Gary Sheffield homered on a day he dealt with a controversy, and journeyman Aaron Small won again to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter faced questions before the game about an interview Sheffield gave to New York magazine in which he strongly suggested he was the leader of the team. Manager Joe Torre said he would talk to Sheffield about his comments.
"He certainly doesn't shy away from any controversy or back off the way he feels just because it makes somebody else happy," Torre said. "But he knows what his job is. No matter what the situation or what the talk is, he still goes after it."
PHOTO: AP
In his first at-bat, Sheffield hit a two-run shot off Gustavo Chacin (11-6).
Small (3-0) has helped stabilize the back of the Yankees' battered rotation, winning three of his four starts since being brought up from the minors.
"I know I'm an insurance policy. I've been that for the last six or seven years," Small said. "This has been a dream come true."
Tanyon Sturtze gave up a run in the ninth, and Mariano Rivera got the last out for his 28th straight save since blowing his first two chances in the season-opening series against Boston.
Indians 9, Tigers 6
At Detroit, Casey Blake and Coco Crisp both homered and drove in three runs as Cleveland did all its scoring in the sixth inning and beat Detroit.
Blake and Jhonny Peralta both had three of Cleveland's 16 hits. The Indians sent 15 batters to the plate and had 10 hits in the sixth -- both season highs for an inning -- when they took a 9-1 lead.
C.C. Sabathia (7-9) broke a five-game losing streak, allowing five runs and five hits in six-plus innings, walking three and striking out five.
Nate Robertson (5-10) took the loss, giving up six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings.
Orioles 10, Rangers 5
At Arlington, Texas, Jay Gibbons and Brian Roberts homered in a six-run third inning against C.J. Wilson (0-4), and Baltimore beat Texas to remain unbeaten in two games under interim manager Sam Perlozzo.
Baltimore's Luis Matos had three hits and is 11-for-19 against Texas this season. Roberts also had three hits.
Staked to a 10-0 lead in the fourth inning, Bruce Chen (8-6) took advantage and snapped a streak of five straight winless starts.
Mark Teixeira hit his 29th homer, Hank Blalock his 22nd, and Alfonso Soriano added his 27th for the Rangers, who lost for the eighth time in nine home games. Mark DeRosa also homered in the ninth for Texas' final run.
Mariners 4, White Sox 2
At Chicago, Richie Sexson homered and later doubled in the go-ahead run, helping Joel Pineiro earn his first win in a month as Seattle beat Chicago.
The White Sox (70-38) have the best record in the majors but have lost 10 of their last 14 home games.
Pineiro (4-7) won for the first time since July 7, allowing eight hits and two runs in 6 1-3 innings, walking one and striking out four. The Mariners' bullpen did the rest, pitching 2 2-3 innings of hitless relief.
Eddie Guardado finished for his 25th straight save and 26th in 27 chances.
Freddy Garcia (11-5), who spent five-plus years with the Mariners, had lost just once in his previous 14 starts. But two of his five losses this season are to his former team, which also beat him on April 17.
Twins 12, Red Sox 0
At Minneapolis, Brad Radke's seven strong innings and a number of bad throws by Boston helped Minnesota snap the Red Sox's eight-game winning streak.
Radke (7-10), who nearly signed with Boston last winter before deciding to take an US$18 million, two-year contract and return for his 11th season in Minnesota, picked up his first victory since the All-Star break and matched a season best with eight strikeouts.
Manny Ramirez, who collided with teammate Edgar Renteria while making a catch on Wednesday against Kansas City, returned from a one-game absence and went 1-for-3 for the Red Sox.
Angels 5, Devil Rays 4
At Anaheim, California, Bengie Molina and Casey Kotchman hit consecutive homers in the seventh inning to break a tie, and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay.
Scot Shields (7-6) pitched two perfect innings in relief of starter Paul Byrd for the win. Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth, allowing Travis Lee's solo homer, and earned his 26th save.
Doug Waechter (4-7) allowed five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in seven innings, including three homers.
Mike Cameron and Cliff Floyd each had two-run hits in a six-run second inning, and the New York Mets used 14 singles to beat the Chicago Cubs 9-5 Friday.
Despite the return of Nomar Garciaparra and Kerry Wood from injuries, the Cubs lost for the sixth time in eight games and dropped below .500 (54-55) for the first time since July 10, when they were 43-44.
Jose Reyes had three singles -- two infield hits -- stole two bases and scored twice. Carlos Beltran had three hits and stole his 200th career base, and Tom Glavine (8-9) pitched eight serviceable innings.
The Mets used seven singles in the first two innings against Cubs starter Rich Hill (0-1) to score seven runs.
Dodgers 12, Pirates 6
At Pittsburgh, Olmedo Saenz homered while driving in a career-high six runs and Los Angeles bounced back with three home runs after being dominated in a shutout loss the night before to beat Pittsburgh.
Saenz hit a three-run homer and a two-run double, and Jeff Kent and Ricky Ledee added solo shots as the often low-scoring Dodgers scored 10 or more runs for only the second time in two months.
Pirates right-hander Josh Fogg (5-7) has yielded 23 homers in 22 starts and 12 in nine starts at PNC Park.
Derek Lowe (8-11) won for only the second time in 12 road starts, giving up two earned runs and five hits.
Marlins 5, Reds 1
At Cincinnati, rookie Jason Vargas shut down the National League's highest-scoring team, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Gonzalez homered, and the Florida beat Cincinnati.
Vargas (2-0), making just his second start since being called up from Double-A Carolina on July 14, threw six shutout innings before tiring in the seventh.
Edwin Encarnacion drove in Cincinnati's only run with an RBI double in the seventh.
Cabrera wasted no time giving Florida a 2-0 lead, driving a 2-2 pitch from Eric Milton (5-12) 427 feet to left-center field with Luis Castillo on first base and two outs in the first inning.
Cardinals 11, Braves 3
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols became the first player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in each of his first five seasons, helping Mark Mulder and St. Louis end John Smoltz's eight-game winning streak with a victory over Atlanta.
Smoltz (12-6) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings.
Pujols hit a two-run shot in the first for his 190th homer since breaking in with the Cardinals in 2001. His five-year total is tied for second with Eddie Mathews, 25 behind Ralph Kiner.
Pitching on his birthday for the first time in his career, Mulder (13-5) scattered seven hits in seven innings with three strikeouts and two walks to win his fifth straight decision over eight starts.
Giants 4, Astros 0
At San Francisco, Jason Schmidt pitched eight shutout innings, Lance Niekro hit a two-run homer and San Francisco handed Houston's Andy Pettitte his first loss in nearly seven weeks.
Pedro Feliz had an RBI single and Randy Winn added two hits and scored three runs for the Giants, who won their second straight following a four-game losing streak.
Schmidt (8-6) outdueled Pettitte (9-8) to win for the first time in four starts, allowing three hits, striking out five and walking three.
Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 4
At Phoenix, Lance Cormier's errant throw to third in the ninth inning allowed Garrett Atkins to score the go-ahead run, and Colorado beat Arizona.
Atkins led off the ninth with a double to center and pinch-hitter Eddy Garabito laid down a sacrifice bunt between home plate and the mound. Cormier (7-2), the fourth Arizona pitcher, quickly pounced on the ball but threw wide to Alex Cintron at third, allowing Atkins to score.
Garabito eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Cory Sullivan.
Mike DeJean (5-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Brian Fuentes finished for his 19th save in 22 chances.
Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals became the first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs in each of his first five seasons, connecting in the first inning off Atlanta's John Smoltz on Friday.
Pujols has hit 190 homers since breaking in with the Cardinals in 2001, including a career-best 46 last season.
With two outs in the first, the Dominican hit Smoltz's first pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run shot that gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Pujols hit 160 homers in his first four seasons, second behind Ralph Kiner's 168 from 1946-1949.
Kiner's 215 homers were the most by a player in his first five seasons. Pujols is tied with Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews for second.
Kim Sun-woo moves
The Washington Nationals lost South Korean right-hander Kim Sun-woo on waivers to the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
In two starts, Kim went 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA. He was 1-2 with a 7.76 ERA in 10 relief appearances; that includes allowing eight runs and 10 hits in mop up duty during a 14-1 loss to Houston on July 22. Overall, he was 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA.
"It was disappointing. We had gotten him through waivers earlier this year, and we were hoping a 6 ERA would get him through a second time, but it didn't happen," general manager Jim Bowden said. "So we wish him nothing but the best in Coors Field."
Kim's departure drops the Nationals' pitching staff to 11, with no reliever who's suited to staying in for more than one or two innings.
"It concerns me quite a bit. Nothing I can do about it," manager Frank Robinson said. "Because right now there's nobody who can save the bullpen."
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