In a flurry of deals, the Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs in a blockbuster, four-team swap right before Saturday's trade deadline.
Steve Finley, Esteban Loaiza and Orlando Cabrera also switched teams in the eight trades that came less than an hour before the 2000 GMT limit for making deals without waivers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Randy Johnson, however, remained with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The New York Yankees desperately wanted him, and instead wound up trading Jose Contreras to the Chicago White Sox for Loaiza in a swap of starting pitchers.
With more than 20 teams still in the playoff hunt, a lot of clubs were eager for action.
Garciaparra was already wearing his Boston jersey when manager Terry Francona called a team meeting before the game at Minnesota. Then, the news came inside the clubhouse: The five-time All-Star shortstop and two-time AL batting champion was headed to the Cubs.
"My initial reaction was `wow,'" Garciaparra said.
"If it was in my control, I'd still be wearing a Red Sox uniform, because it's the place I know, I love. All of those fans, I'll always remember. But I'm also going to another great place. I'm going to a phenomenal city with great tradition as well, phenomenal fans, great organization."
And he added: "Hopefully, we'll see them in the World Series."
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was ecstatic to get Garciaparra, in the last year of his contract and the subject of trade rumors all year.
"I think he will bring a ton to the table and a presence on the field and off," Hendry said. "You never go to work thinking he's going to be available."
Garciaparra, 31, is batting .321 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 38 games this season. He missed the first 57 games of the season with an injured Achilles' tendon.
The Red Sox wound up with Cabrera, Montreal's Gold Glove shortstop, and Minnesota first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, while the Cubs got Garciaparra and minor league outfielder Matt Murton.
Montreal acquired Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, pitcher Francis Beltran and infielder Brendan Harris and the Twins got minor league pitcher Justin Jones.
The NL West-leading Dodgers were active, making three trades a day after completing a six-player deal with Florida.
After Finley agreed to accept a deal to Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks traded the four-time Gold Glove center fielder with catcher Brent Mayne. The 39-year-old Finley hit .274 with 23 home runs and 48 RBIs for Arizona.
The Dodgers sent minor league catcher Koyie Hill, outfielder Reggie Abercrombie and left-hander Bill Murphy to Arizona. The Dodgers acquired Murphy on Friday in a trade with the Florida Marlins.
Los Angeles then traded center fielder Dave Roberts to Boston for minor league outfielder Henri Stanley. Earlier, the Dodgers sent left-hander reliever Tom Martin to Atlanta for minor league lefty Matt Merricks in a trade between NL division leaders.
After getting shut out on Johnson, the AL East-leading Yankees swapped the inconsistent Contreras and US$3 million for Loaiza, a 21-game winner last season.
Loaiza is 9-5 with a 4.86 ERA in 21 starts this year and made his second straight All-Star appearance. He is eligible for free agency after this season.
Contreras is 8-5 with a 5.64 ERA in 18 games this season. The top pitcher in Cuba when he defected, his up-and-down tendencies perplexed and frustrated the Yankees for two years.
"This one gained steam rather quickly. This deal started probably about 10:30 or 11 o'clock," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said.
"Jose Contreras has a great deal of upside, but Loaiza was valuable for us and what we're trying to accomplish. We're looking for more consistency right now. Our bullpen needs that. Our rotation needs that," he said.
In other trades:
-- Florida acquired starting pitcher Ismael Valdez and reliever Rudy Seanez. The World Series champions sent minor league pitcher Travis Chick to San Diego for Valdez and dealt outfielder Abraham Nunez to Kansas City for Seanez.
-- AL West-leading Texas got pitcher Scott Erickson and cash from the New York Mets for a player to be named.
Starting late Saturday afternoon, teams can still make trades, but it becomes a more tricky process. Players must pass through waivers -- meaning any other club can claim them -- before a deal.
Teams have until Aug. 31 to acquire players in order for them to be eligible for the postseason.
Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning to give the Anaheim Angels a stunning 9-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.
Curtis Pride, who took over in the outfield for an injured Vladimir Guerrero, led off the 11th with a single against Eddie Guardado (2-2). Guillen drove an 0-1 pitch into the left-field bullpen for his 20th homer -- and career-high fifth hit -- and was mobbed by his teammates as he crossed home plate.
Brendan Donnelly (3-2) allowed two hits in two innings and got the win despite giving up a go-ahead RBI single by Bret Boone in the top of the 11th.
David Eckstein got an RBI single in the eighth against Shigetoshi Hasegawa to give Anaheim a 7-6 lead. But Ichiro Suzuki homered into the right-field seats on reliever Troy Percival's first pitch of the ninth to tie it.
"Ichiro's one of the best guys in the game at putting the ball in play," Percival said. "He can hit for power if he wants to, he can hit the ball the other way, he can drag-bunt -- I mean, he doesn't have a weakness at the plate. And with his speed, he's going to buy a lot of hits."
Yankees 6, Orioles 4
In New York, Alex Rodriguez stole home and hit a long homer, Gary Sheffield also connected and as New York beat Baltimore.
The Yankees also made a big deal just before baseball's 4pm trade deadline, acquiring All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza from the Chicago White Sox for enigmatic right-hander Jose Contreras and US$3 million.
Javier Vazquez (12-6) lasted only 5 1-3 innings on a humid afternoon, but that was enough to improve to 9-2 in his last 14 starts. Erik Bedard (4-6) has lost four of his last five starts.
Mariano Rivera got three outs for his major league-leading 37th save in 40 chances.
Tigers 3, White Sox 2, 10 innings
In Detroit, Cliff Politte walked Carlos Guillen to force in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as Detroit stretched Chicago's season-high losing streak to seven games.
Alex Sanchez started the rally with a one-out single off Politte. Omar Infante singled, with the ball glancing off the glove of diving shortstop Jose Valentin. Sanchez went to third and Infante moved to second on the throw. Ivan Rodriguez was then intentionally walked.
First baseman Paul Konerko saved a potential winning hit, making a diving catch of Dmitri Young's liner, but Guillen followed by walking on a 3-1 pitch.
Twins 5, Red Sox 4
In Minneapolis, Jacque Jones hit a tiebreaking solo home run for Minnesota in the eighth inning, a few hours after the club was involved in a four-team trade wirh Boston.
Jones hit his 17th homer off Alan Embree (2-2) with one out for the go-ahead run, after Michael Cuddyer tied it with a solo shot off Derek Lowe in the seventh.
Juan Rincon (9-3) got two outs in the eighth, and Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save in 30 opportunities as the Twins won for the 10th time in 12 games.
By the time the game started Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was on a plane to join the Chicago Cubs, and Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was in the starting lineup for Boston.
Darren Oliver (3-3), acquired from Florida on July 22, made his first start for the Astros and allowed only Adam Dunn's single in five innings, setting up an 8-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The day started with the Reds beating the Astros 3-2 in 13 innings, completing a game suspended overnight because of rain.
"I should have known something that that was going to happen, after all of the other delays," Oliver said.
Three Astros combined on a four-hitter, and Carlos Beltran and Mike Lamb homered in a six-run ninth inning that assured the Astros of a split. Brandon Claussen (1-1) lasted 5 1-3 innings, giving up three hits and five walks in his third start for the Reds.
"When you're in situations like that, you definitely learn a lot about yourself," said Claussen, who threw 118 pitches.
A tiny crowd was on hand when the teams handled the first order of business -- picking up a game suspended Friday night in the sixth inning with the score tied at 2.
Phillies 4, Cubs 3
In Chicago, Mike Lieberthal and Bobby Abreu each hit two-run homers following Chicago errors, helping Philadelphia end its five-game losing skid.
The Phillies trailed Atlanta by a half game in the National League East when they were swept in a four-game series by the Florida Marlins before losing 10-7 to the Cubs on Friday night.
Kevin Millwood (9-6) pitched 6 2-3 solid innings, retiring 10 of the last 11 batters he faced. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- and three hits while striking out eight.
Tim Worrell pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 15 chances.
Matt Clement (8-10) struck out 10 and walked just one, allowing four runs -- two earned -- and four hits in seven innings.
Braves 8, Mets 0
In Atlanta, Jaret Wright stayed undefeated in July and Johnny Estrada homered as Atlanta spoiled Kris Benson's New York debut.
The Mets acquired Benson from Pittsburgh a day earlier, hoping he would solidify their rotation. Pitching against the Braves for the third straight start, Benson (8-9) lasted only five innings and lost for the second time in a row.
He beat Atlanta 4-3 on July 21 as a member of the Pirates, allowing only two runs on five hits in eight innings. In Benson's next outing, he went six innings in a 4-2 loss. The Braves tagged him for seven runs on seven hits in this one as the Mets lost for the 13th time in their past 18 games, and fell eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
Padres 3, Dodgers 2
In San Diego, Phil Nevin's infield single drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as San Diego edged Los Angeles.
Jay Payton and Mark Loretta also had RBIs for the Padres, who overcame a home run by Dodgers starter Kazuhisa Ishii and pulled within 2 1/2 games of first-place Los Angeles in the NL West.
Terrence Long led off with a single off Darren Dreifort (1-2) and took second on Khalil Greene's sacrifice. Pinch-hitter Sean Burroughs walked and Loretta followed with a tying single. Burroughs took third on center fielder Milton Bradley's error before Nevin's slow roller up the third-base line scored Burroughs when third baseman Adrian Beltre was unable to field it.
Giants 8, Cardinals 7
In San Francisco, Ray Durham's bases-loaded triple capped an eight-run first inning as San Francisco held on to beat St. Louis.
Matt Morris (11-7) got just two outs in a disastrous start for St. Louis, allowing seven hits and a walk and hitting another of the 11 batters he faced. San Francisco snapped its three-game losing streak despite getting just four hits after the first.
Jim Edmonds tied a career high with four hits, including a homer, and drove in four runs. Scott Rolen also homered.
Kirk Rueter (6-8) survived five rocky innings for his first win in four starts.
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