NATIONAL LEAGUE
Matt Garza pitched seven strong innings in his first outing since throwing a one-hitter, as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Boston and nemesis Tim Wakefield 3-1 on Tuesday.
The win extended their lead in the American League East to 2 1/2 games over the second-place Red Sox.
PHOTO: AP
Garza (7-4) allowed an unearned run and five hits, and Dioner Navarro snapped a fourth-inning tie with an RBI single off Wakefield (5-6), whose 19 career victories against Tampa Bay ?nine at Tropicana Field ?are the most by an opposing pitcher.
RANGERS 3, YANKEES 2
At New York, Michael Young had an RBI single off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to help give Texas its second straight win over New York.
Rivera (2-3) came on in the ninth after the New York bullpen held Texas to one hit in four innings in relief of Joba Chamberlain and proceeded to give up hits to the first two batters he faced.
Ian Kinsler doubled to left, stole third ?his third steal of the game ?and scored to give Texas a 3-2 lead on Young旧 hit through a drawn-in infield to give the Yankees their third straight loss.
ORIOLES 7, ROYALS 5
At Baltimore, Brian Roberts homered, Ramon Hernandez and Adam Jones had two RBIs apiece, and Baltimore rebounded from two straight frustrating losses by beating Kansas City.
Aubrey Huff had two hits and drove in a run for the Orioles.
Gordon and Mark Teahan homered for the Royals, whose six-game road winning streak ended.
Baltimore starter Radhames Liz (3-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. George Sherill got two outs for his 27th save.
WHITE SOX 3, INDIANS 2, 10 INNINGS
At Chicago, Alexei Ramirez tied it with a two-out homer and Orlando Cabrera won it with an RBI single, both in the 10th inning, and Chicago rallied for its sixth straight win, beating Cleveland.
With the White Sox trailing 2-1 and two outs, Ramirez hit a towering fly off Indians closer Joe Borowski. Cleveland left fielder Ben Francisco went back to the fence like he might have a play, but the ball just sailed over to tie the game.
Pinch-hitter DeWayne Wise singled, stole second and scored on Cabrera旧 single to center off Borowski (1-3), who blew his fourth save in 10 chances.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 4
At Minneapolis, Craig Monroe hit a three-run homer and Justin Morneau added three hits to help Minnesota beat Detroit.
Mike Redmond had two RBIs for Minnesota, which has won eight of 10 and 12 of its last 14.
Marcus Thames hit his second homer in as many games for the Tigers, who lost for the first time in seven games.
Scott Baker (5-2) wasn急 sharp, but won his third straight game for the first time in his 60-start career. For the second straight start, he allowed three earned runs in six innings.
ANGELS 5, ATHLETICS 3
At Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero triggered a three-run rally in the eighth inning with an RBI single and Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer for Los Angeles.
The win extended the Angels?lead in the AL West over the second-place Athletics to 4 1/2 games.
Casey Kotchman greeted Alan Embree (1-3) with a ground-rule double leading off the eighth. After a sacrifice bunt by Maicer Izturis, pinch-runner Reggie Willits scored on Guerrero旧 ground single through the left side. Anderson then drove a 3-1 pitch to right for his seventh homer.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 33rd save in 35 chances.
MARINERS 7, BLUE JAYS 6
At Seattle, Willie Bloomquist singled home Raul Ibanez with the winning run in the bottom of ninth to cap Seattle旧 rally past Toronto.
Ibanez opened the inning with a walk off Scott Downs (0-2). After a sacrifice and intentional walk, Shawn Camp relieved and on the first pitch Bloomquist hit his game-winner into the left-center gap.
Down 6-2 in the sixth, the Mariners scored one in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to tie it. Richie Sexson provided the eighth-inning tying run with a leadoff home run. It was his 10th, but first since May 24.
Yuniesky Betancourt had two singles and two RBIs for the Mariners.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Shane Victorino hit a home run and drove in four runs and the Phillies beat the Braves 8-3 on Tuesday to remain unbeaten at Turner Field this season.
Pat Burrell also hit a homer for the Phillies, who improved to 6-1 against the Braves this season. They are 4-0 in Atlanta.
Chipper Jones was 1-for-3 with a double and two walks in his return after missing eight straight starts with a strained right quadriceps. Mark Kotsay came off the disabled list after missing 33 games since May 26 with a lower back strain. He went 0-for-4.
Philadelphia scored five runs on eight hits in the first three innings against Braves rookie Charlie Morton (1-2).
NATIONALS 9, MARLINS 6
At Miami, Collin Balester won his debut and Ronnie Belliard hit a grand slam to give Washington a win over Florida.
Balester gave up one hit and struck out three in five innings to become the first Nationals starting pitcher to win his big league debut. Balester became the first franchise starter to win his debut since Dan Smith on June 8, 1999, when the club was still in Montreal.
Belliard旧 second career grand slam in the sixth put the Nationals ahead 6-1, improving Washington旧 record to 2-9 this season against Florida. He also hit a grand slam on Aug. 25, 2005.
METS 7, CARDINALS 4
At St. Louis, Tony Armas won his season debut after a minor league callup and eighth-place hitter Ramon Castro had two hits and three RBIs in New York旧 victory over St. Louis.
David Wright hit his 16th homer and lacked a triple for the cycle in an offense that had 14 hits after mustering six runs while dropping three of the previous four games.
The Mets punished Todd Wellemeyer (7-3), the National League pitcher of the month in May but 1-2 with a 6.52 ERA and two missed turns in the rotation due to elbow woes since.
Carlos Delgado was 3-for-3 with two doubles, ending a 1-for-13 slump, and Ryan Church had two hits and an RBI. Castro, a backup catcher, has 11 RBIs in 59 at-bats.
Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer and Aaron Miles hit in his 13th straight game for the Cardinals, who won 7-1 on Monday in the opener of a four-game series but have lost nine of the last 12 regular season meetings against the Mets.
ROCKIES 4, PADRES 0
At Denver, Aaron Cook tossed a five-hitter for the first shutout of his career, and Colorado ended an eight-game losing streak with a win over San Diego.
Cook (11-5) struck out four and needed 79 pitches and 1 hour, 58 minutes for his second complete game of the season, eighth of his career. He didn急 allow a runner past first base and faced just three batters over the minimum.
PIRATES 6, REDS 5, 11 INNINGS
At Cincinnati, Jack Wilson ?batting at the very bottom of the order ?hit a tiebreaking triple in the 11th inning that set up Pittsburgh旧 victory over Cincinnati.
Wilson旧 run-scoring triple off David Weathers (2-4) snapped a 4-all tie in the 11th, and Nate McLouth followed with a run-scoring single that gave the Pirates juenough. For the second day in a row, Wilson batted at the bottom of the order as part of an experiment ?Pittsburgh旧 starting pitchers batted eighth ?and went 3-for-5.
Struggling Matt Capps (2-3) got the victory despite blowing a one-run lead in the 10th, when the Reds tied it on Brandon Phillips?single. Capps has blown save chances in the first two games of the series.
DODGERS 7, ASTROS 6, 11 INNINGS
At Houston, Jeff Kent hit a solo homer off Wesley Wright in the 11th inning and Los Angeles blew a five-run lead, then rallied to beat Houston.
Kent also had an RBI double and Russell Martin hit a two-run homer as the Dodgers needed their highest run total since June 19 to defeat the Astros for the first time in five meetings this season.
Park Chan-ho (4-2) got Lance Berkman to fly out to end the ninth, then pitched a scoreless 10th. After Kent homered off Wright (3-3), Takashi Saito pitched a perfect 11th for his 13th save.
In other games, it was:
?Brewers 8, Diamondbacks 6
?Giants 2, Cubs 1
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