American LeagueRandy Johnson reached the 4,500 strikeout milestone during seven strong innings of work that helped the New York Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium on Monday.
Johnson won his 276th game and struck out five to lift his career strikeout total to 4,503, becoming just the third pitcher in major league history to reach the milestone.
Only Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Roger Clemens (4,552) have more strikeouts than Johnson.
The 42-year-old appears to have returned to form in his last two starts, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his previous start against the Chicago White Sox and shutting out the Angels for six innings on Monday.
New York manager Joe Torre told reporters he certainly thought the veteran had a lot left to offer.
"He looks like he's got a little spring in his step," Torre said. "We just want to hold onto it as long as possible."
He gave up a pair of runs in the seventh that allowed the Angels to tie the game, but Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning put the Yankees back in front for good.
Johnson (13-9) then left the game with the Yankees leading 3-2 after allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
New York scored four more runs in the eighth to put the game away, with relievers Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera each adding a scoreless inning.
Derek Jeter hit a two-run homer in the third inning to give the Yankees an early lead and Jorge Posada added a solo shot as part of the Yankees' four-run burst.
The Yankees had 16 hits, with Jeter winding up with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI. Posada and Melky Cabrera also had three hits for the winners.
Tigers 7, Red Sox 4
Curtis Granderson tripled off Josh Beckett on the first pitch of the game, and the Detroit Tigers went on to stop their season-worst losing streak at five, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-4 on Monday night.
After getting swept at Chicago over the weekend, the Tigers played like the team with the best record in the major leagues. Detroit began the day with a 5.5-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central.
Boston, which had won three straight, fell two games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Granderson's hit keyed a three-run first inning against Beckett (13-7). That was plenty for Nate Robertson, who entered the game with the third-lowest support in the AL, with 3.66 runs per game.
He had that and more by the third inning, when Carlos Guillen hit a two-run double to make it 5-0. Robertson (11-8) allowed three runs on five hits over six innings.
White Sox 12, Royals 2
At Chicago, Jim Thome's 36th homer capped an eight-run fourth inning and led the Chicago White Sox to their fifth straight victory.
Following up a sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the defending World Series champions have now won six of seven and 12 of their last 17.
Jon Garland (13-4), who had an eight-game winning streak snapped in his previous outing against the Yankees, allowed seven hits and a run in seven innings. He is now 13-5 in his career against Kansas City, the most victories he has against any opponent.
Thome started the outburst against Mark Redman (7-7) with a single in the fourth and then drove him out with a two-run homer later in the inning. The White Sox sent 11 batters to the plate in the fourth.
In other AL games it was:
* Oakland 5, Seattle 4
National LeaguePedro Martinez walked off the mound after an awful first inning, and it might be a while before he's out there again.
The New York Mets' ace strained his right calf and left after giving up six runs on Monday night, and the Philadelphia Phillies went on to romp 13-0.
Martinez was listed as day-to-day. The Mets said the three-time Cy Young winner -- who missed a month earlier this season because of an inflamed right hip -- felt the strain while warming up.
Martinez (9-5) gave up six runs in an opening inning for the first time in his career, the Elias Sports Bureau said. It was his second-shortest start ever -- on June 20, 1995, he got only two outs for Montreal while allowing five runs to Houston.
Cole Hamels (5-6) pitched eight shutout innings as the Phillies kept up their pursuit of the wild-card spot.
Jimmy Rollins, Dave Dellucci and Shane Victorino homered. Rollins' three-run homer shot was his 18th, setting a single season record for Phillies shortstops.
Braves 10, Nationals 4
At Washington, Matt Diaz tied an NL record by getting a hit in 10 straight at-bats, and Chipper Jones homered in three straight plate appearances for Atlanta.
Diaz went 4-for-5 with a homer, and Jones finished with four hits and five RBIs.
Diaz hit a two-run homer in the second and singled in the fourth and fifth on Monday, all off starter Ramon Ortiz (9-10). Diaz went 4-for-4 on Sunday against Milwaukee, and was 2-for-2 on Saturday.
His streak ended with a groundout to short off Chris Schroder in the ninth.
Pirates 4, Brewers 2
At Pittsburgh, Jeromy Burnitz and Jose Castillo hit solo home runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their fourth game in a row.
Victor Santos (5-7) won while making a spot start in place of Shawn Chacon, who had a sore knee. Santos gave up two runs and four hits in five innings.
Mike Gonzalez pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 21 opportunities.
Pittsburgh beat the Brewers for the seventh time in eight games. Dave Bush (8-9) took the loss for Milwaukee.
Cubs 3, Astros 0
At Houston, Carlos Zambrano dominated Houston again and Phil Nevin homered and drove in all three runs to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Astros.
Astros starter Roy Oswalt was hit in the right wrist by Ronny Cedeno's line drive in the seventh. Oswalt (9-8) retired two batters to finish the inning, then left the game and was listed as day-to-day.
Zambrano (13-5) allowed four hits and struck out five in eight innings to improve to 6-1 at Minute Maid Park. Zambrano has beaten the Astros three times this season, including a one-hit shutout in Houston on June 5.
This time, Zambrano spent most of the night pitching out of trouble. His 121-pitch outing also included seven walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter. But the flustered Astros, with an NL-worst .258 batting average, stranded nine runners and dropped their third straight game.
In other NL games it was:
* Colorado 4, Arizona 3
* San Francisco 1, San Diego 0
* LA Dodgers 4, Florida 2
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