American League
Karim Garcia homered for the third straight game as the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 Tuesday night to open a season-high 6 1/2-game lead in the American League East.
Alfonso Soriano and Bernie Williams also homered as the Yankees won their sixth successive game to move a season-high 30 games over .500 at 77-47.
PHOTO: AP
Andy Pettitte (15-7) took a shutout into the seventh inning, but was hurt by three errors -- two by second baseman Alfonso Soriano.
"I added a little fuel to the fire with a couple of bad pitches," Pettitte said.
Pettitte allowed three runs -- one earned -- and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings to win for the 10th time in his last 11 decisions.
"Andy made pitches to get people out, but we just didn't catch the ball," Torre said.
Jeff Nelson struck out two in 1 1-3 perfect innings and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 26th save.
Kevin Appier (8-9), who pitched six scoreless innings in beating the Yankees last week, allowed six runs and six hits in six innings.
Mariners 9, Blue Jays 1
In Toronto, Edgar Martinez hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning and drove in four runs as Seattle thrashed Toronto.
Seattle remained four games ahead of second-place Oakland in the AL West.
Ryan Franklin (9-10) allowed one run and five hits in six innings.
Blue Jays pitcher Kelvim Escobar (9-7), lost for the first time in seven starts since June 17.
Twins 8, Indians 2
In Cleveland, Johan Santana (7-3) struck out a season-high 10 batters and allowed eight hits in eight innings as Minnesota beat Cleveland.
Minnesota closed within 1 1/2 games of Kansas City, the closest the Twins have been the AL Central since July 2.
Matt LeCroy hit a three-run homer in the sixth off Jason Davis (7-10) and Dustan Mohr added a two-run homer in the eighth for Minnesota, 4-8 against Cleveland this season.
Rangers 5, Tigers 4
In Detroit, Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run homer and tripled as Texas beat Detroit for its seventh straight win.
Detroit has lost seven consecutive games and 11 of 12, falling a franchise-worst 62 games under .500 at 31-93. The Tigers (31-93) are 6-26 since the All-Star break and have had six losing streaks of seven or more games this year.
John Thomson (11-10) improved to 4-0 in his last six starts, giving up four runs and 11 hits in eight-plus innings. Brian Shouse got three outs for his first career save, escaping a two-on, no-outs jam in the ninth.
Mike Maroth (6-18) lost for the fifth time in six starts, giving up four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He is the first pitcher with 18 losses by Aug. 19 since Clyde Wright and Randy Jones in 1974.
White Sox 5, Angels 2
In Chicago, Carlos Lee keyed a four-run seventh with a bases-loaded single off Scott Shields (3-4) as Chicago moved within one game first-place Kansas City in the AL Central.
Adam Riggs and Alfredo Amezaga hit their first major league homers for the Angels, but Amezaga's throwing error and back-to-back bunt singles helped Chicago break a 1-1 tie in the seventh.
Jon Garland (9-9) allowed five hits in eight innings. Tom Gordon pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
National League
Scott Rolen hit a go-ahead, three-run double and a two-run single in a 10-run eighth inning Tuesday to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-5.
"That felt like a pretty good month, that inning," Rolen said. "I'm happy about driving in six runs and I felt they were big runs, the first four anyway."
Albert Pujols, who leads the major leagues with a .371 average and has a 30-game hitting streak, started serving a two-game suspension for punching Gary Bennett of the Padres on July 13.
With Pittsburgh leading 5-3 in the eighth, Orlando Palmeiro and Edgar Renteria singled and Jim Edmonds walked against Joe Beimel (1-3). Rolen doubled off Julian Tavarez, and pinch-hitter So Taguchi added a two-run single.
Bo Hart followed with an RBI double. Renteria had a two-run double for his fourth hit. Rolen capped the inning with a two-out, two-run single off Pat Mahomes.
Brewers 6, Phillies 4
In Milwaukee, pinch-hitter Mark Smith hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the eighth inning to lead Milwaukee over Philadelphia.
Smith's homer came after relief pitcher Mike DeJean worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the top half.
Jim Thome hit his 34th homer for the Phillies, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
With the score 3-all, Richie Sexson singled off reliever Turk Wendell (3-3) to open the eighth. Brady Clark sacrificed him over and Keith Ginter was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play.
DeJean (4-7) came on for Leo Estrella with the bases loaded, none out and the score tied at 3 in the top of the eighth. He struck out Chase Utley and pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee and got Jimmy Rollins to pop out to end the inning.
Astros 12, Cubs 8
In Houston, Jeff Kent homered and drove in six runs, powering Houston over Chicago.
Neither starter lasted into the fifth. Jeriome Robertson allowed five runs on five hits in three innings, while Chicago's Matt Clement (10-11) pitched four innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits. Clement struck out three and walked four.
With the game tied at 5 in the fourth, Kent followed walks to Lance Berkman and Jeff Bagwell with a three-run homer, his 18th of the season.
Dan Miceli (1-2) got the win, giving up just one hit over two scoreless innings.
Rockies 10, Marlins 2
In Denver, Jay Payton had four hits and three RBIs, and Denny Stark pitched seven solid innings as Colorado defeated Florida.
The decision snapped Florida's three-game winning streak and Colorado's five-game losing streak.
The Marlins lost catcher Ivan Rodriguez in the fourth inning when he sprained his left wrist after making contact with Payton on a play at the plate. Rodriguez is day to day.
Diamondbacks 6, Reds 1
In Phoenix, Junior Spivey, Shea Hillenbrand and Robby Hammock homered, and Brandon Webb struck out a career-high 11 in seven strong innings as Arizona beat the Cincinnati.
The win, just the Diamondbacks' second in six games, moved them within 3 1/2 games of Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race.
Spivey and Hillenbrand hit solo shots off John Bale (0-1), who had not allowed a run in two previous major league starts.
Hammock lined another solo homer into the center-field concourse in the seventh off reliever Brian Reith.
Giants 5, Braves 4
In San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit his 651st home run leading off the 10th inning as San Francisco snapped its longest losing streak in three years with a victory over Atlanta. In his first game back since taking off the weekend series in Montreal to be with his ailing father Bobby, Bonds hit his major league-leading 38th homer on a 2-1 pitch from Ray King (3-2), giving the Giants their first win in seven games. Bonds raised both arms in celebration and pumped his fist as he started his slow trot and watched his drive sail over the concourse in right and into McCovey Cove.
It was Bonds' eighth career game-winning home run.
Jose Cruz, Jr. also homered for the Giants and Tim Worrell (4-3) pitched two innings.
Pinch-runner Todd Linden scored on a wild pitch with two outs from Trey Hodges in the eighth inning to tie the score at 4-all.
Javy Lopez, Gary Sheffield and Marcus Giles all homered for the Braves, who lost for just the second time in seven games.
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