Utilityman Enrique Wilson brought New York from behind with his third career grand slam and Jorge Posada delivered a bases-loaded single breaking a seventh-inning tie as the Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers 7-5 on Thursday.
Wilson, starting in place of injured Alfonso Soriano, connected in the second inning against Joaquin Benoit, wiping out an early 3-0 Texas lead against Mike Mussina (12-6).
"It's very hard coming from the bench to do the job," Wilson said. "If you play every day, you get your timing. If you don't play, it's very hard."
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mariano Rivera got his 22nd save after blowing two straight and three of four save opportunities.
Alex Rodriguez tied it in the third for Texas with his 30th home run. It was his 328th career homer and sixth in the last seven games. He has six straight 30-homer seasons and seven for his career.
Rafael Palmeiro hit his 28th homer, a three-run shot in the first.
Tigers 3, Athletics 2
In Detroit, Eric Munson hit a three-run homer, and Detroit kept Barry Zito winless in more than a month with a victory over Oakland.
Zito (8-10) has gone seven starts without a win and his victory on July 3 against Seattle is his only win in 12 starts.
The reigning AL Cy Young winner allowed just six hits without giving up an earned run. But after shortstop Miguel Tejada's two-out error in the fourth inning, Zito walked Carlos Pena and allowed Munson's home run.
Orioles 5, Twins 3
In Baltimore, Jack Cust hit his first AL homer, a three-run shot off Rick Reed that carried Baltimore past Minnesota.
Rodrigo Lopez (5-6) allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Orioles, who salvaged a split of the four-game series.
Torii Hunter homered for the Twins, who were denied their bid to move two games over .500 for the first time since July 5.
Red Sox 9, Angels 3
In Boston, David Ortiz homered twice, the first to spark a six-run second inning as Boston completed a three-game sweep of Anaheim.
The Red Sox won their fourth successive game and sent Anaheim to its fifth straight loss.
Ortiz homered to lead off the second, and Nomar Garciaparra also homered in the inning as Boston sent nine men to the plate. That brought Ortiz up to lead off the third, and he hit his 16th homer just inside the right-field foul pole to make it 7-1.
Indians 3, Mariners 0
In Cleveland, Billy Traber pitched five-hit ball for seven innings, and fellow rookies Jody Gerut and Travis Hafner hit solo homers as Cleveland defeated Seattle.
The Indians took two of three games from the Mariners, who remained three games ahead of Oakland atop the American League West.
Devil Rays 3, Royals 2
In St. Petersburg, Florida, pinch-hitter Al Martin hit a two-run triple and Julio Lugo followed with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as Tampa Bay beat Kansas City.
The Royals have a half-game lead over the idle Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. Kansas City, which is 9-12 since the All-Star break, was coming off consecutive losses at Chicago.
Mike Hampton won his sixth straight decision and Vinny Castilla drove in three runs with a triple and a homer in the Atlanta Braves' 7-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.
Hampton (9-5) allowed five hits, struck out four and walked one in his first complete game since July 23, 2001. He didn't allow a hit until Eddie Perez grounded a ball through the right side of the infield with two outs in the fifth.
"It wasn't too much on my mind. I was just trying to put up zeros," said Hampton. "We kind of broke it open in the middle innings and I got some breathing room."
Castilla's two-run triple off rookie Wes Obermueller (0-3) gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the second. His sinking liner skipped just beneath the glove of center fielder Scott Podsednik and rolled to the track. His 18th homer, a 131m shot off the scoreboard in center field, made it 3-0 in the fourth.
Obermueller acknowledged he had gotten himself psyched out by the Braves' meaty lineup.
Giants 7, Pirates 5
In San Francisco, Jeffrey Hammonds fouled off a bunt try and then hit his first homer for San Francisco, a two-run shot that broke a seventh-inning tie and sent the Giants over Pittsburgh.
It was 5-all when Jose Cruz Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the Giants seventh from Brian Boehringer (5-3). Hammonds tried to sacrifice but fouled it off before homering into the left-field stands on a 3-2 pitch.
Rockies 4, Phillies 3
In Denver, Todd Helton and Chris Stynes homered as Colorado came back to beat Kevin Millwood and Philadelphia.
Helton homered for the second straight day. Stynes connected in the seventh inning, breaking a 3-3 tie with his ninth home run of the year.
Cubs 9, Padres 3
In San Diego, Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer for the second straight game, while Moises Alou and Eric Karros also connected for Chicago, which completed a three-game sweep of San Diego.
The Cubs, chasing Houston for the National League Central lead, have won nine of their past 12 games. Six Cubs players had two hits apiece and four had two RBIs each.
Cardinals 3, Marlins 0
In St. Louis, Albert Pujols reached 100 RBIs, scored his 100th run and extended his hitting streak to 21 games as St. Louis beat Florida.
Brett Tomko (8-7) pitched shutout ball into the ninth inning as the Cardinals ended a three-game losing streak and avoided a three-game sweep.
The Marlins have won nine of 12. They held St. Louis to six runs in the series.
Mets 5, Astros 4
In Houston, Tony Clark hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning, to help Steve Trachsel earn his 100th career victory as New York beat Houston.
Clark's homer was his 15th of the season and fifth in five games for the Mets, who won two of three games in the series against the NL Central leaders. Timo Perez and Marco Scutaro also homered for New York.
Dodgers 4, Reds 3
In Los Angeles, Eric Gagne tied the major league record for consecutive saves from the start of a season, and Adrian Beltre hit a go-ahead two-run double as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of Cincinnati.
Gagne, the fourth Dodgers pitcher, struck out the side in the ninth for his 46th straight regular-season save and 38th this year, matching the record Jose Mesa set in 1995 with Cleveland. Mesa finished that season 46-for-48.
Diamondbacks 5, Expos 4, 10 innings
In Phoenix, Raul Mondesi homered on Eric Knott's first pitch in the 10th inning to give Arizona a three-game sweep of Montreal.
Mondesi, acquired from the New York Yankees on July 29, smashed it 122m into the left-field seats for his first home run as a member of the Diamondbacks outfit.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
RSS