American League
Nick Johnson hit a grand slam an inning after David Dellucci made a diving catch with the bases loaded as the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 9-7 on Friday night in a matchup of the teams with the best records in the American League.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Hideki Matsui homered for the East-leading Yankees, who won their fifth of seven matchups with the West-leading Mariners. Sterling Hitchcock (1-2) won in relief of Jeff Weaver, and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
Jeff Nelson struck out the side in the eighth inning in his first appearance against the Mariners since being traded back to New York for Armando Benitez.
Benitez allowed a run-scoring single to Johnson, who set career highs with four hits and five RBIs, in the eighth.
New York's Aaron Boone, traded to the Yankees before the trade deadline, and Seattle's Bret Boone each had one hit in the latest edition of their sibling rivalry.
Orioles 10, Red Sox 4
Orioles 4, Red Sox 2
In Boston, Eric DuBose shut down Boston in his second major league start and Baltimore swept the day-night doubleheader.
The Orioles won the opener as Tony Batista's two-run single highlighted a seven-run seventh inning. Baltimore has swept all three doubleheaders its played this season. After the Orioles ended Boston's four-game winning streak in the opener, DuBose (1-1) limited the Red Sox to one run in six innings. Jorge Julio pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 34 opportunities.
In the opener, the Orioles trailed 4-3 in the seventh when Brook Fordyce singled and Brian Roberts walked to lead off.
Luis Matos, 5-for-9 on the day, hit a tying double that chased Boston starter Derek Lowe (11-6). Scott Williamson struck out Jeff Conine and intentionally walked Jay Gibbons before allowing Batista's two-run single. The Orioles broke it open later in the inning on RBI singles by Jack Cust and Deivi Cruz and a two-run triple by Fordyce.
Rick Helling (7-8) picked up his first victory since July 9 in the opener.
White Sox 3, Athletics 2
In Chicago, Mark Buehrle pitched a five-hitter for his second complete game this season and 11th of his career as Chicago moved into first in the AL Central.
Buehrle (10-11) allowed two runs, struck out six and walked none in outdueling Mark Mulder (15-8), who failed to join Toronto's Roy Halladay for the most wins in the majors.
Buehrle, in his first complete game since June 26 at Minnesota, retired 17 of his last 19 batters. Magglio Ordonez went 3-for-4 with home run for the White Sox, who improved to a major league-best 16-5 since the All-Star break.
Mulder gave up three runs and 10 hits in eight innings in his ninth complete game this season, and 17th of his career.
Twins 4, Tigers 3
In Detroit, Johan Santana allowed two hits in eight innings, and Matthew LeCroy homered as Minnesota hung on and beat Detroit. Santana (6-3) gave up just one unearned run in Minnesota's 18th win in its last 19 against Detroit.
The Tigers made it close by scoring twice with one out in the ninth off closer Eddie Guardado. Dmitri Young doubled and Craig Monroe lined a two-run homer over the wall in left-center to make it 4-3. Guardado then struck out Carlos Pena and got Eric Munson to fly out for his 26th save in 29 opportunities.
Mike Maroth (6-16) took the loss for the Tigers, allowing four runs -- one unearned -- and seven hits in eight innings.
Angels 5, Indians 2
In Cleveland, Garret Anderson hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth, ending rookie Jason Davis' shutout bid and leading Anaheim over Cleveland.
Davis (7-9) was one out from blanking Anaheim -- and giving Cleveland consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1991 -- when Anderson drove his first pitch over the wall in center.
The Angels snapped a five-game losing streak and won for just the third time in 14 games. Jarrod Washburn (9-11) was on his way to a tough loss when the Angels rallied in the ninth.
Devil Rays 4, Royals 0
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Jeremi Gonzalez scattered three hits in eight innings and Tampa Bay spoiled Kevin Appier's first start since rejoining Kansas City.
Gonzalez (5-5) struck out four and walked three as the Devil Rays won for the eighth time in 11 games and sent the Royals to their fourth straight loss. Jesus Colome worked the ninth to complete Tampa Bay's fourth shutout of the season.
The Royals, 9-13 since the All-Star break, fell one half-game behind Chicago in the AL Central.
Appier (7-8) signed with his original team Wednesday just one week after being released by Anaheim. He gave up two runs and five hits in five innings, and struck out two and walked one in his first start for the Royals since July 27, 1999.
Rangers 5, Blue Jays 3
In Toronto, Hank Blalock, Mark Teixeira and Laynce Nix homered in the first as Texas beat Toronto.
Blalock hit his 20th homer, Teixeira hit a two-run shot and Laynce Nix also had a two-run homer off Corey Thurman (1-1)
The three home runs in an inning tied a club record, done 23 times previously.
Carlos Delgado hit his 32nd home run for the Blue Jays, who have lost 24 of their last 35 games.
Texas starter R.A. Dickey (6-5) won his second straight start.
National League
Russ Ortiz worked into the ninth inning to become the second 16-game winner in the major leagues and the Atlanta Braves hit four home runs in a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night.
Ortiz (16-5) allowed two runs on five hits in eight-plus innings, joining Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays as the top winners. He's won nine of his last 10 and has never lost consecutive decisions, bouncing back in this one after a loss in his last start to the Dodgers.
Gary Sheffield, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones and Javy Lopez homered for the Braves, who lead the NL with 174.
Albert Pujols doubled in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to 22 games for the Cardinals, who have lost three of the first four on a six-game homestand.
Giants 9, Phillies 1
In San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit his major league-leading 35th home run as the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies. Andres Galarraga also homered for the NL West-leading Giants, who won for the fourth time in five games.
Bonds, who hit a three-run homer off Jose Mesa in the seventh, was also intentionally walked twice, giving him 44 this season. He's on pace for 73, which would break his own mark of 68 set last year.
Bonds sent a 3-0 pitch from Mesa into McCovey Cove for his 648th career homer, 12 short of Willie Mays for third on the career list, to give the Giants a 7-1 lead.
Jesse Foppert (8-8) allowed one run on two hits over 5 1-3 innings as he improved to 3-0 in his last four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Fresno on July 20.
Randy Wolf (11-7) lasted five innings as the Phillies fell into a tie with Florida in the wild-card race. Philadelphia has lost three straight, and four of five.
Dodgers 3, Cubs 1
In Los Angeles, Eric Gagne set the major league record for consecutive saves to start a season, and Adrian Beltre's tiebreaking two-run homer helped Andy Ashby end a five-game losing streak as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs. Gagne got three outs for his 47th consecutive save and 39th without a miss this year -- breaking Jose Mesa's major league record.
Ashby (3-9) won for the first time in seven outings. since beating Anaheim 4-2 on June 21. He allowed a run and three hits in five innings. The Dodgers won their fifth straight and snapped Chicago's four-game winning streak.
Shawn Estes (7-9) stranded eight baserunners in the first four innings, six in scoring position.
Rockies 13, Pirates 6
In Denver, Preston Wilson homered and drove in three runs to give him a major league-leading 112 RBIs as Colorado beat Pittsburgh.
Tony Womack had three hits and two RBIs, and Todd Helton went 3-for-5 with an RBI as the Rockies won their third straight and moved within 4 1/2 games of the NL wild-card spot.
Jose Jimenez (1-6) pitched four innings of relief and gave up two runs and four hits in the game that was delayed 2 hours because of rain at the end of the first inning. Neither starter returned after the delay.
Randall Simon hit his ninth homer and drove in four runs for the Pirates, who lost for the fourth time in six games. Pat Mahomes (0-1) allowed five runs in four innings.
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