Johnny Damon hit the tiebreaking home run against his former team, halting another Yankees slide in New York's 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
Derek Jeter also homered and Jorge Posada hit an RBI double for the Yankees, who moved to seven games back of Boston in the American League East.
Andy Pettitte (12-7) won his sixth straight start, allowing three runs and six hits in seven innings and improving to 8-1 in 10 starts since the All-Star break.
PHOTO: AP
Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek homered for the Red Sox, who had won four straight -- all blowouts at the Chicago White Sox.
Matsuzaka (13-11) lost his third consecutive start, allowing five runs and six hits in six innings.
Indians 6, Twins 5
At Cleveland, Jake Westbrook got his fourth win of this month, rookie Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the go-ahead run as Cleveland kept a tight grip on the AL Central lead.
Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer off Boof Bonser (6-11) and Grady Sizemore added a solo shot for the Indians, who have won four straight.
Angels 10, Mariners 6
At Seattle, Vladimir Guerrero had four hits and three RBIs as the Los Angeles Angels rallied from five runs down to beat Seattle and increase their AL West lead to four games.
Kendry Morales had three hits, including a homer against Jeff Weaver and a double off rookie Brandon Morrow (3-3) that put Los Angeles ahead 7-6 in a four-run eighth.
Royals 6, Tigers 3
At Kansas City, Missouri, Brian Bannister won for the sixth time in seven decisions and Alex Gordon hit a three-run double for Kansas City.
Detroit dropped 3.5 games behind division-leading Cleveland, the Tigers' biggest deficit in their division since before play on June 6.
Devil Rays 15, Orioles 8
At Baltimore, Tampa Bay scored 11 eighth-inning runs during another embarrassing performance by Baltimore's bullpen as the Orioles wasted six home runs in their seventh straight loss.
The Devil Rays trailed 6-3 before sending 15 batters to the plate in the eighth. Nine got hits, three walked and seven different players drove in runs.
Blue Jays 5, Athletics 4
At Oakland, California, Matt Stairs homered and Lyle Overbay hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth as Toronto edged Oakland.
Alex Rios had two hits for the Blue Jays, who won for the third time in four games.
Rangers 4, White Sox 3
At Arlington, Texas, Marlon Byrd hit a tiebreaking single in eighth inning and Texas beat Chicago for its third straight win.
Ian Kinsler and Gerald Laird homered for the Rangers, who have won five of their last seven.
Ryan Howard's two-run home run off Guillermo Mota in the 10th inning capped a late rally to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the New York Mets 4-2 in the National League on Tuesday.
Brett Myers (3-5) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win. The Phillies now trail the NL East-leading Mets by four games.
Padres 6, Diamondbacks 4
At San Diego, Mike Cameron homered to start a four-run rally off reigning NL Cy Young pitching award winner Brandon Webb in the sixth inning and San Diego pulled within one game of the division-leading Arizona.
Webb (14-9) allowed a season-high six earned runs in five innings and had his six-game winning streak snapped.
Cubs 5, Brewers 3
At Chicago, Jacque Jones hit a game-tying two-run double in the seventh and scored the go-ahead run on an error by reliever Scott Linebrink as Chicago rallied to increase their lead on Milwaukee in the NL Central to 2.5 games.
The slumping Brewers lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Dodgers 4, Nationals 3
At Los Angeles, Jeff Kent homered, Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly broke a seventh-inning tie and Los Angeles beat Washington for its third straight win.
The Dodgers, just 12-14 this month, closed within 4.5 games of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, the closest they've been to the lead since before play Aug. 8.
Cardinals 7, Astros 0
At Houston, Chris Duncan shook off a slump this month with a three-run homer and an RBI single to help St. Louis ruin Cecil Cooper's first game as Phil Garner's successor.
Duncan, meanwhile, snapped a 28-game home run drought with a three-run drive into the upper deck in the first inning off Houston starter Woody Williams (8-13).
Marlins 4, Braves 3, 11 innings
At Miami, Alejandro De Aza's 11th-inning sacrifice fly gave Florida a win in a game in which Atlanta struck out 19 times.
Braves starter John Smoltz fell behind early, but the Braves rallied on Chipper Jones' two-run homer in the eighth, tying the game at 3.
Giants 3, Rockies 1
At San Francisco, Matt Cain struck out eight in seven innings to win his third straight start, Bengie Molina homered and Randy Winn drove in two runs in San Francisco's sixth straight victory.
Molina hit a solo homer in the sixth and also singled twice. Winn's infield single in the third put San Francisco ahead and gave him a nine-game hitting streak. Winn then added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Rajai Davis scored both times and also doubled off the left-field wall for one of his two hits.
Cain (7-13) allowed a leadoff single to Kazuo Matsui in the first and didn't give up another hit until Cory Sullivan singled to start the sixth. Cain allowed four hits and one run with two walks.
Pirates 6, Reds 4, 1st GAME
Pirates 3, Reds 2, 2nd Game
At Pittsburgh, Freddy Sanchez drove in five runs in the opener, then tripled and scored the winning run in the eighth inning of the second game to give Pittsburgh a doubleheader sweep that slowed previously surging Cincinnati.
The Reds had won six in a row and nine of 11, only to be swept by Pittsburgh in a doubleheader for the first time since September 2000.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two