Alex Rodriguez passed Joe DiMaggio on the career home run list, connecting twice and driving in five runs Tuesday night in the New York Yankees' 10-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Mike Mussina (8-4) overcame a rocky start to win his seventh straight decision. In his first game since leaving a June 11 outing with a groin injury, he lasted just five innings.
PHOTO: AP
"I was trying to make sure that I didn't do anything foolish," Mussina said. "But as it went on, I got a little more loose and a little more comfortable. I could tell it was getting a little tired when we decided that was enough."
PHOTO: REUTERS
Rodriguez had his 35th multihomer game. He hit a three-run shot off Matt Riley (1-3) in the first inning for career No. 362 to pass DiMaggio. He also hit a two-run drive against Rodrigo Lopez in the seventh to help the Yankees improve to 7-0 against Baltimore this season.
Rangers 10, Mariners 2
PHOTO: REUTERS
In Arlington, Texas, Ryan Drese pitched eight solid innings and Rod Barajas homered in his third straight game as Texas thrashed Seattle.
Drese (4-4) allowed four hits while matching his longest outing in 51 career starts. He struck out three and walked two.
The Rangers won their fourth straight and are first in the American League West at the latest point in a season since 1999 -- when they won their last division title. Seattle had won four straight and 10 of 14, but is 9 1/2 games back in last place.
Texas, which swept Seattle in a three-game home series in April, went ahead to stay on Mark Teixeira's two-run single in the first off Clint Nageotte (1-3).
Red Sox 9, Twins 2
In Boston, Nomar Garciaparra hit a grand slam for his first homer of the season to back Curt Schilling as Boston downed Minnesota.
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit solo homers, and Ortiz also doubled in a run to give him a league-leading 65 RBIs.
Garciaparra missed Boston's first 57 games and was activated June 9 after recovering from Achilles' tendinitis in his right heel.
Schilling (9-4) improved to 5-1 in his last six starts. He's 6-0 at Fenway Park, the first pitcher in the major leagues to win his first six home decisions this season.
Kyle Lohse (2-5) allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings.
White Sox 11, Indians 9
In Chicago, Jose Valentin hit a game-ending, two-run homer and drove in five runs, and Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer to lead Chicago over Cleveland.
Jose Jimenez (1-5) hit Thomas to lead off the 10th inning and one out later, Valentin homered to right.
Chicago reliever Shingo Takatsu (4-0) pitched the last two innings and retired the first five batters he faced. Ronnie Belliard singled in the 10th to end Takatsu's streak of batters retired at 29, and Ben Broussard walked before Takatsu struck out Coco Crisp to end it.
Belliard hit a three-run homer, Matt Lawton hit a two-run homer and Crisp hit a tiebreaking solo homer for Cleveland.
Angels 6, Athletics 1
In Anaheim, California, Bartolo Colon took a shutout into the eighth inning and five of his teammates drove in runs against Tim Hudson as Anaheim trounced Oakland.
The win, coupled with Texas' 10-2 triumph over Seattle, left the Angels a half-game behind the Rangers in the AL West and dropped Oakland a game off the pace. The Athletics have lost seven of eight games following an eight-game winning streak.
Colon (5-6) allowed a run and five hits in 7 2-3 innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Hudson (7-3) allowed five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in five innings after entering with an AL-best 2.78 ERA.
Pinch-hitter Lenny Harris walked and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning Tuesday night, giving the Florida Marlins a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves that stopped a three-game losing streak.
Florida had just two hits and trailed 3-0 after five innings, but Miguel Cabrera hit an RBI double in the sixth, and the World Series champions beat the Braves for just the second time in seven games this season.
"We haven't been getting any breaks, so this was a big day for this ballclub," Harris said.
Atlanta has lost five of six and nine of 13.
Kevin Gryboski (1-1) loaded the bases with a walk to Harris, and Chris Reitsma allowed all three inherited runners to score.
Carl Pavano (8-2) gave up three runs and nine hits in seven innings, winning his fourth consecutive start and fifth in six outings.
"I don't try to go out there saying I have to stop a losing streak," Pavano said. "I want to put us in a position to win whether we've lost 20 in a row or won 30 in a row."
Mets 7, Reds 4
In New York, Mike Piazza hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning and the New York Mets won their season-high fifth straight.
In his first game since hitting his 500th homer, Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-5 with a single. He was mostly cheered by the Shea Stadium crowd of 19,301.
John Franco (1-3) pitched two perfect innings in relief of Matt Ginter to earn his first win since Sept. 17, 2001 to help the Mets win for the seventh time in eight games to move above .500 at 35-34.
Braden Looper pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 15 opportunities, striking out Griffey, Adam Dunn and Jason LaRue to end it.
Paul Wilson (7-1) allowed six runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out nine.
Expos 5, Phillies 2
In Montreal, Livan Hernandez doubled twice and got his first win in five weeks.
Brad Wilkerson, who fell a triple short of his second cycle in two seasons, and Brian Schneider each had three hits for Montreal, which won its third in a row following a seven-game losing streak.
Hernandez (4-7), who hadn't won since May 16, doubled in the third and added an RBI double in the sixth to drive in the Expos' fifth run.
Schneider restored Montreal's one-run lead in the bottom half when he led off with his eighth homer off Brett Myers (5-4).
Cubs 5, Cardinals 4
In St. Louis, Aramis Ramirez hit a two-out, two-run double off closer Jason Isringhausen in the eighth inning as Chicago edged St. Louis.
The Cubs have won nine of 10 to cut the Cardinals' National League Central lead to one game. The Cardinals face the Cubs twice more in this series.
Moises Alou and Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs, who won for only the eighth time in 35 games at Busch Stadium since 2000.
Mark Grudzielanek singled off Jason Marquis to start the eighth and advanced on a sacrifice. Isringhausen (3-2) got Alou to ground out and walked Sammy Sosa on a full count before Ramirez doubled.
Kyle Farnsworth (3-3) got Edgar Renteria to ground out with runners on second and third for the last out in the seventh.
Brewers 6, Rockies 2
In Milwaukee, Javier Lopez broke a seventh-inning tie when he hit consecutive batters with the bases loaded as Milwaukee downed Colorado.
Larry Walker doubled in his season debut after missing the Rockies' first 68 games with a strained left groin.
Keith Ginter added a two-run double in the five-run seventh, giving Doug Davis (7-5) his third straight victory. Davis last won three in a row late in the 2001 season with the Texas Rangers.
Lopez (0-2) did not record an out in the seventh in relief of Jason Jennings. He hit Geoff Jenkins and Lyle Overbay before Clark doubled down the left-field line.
Giants 11, Dodgers 5
In San Francisco, Edgardo Alfonzo drove in a career-high six runs as San Francisco moved a half-game ahead of Los Angeles in the NL West.
Alfonzo hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning and a three-run double in the eighth. Deivi Cruz went 5-for-5 with three doubles and two RBIs for the Giants, who have won 13 of their last 14 home games to take the division lead for the first time since April 13. They trailed by eight games in May.
Milton Bradley tied it at 5-5 with a bunt single off winning pitcher Jim Brower (5-3) in the seventh.
Wilson Alvarez (2-3) allowed two hits in 1 1-3 innings, including a double to Barry Bonds.
The bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium more than 80 years ago will be put up for auction in October.
The bat is expected to be sold for a seven-figure sum. The only two other pieces of sports memorabilia to eclipse US$1 million have been the Honus Wagner T-206 card and Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball. The sale possibly could exceed the original cost to build Yankee Stadium -- US$2.5 million.
"It is hard to put a value on an item of such singular importance," auction director Dan Imler said. "Ruth was a man of mythic proportions."
The auction, by SportsCards Plus, will be held on Oct. 4 in Manhattan. The bat made its public debut last August at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemount, Illinois.
The historic homer came in the third inning on April 18, 1923, against the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 74,000, with nearly 25,000 more fans turned away.
"I'd give a year of my life if I could hit a home run in the first game in this new park," Ruth said before the game.
He lined a shot into the right-field bleachers, a three-run homer that led the Yankees to a 4-1 victory, prompting sports writer Fred Lieb to dub the new park, "The House That Ruth Built."
"Once the Babe homered, the fans cheered forever," said Bob Shawkey, the winning pitcher that afternoon. "Can you imagine anyone paying attention to me that day? Babe owned the day."
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