Jose Contreras pitched shutout ball against his former team, and the Chicago White Sox got home runs from Paul Konerko and Tadahito Iguchi in a 2-1 victory Tuesday over the New York Yankees.
The game was delayed for four minutes in the eighth inning when a male fan fell out of the upper deck onto the netting behind home plate. The man was carried from the ballpark on a stretcher, his head immobilized in a neck brace, and taken to Lincoln Hospital for observation.
"That was the only exciting thing that happened today," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said.
PHOTO: AFP
Alex Rodriguez hit his American League-leading 33rd homer in the ninth for the Yankees, but Dustin Hermanson threw only one pitch for his 29th save in 30 chances.
Contreras (7-6) struck out six and walked two in seven-plus innings, outpitching Shawn Chacon (0-1). Chacon gave up only Iguchi's fourth-inning homer and two singles in seven innings.
"I think it's my best outing in a major league uniform," Contreras said.
PHOTO: AFP
Orioles 5, Devil Rays 2
At Baltimore, Erik Bedard pitched seven strong innings to earn his first victory for the Orioles since May 21.
Eric Byrnes homered for Baltimore, which improved to 3-2 under interim manager Sam Perlozzo.
Bedard (6-4) was 0-3 in four starts since ending a two-month stint on the disabled list July 18. The left-hander gave up two runs, five hits and four walks. B.J. Ryan struck out the side in the ninth for his 24th save.
Red Sox 8, Rangers 7, 10 innings
At Boston, Edgar Renteria lined a sharp single down the third-base line to score Bill Mueller in the 10th inning and the Red Sox won their 10th straight game at Fenway Park.
Curt Schilling (4-4) allowed one hit and struck out two in two innings for Boston, which won its third in a row and 11th in 13 games.
Kevin Gryboski (1-1) allowed one run on three hits and an intentional walk in 1 1-3 innings for the Rangers, who will get some pitching help on Wednesday when Kenny Rogers returns from his suspension.
Seven consecutive Red Sox batters reached base with two out in the fifth as they scored five runs to take a 7-2 lead. But the Rangers tied it with five of their own in the seventh.
Mariners 1, Twins 0
In Seattle, Felix Hernandez, Seattle's prized 19-year-old prospect, pitched eight shutout innings in his second major league start.
Hernandez (1-1), who lost his first big league start 3-1 Thursday at Detroit, allowed five hits, all singles, and struck out six in besting Kyle Lohse (7-11) in a pitching duel. The young right-hander threw 94 pitches -- 69 strikes -- and did not walk a batter.
Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 27th consecutive save -- and his second in two nights -- and his 28th save in 29 opportunities.
Angels 9, Athletics 2
At Oakland, California, Vladimir Guerrero's grand slam staked Los Angeles to a seven-run lead in the second inning, and John Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings to knock Oakland out of the clubs' tie atop the AL West standings.
Guerrero had five RBIs and Darin Erstad drove in two more runs as the Angels capitalized on another shaky start by Rich Harden (9-5) to remove all the drama from the first contest of a key three-game series between the rivals.
Jason LaRue hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, then singled home another run in a four-run ninth as the Cincinnati Reds beat Chicago 8-3 on Tuesday, the seventh straight loss for the Cubs.
Mark Prior struck out a season-high 11 for the Cubs in his seven innings, but gave up solo home runs to Ken Griffey Jr. and Edwin Encarnacion. He allowed eight hits and three runs and didn't walk a batter. Will Ohman (2-2) took the loss.
Aaron (8-10) allowed eight hits, striking out three and walking none in seven innings.
Griffey led off the sixth with his 25th home run to tie the game at 2-all. Nomar Garciaparra's first home run of the season gave the Cubs the lead again.
But Encarnacion's leadoff homer, his second of the season, tied it in the seventh before the Reds' outburst in the last two innings.
Nationals 6, Astros 5
At Houston, Brandon Watson homered and doubled in his major league debut, and slumping Washington started a pivotal road trip by beating Houston.
Brad Wilkerson, Brian Schneider and Vinny Castilla also homered for the Nationals, who snapped a 13-game losing streak in one-run games.
Washington homered four times for the first time this season to win their first one-run decision since July 8.
Morgan Ensberg homered twice for the Astros, who lead the Nationals by one game in the NL wild-card race. Ezequiel Astacio (2-5) allowed five runs and six hits in four innings.
John Patterson (6-3) earned the win despite allowing five runs in 5 2-3 innings, and Chad Cordero got the final three outs in the ninth for his major league-leading 37th save.
Cardinals 5, Brewers 2
At Milwaukee, Anthony Reyes threw 6 1-3 innings of two-hit ball in his major league debut and Mark Grudzielanek had two RBIs to lead St. Louis over Milwaukee.
Reyes (1-0), a 23-year-old right-hander in only his second full season in professional baseball, was just the sixth starting pitcher for the Cardinals this season. He was expected to be shipped back to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday.
He allowed two earned runs on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 33 chances.
Pirates 12, Rockies 4
At Denver, Jason Bay homered and drove in four runs, and Dave Williams pitched six strong innings as Pittsburgh thrashed Colorado.
The Pirates had nine runs -- all off Rockies starter Jose Acevedo (2-2) -- and 14 hits by the fourth inning, finishing with 19.
Jack Wilson had two RBIs, Jose Castillo had four hits and Bay had three for Pittsburgh.
Williams (9-8) allowed a run and six hits.
Padres 8, Mets 3
At San Diego, Brian Giles and Khalil Greene homered for the Padres, who handed Pedro Martinez his worst start of the year.
With Park Chan-ho (1-0) striking out a season-high eight in his home debut, the NL West-leading Padres won their fifth straight game and for the sixth time in seven games. Their hot streak follows a span in which they lost 12 of 13, including being swept in a three-game series at New York July 19-21 that started an 0-6 road trip.
Greene had three hits and scored three runs. New York's Jose Reyes went 0-for-4, ending what was the majors' longest active hitting streak at 20.
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