American League
Curt Schilling pitched into the ninth inning for his major league-leading 18th win, David Ortiz hit his 35th homer and the Boston Red Sox held on for a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
PHOTO: AP
The Red Sox, whose 10-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday, completed a 9-1 homestand and remained 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. Boston, which opens a seven-game road trip on Monday at AL West-leading Oakland, has won 17 of its last 19 overall, and 12 of its last 13 at Fenway Park.
Schilling (18-6) allowed three runs and five hits in 8 1-3 innings, struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter in winning his fifth straight start. It was his third game this season with 10 or more strikeouts, and 89th of his career.
Michael Young homered twice for the Rangers, who fell seven games behind the AL wild card-leading Red Sox. Ryan Drese (11-8) took the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Yankees 4, Orioles 3
At New York, Jorge Posada drew a bases-loaded walk from Jorge Julio (2-3) in the ninth inning, giving the Yankees the victory.
Derek Jeter reached base four times and scored three runs for the Yankees, who rallied from a three-run deficit for their major league-leading 53rd comeback win. Bernie Williams had his first sacrifice bunt since 1996, moving Jeter to third in the ninth.
Rafael Palmeiro hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the Orioles, who were looking for their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium since June 6-8, 1986. Instead, they had their six-game winning streak snapped.
Mariano Rivera (4-1), who gave up four runs and got only one out Saturday, pitched out of a first-and-third, none-out jam in the ninth for the win.
White Sox 6, Mariners 2
At Chicago, Joe Borchard and Paul Konerko each hit two-run homers to back a strong outing by Felix Diaz and the White Sox won their third straight.
Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 to give him a major league-leading 224 hits, 33 short of the all-time single-season record. He has 26 games remaining to reach the record of 257 hits, set by George Sisler in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns.
Diaz (2-4), who entered with a 9.09 ERA, allowed one run and five hits -- none to Suzuki -- in six innings. Damaso Marte got four outs for his fifth save, despite giving up Jolbert Cabrera's solo homer in the ninth.
Seattle starter Jamie Moyer (6-10) allowed five runs in seven innings in his eighth straight loss. He hasn't won since June 18 at Pittsburgh, and has seven no-decisions during that span.
Angels 2, Indians 1
At Cleveland, John Lackey allowed two hits in 7 1-3 innings and the Anaheim Angels moved a little closer to Oakland in the AL West.
Lackey (12-11) gave up just doubles in the sixth and eighth innings to lead the Angels to a three-game sweep that pulled them within three games of the first-place Athletics.
Francisco Rodriguez worked out of a jam in the eighth, blocking the plate after taking a blind backhanded throw from catcher Bengie Molina to get a sliding Ronnie Belliard. Rodriguez also worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save.
Troy Glaus homered off Jake Westbrook (12-7) for Anaheim, which has won 15 of 20 and is 17-4 in its last 21 road games.
The Indians, who were within one game of first in the AL Central three weeks ago, have lost five in a row, 16 of 20 and are 11 games back.
National League
Reggie Sanders hit a pinch-hit RBI single off Giovanni Carrara (4-2) in the 11th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-5 victory on Sunday for their ninth straight victory.
Ray King (5-2) struck out one in a scoreless 11th for the Cardinals, whose winning streak is their longest since winning 10 in a row in 2001. They hadn't trailed during the streak until Adrian Beltre hit his NL-leading 44th homer in the second inning.
The Cardinals wrapped up a 6-0 homestand and won for the 14th time in 16 games.
John Mabry homered and Jim Edmonds tied a career high with three doubles for St. Louis, which entered the ninth with a 5-2 lead. The Dodgers tied it with three runs on four hits off Jason Isringhausen.
St. Louis' Larry Walker sprained his right knee when he slipped while fielding Jose Hernandez's single in the fifth. Walker had an exam that revealed a small bone bruise but no structural damage, and he's listed as day to day.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals swept the West-leading Dodgers for the first time since June 23-25, 2000, extending their division lead to 17 1/2 games.
Giants 4, Diamondbacks 1
At San Francisco, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a two-run homer off Randy Johnson in the sixth inning, and the Giants moved into a virtual tie with the Chicago Cubs atop the NL wild-card standings with a three-game sweep of Arizona.
Brett Tomko (9-6) pitched seven impressive innings on a sprained right ankle, getting eight strikeouts in his fourth straight victory. San Francisco (76-63) has played six more games than Chicago (73-60), and is two percentage points behind the Cubs. The Giants also pulled within 3 1/2 games of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who were swept by St. Louis.
Not even Johnson (12-13) could prevent Arizona from falling 53 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history. Despite striking out seven and raising his major league-leading total to 249, the Big Unit lost his third straight start against the Giants, allowing seven hits and two walks while pitching into the seventh.
Astros 10, Pirates 5
At Houston, Mike Lamb went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs to lead the Astros to their ninth straight win.
Carlos Beltran added three hits as the Astros moved within 1 1/2 games of San Francisco and idle Chicago for the NL wild-card lead. Houston has won 12 of 13 and is on its longest winning streak since the Astros won a franchise-record 12 straight Sept. 3-14, 1999.
Pete Munro (4-5) allowed five runs and four hits in five innings. Chad Qualls, Mike Gallo and Dan Wheeler finished up with four scoreless innings of relief.
Rockies 5, Padres 2
At San Diego, Vinny Castilla hit his 30th homer, and Jeromy Burnitz and Matt Holliday also connected for Colorado, which handed the Padres their fifth loss in six games.
The Padres keep losing ground in the tight wild-card race, falling 2 1/2 games behind San Francisco and idle Chicago. They were beaten by rookie lefty Jeff Francis (1-2), who came in with a 13.50 ERA, but got his first win in his third big league start.
Francis, the Rockies' first-round draft pick in 2002, held the Padres to five hits in 5 1-3 scoreless innings. Francis, who lowered his ERA to 8.59, allowed just one runner as far as third base. He struck out three and walked one.
Brian Lawrence (13-12) lost for the fifth time in his last seven decisions. He allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, struck out three and walked three.
Phillies 4, Mets 2
At Philadelphia, Brett Myers threw three-hit ball over seven innings to help the Phillies sweep New York and send the Mets to their ninth straight loss.
Mike Lieberthal and Jimmy Rollins homered for the Phillies, who moved back to .500. Philadelphia has won six of nine, but is 6 1/2 games behind idle Chicago in the NL wild-card race.
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