American LeagueAlex Rodriguez snapped out of a 1-for-24 slump with three hits, including his 27th home run, backing Randy Johnson and leading the New York Yankees over the Tigers 6-4 on Thursday.
Rodriguez homered leading off the seventh inning and was called out of the dugout for a curtain call by Yankee fans, who have jeered him for much of the season. Robinson Cano followed with a double and scored on a single by Bernie Williams, who had two RBIs.
Twins 3, Royals 1
In Minneapolis, Johan Santana dominated struck out 11 in seven innings to help the Twins end a three-game losing streak.
Rondell White homered for the Twins, who moved within five games of first-place Detroit in Major League Baseball's American League Central Division and one-half game behind Chicago in the AL wild-card race.
Devil Rays 5, White Sox 3
In Chicago, Jorge Cantu hit a two-run single in the 10th inning, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the White Sox 5-3 Thursday to keep Chicago from pulling within 3 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central.
Chicago led 3-2 before Dioner Navarro's eighth-inning homer off Matt Thornton.
Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5
At Boston, Alex Rios gave the Red Sox an unusual lift that stopped Boston's six-game losing streak.
Trying to catch Alex Cora's seventh-inning fly about 10 feet from the right-field fence, Rios juggled the ball and accidentally knocked it over the wall for a two-run homer that boosted the reeling Red Sox over Toronto.
Dustin Pedroia was on first when Cora came to the plate with two outs and the score 4-4. Cora, who had not homered in 245 at-bats since Aug. 15, 2005, lofted a fly to right against Roy Halladay (16-5).
An angry Halladay gestured in exasperation back in the infield. Cora was 0-for-8 in his career against Halladay before his homer.
Rangers 7, Orioles 5
At Arlington, Texas, Gary Matthews Jr led off with a disputed home run to quickly end Daniel Cabrera's scoreless streak and Texas beat Baltimore.
Mark Teixeira homered in his third straight game for Texas. Carlos Lee had a home run and an RBI double, but was also charged with an error when he knocked a ball out of Matthews' glove in the outfield that led to an unearned run.
Nick Markakis had a double and his 10th home run in August, the most by an Orioles rookie in a month. Markakis is 30-for-74 (.405) his last 19 games.
National League
AP, WASHINGTON
Two blown late-inning leads culminating in a game-ending wild pitch overshadowed Ryan Howard's franchise record 49th homer and kept the Philadelphia Phillies from tying San Diego for the National League wild-card lead.
Marlon Anderson scored from third base on Aaron Fultz's wild pitch in the 10th inning, giving the Washington Nationals a 6-5 victory Thursday.
Philadelphia led 4-2 in the ninth before Felipe Lopez's two-run, two-out single off Arthur Rhodes.
Giants 8, Braves 6
At Atlanta, Matt Morris won on the road for the first time in six tries, ending a six-game home winning streak for John Smoltz and leading San Francisco over Atlanta.
Mark Sweeney hit a two-run single in a three-run sixth that knocked out Smoltz (12-7), who gave up a season-high seven runs and six hits in five-plus innings. He had been 6-0 with a 2.11 ERA in his previous six home starts since a June 7 loss to Washington.
Cardinals 5, Marlins 2
At St. Louis, Chris Duncan hit a tying pinch homer and Scott Rolen singled in the go-ahead run in a four-run eighth inning, leading St. Louis over Florida.
St. Louis, which reopened a five-game lead over second-place Cincinnati in the NL Central, sent the Marlins to their second straight loss following a nine-game winning streak. After losing 14 of their first 22 games in August, the Cardinals won five of their final six.
Rockies 8, Mets 4
At Denver, Jeff Francis struggled on the mound but not at the plate, posting his first career two-hit, two-RBI game in Colorado's win over New York.
Francis (11-10) allowed four runs and 10 hits in five innings. He helped himself out with his bat, singling home a run in the third and adding a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Astros 5, Brewers 3
At Houston, Craig Biggio homered and Andy Pettitte struck out five in seven solid innings as the Houston completed a three-game sweep of Milwaukee.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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