a bruised left knee after being struck by a pitch from Willis. X-rays were negative.

Cabrera struck out nine in 5 2-3 innings, but allowed six runs, eight hits and two walks.

Red Sox 11, Nationals 3

At Boston, Tim Wakefield pitched six strong innings to lead Boston to its fifth straight victory.

Wakefield (5-8) won for the second time in his last seven starts, allowing one run and four hits. It was his first interleague victory at Fenway Park since 2000. Wakefield walked one and struck out four, escaping trouble in the sixth inning.

Yankees 9, Phillies 7

At Philadelphia, Johnny Damon's two-run triple in the eighth inning helped New York overcome Ryan Howard's two homers and seven RBIs for Philadelphia.

Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada homered and Bernie Williams went 5-for-5 for the Yankees, who ended a three-game losing skid despite another subpar outing from Mike Mussina.

White Sox 20, Cardinals 6

At Chicago, Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzynski homered during an 11-run, 12-hit third inning to spark Chicago to its biggest scoring output in a decade.

The White Sox sent 16 batters to the plate in their biggest inning of the season en route to a victory that put them 20 games over .500.

Chicago tacked on six more runs in the sixth, Crede hit his second homer in the seventh and the White Sox finished with seasons highs in runs and hits (24). Juan Uribe also homered.

It was the first time since May 15, 1996, against Milwaukee that the White Sox had scored 20 runs in a game. Chicago's 24 hits was its most since it had 24 versus Seattle on August 9, 2000.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and reliever David Riske were ejected in the seventh after Chris Duncan was hit with a pitch. Duncan hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Cardinals, who finished with 16 hits.

Mariners 9, Dodgers 4

At Los Angeles, Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer to help Seattle beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for its fourth straight win.

Richie Sexson hit his 12th homer and went 3-for-4 for Seattle.

The Dodgers have lost four in a row and six of seven.

Joel Pineiro (6-7) earned the victory, allowing 10 hits and four runs in 6 1-3 innings. Rafael Soriano blanked the Dodgers over the final two innings to earn his second save.

Winning the Major League Baseball All-Star game next month will still be worth something in October.

Home-field advantage in the World Series this year will again go to the league which wins the July exhibition, owners and players agreed on Tuesday.

Originally a two-year experiment in 2003 to make the midsummer classic more meaningful, the idea was extended last season.

The American League has taken the All-Star game all three times, and the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox have won the World Series the last two years. Florida won in 2003 despite opening the Series at Yankee Stadium.

Players and owners hoped to announce a plan for this year earlier, but have been busy with many other off-the-field issues, including steroids. MLB's labor deal runs out after this season, and the sides may try to agree to a long-range plan tying the All-Star game to the World Series in future labor negotiations.

This year's All-Star game will be on July 11 at Pittsburgh.
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