Pinch-hitter John McDonald's two-out single in the ninth capped a comeback against Curt Schilling, lifting the Detroit Tigers to a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
Schilling (4-5) entered the game with a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth and struck out Curtis Granderson to end the inning. In the ninth, Schilling gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. The six-time All-Star, moved from starter to closer when he returned from an ankle injury, had converted nine saves in 10 opportunities, but had given up four runs on four hits -- including three homers -- in his last two appearances.
Placido Polanco started the rally with a leadoff single in the ninth, Dmitri Young followed with a one-out RBI triple and Magglio Ordonez tied the game with a single. After a walk and a strikeout, McDonald singled to left.
PHOTO: AP
Jamie Walker (4-3) pitched the ninth for the victory. The Tigers won their third straight and snapped the AL East-leading Red Sox's six-game winning streak.
Boston appeared to be on its way to another victory behind David Ortiz's 29th home run and Alex Cora's three RBIs, two on a homer, before Schilling struggled.
Mariners 11, Royals 3
At Seattle, Kansas City lost its club-record 16th consecutive game Monday night, managing only three hits and one run in eight innings against 19-year-old Seattle rookie Felix Hernandez.
The Royals, winless since July 27, have the longest losing streak in the major leagues since the Chicago Cubs lost 16 straight in 1996-97. The Cubs lost the final two games of the 1996 season and the first 14 in 1997.
The 1988 Baltimore Orioles are the only American League team to have a longer skid in the last 30 years, losing a league-record 21 in a row at the start of the season.
Bench coach Bob Schaefer directed the Royals in place of manager Buddy Bell, who was in Virginia to attend services at Arlington National Cemetery for his nephew, a Marine killed in Iraq. Lance Corporal Tim Bell Jr was killed by a roadside bomb.
Mike Morse, Richie Sexson and Ichiro Suzuki hit two-run homers to help the Mariners snap a four-game losing streak.
Hernandez (2-1), making his third major league start since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on Aug. 4, lowered his ERA to 0.86 -- two earned runs in 21 innings. He had a career-high 11 strikeouts and walked one. Runelvys Hernandez (8-11) was the loser.
Yankees 5, Devil Rays 2
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jaret Wright won his first start in nearly four months and Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield homered to help New York win its fifth straight.
Rodriguez homered for the third straight game, hitting a two-run, fourth-inning shot off Casey Fossum (6-9) to boost his American League-leading total to 36. Sheffield hit No. 25, a solo blast off reliever Travis Harper, for a 5-2 lead in the seventh.
But Wright (3-2) was the story of the night for the Yankees, whose starting rotation has been in shambles because of injuries.
The right-hander, pitching for the first time since leaving an April 23 loss against Texas because of shoulder pain, allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit three batters, including Jonny Gomes twice. In between the plunkings, Gomes hit a solo homer in the fourth.
Mariano Rivera, who also hit Gomes with a pitch, got the last three outs for his 32nd save, moving ahead of Jeff Reardon for fifth place on the career list with 368.
Twins 4, White Sox 2
At Chicago, Lew Ford and Brent Abernathy hit two-run singles in the fourth inning and Nick Punto had three hits and three stolen bases for Minnesota.
Kyle Lohse (8-11) hung around long enough to earn his first victory since July 2, allowing two runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.
The White Sox, with the best record in the majors, are looking to take the AL Central title from the Twins, who have won the division the last three seasons. Chicago leads by 12 games over Cleveland, while the Twins are 14 games behind. Chicago has lost three straight overall and 11 of 17 at home.
White Sox starter Jose Contreras (7-7) coasted through the first three innings, but the Twins batted around in the fourth, scoring four runs on four hits.
Orioles 6, Athletics 2
At Oakland, California, Sammy Sosa's 25-foot RBI single highlighted a wild rally by Baltimore, and the Orioles ended Barry Zito's eight-game winning streak.
The Orioles came back with five runs in the seventh inning thanks to several misplays by the A's, including two hit batsmen, two bases-loaded walks and a throwing error by shortstop Bobby Crosby.
Rodrigo Lopez (12-6) pitched 6 2-3 strong innings to win his third straight decision despite trailing for most of the night. Luis Matos added an RBI double in the ninth for Baltimore, which began a six-game road trip.
Crosby ended a 35-game homerless streak with a solo shot in the first inning for Oakland, but he also made a costly error as the sloppy A's lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 6-7 at Toronto.
Zito (11-9) retired 17 of his first 19 hitters, but fell apart in the seventh on the way to his first defeat since a 6-1 loss June 17 against Philadelphia.
Angels 5, Blue Jays 4, 11 innings
At Anaheim, California, Darin Erstad singled home the winning run in the 11th inning, and Adam Kennedy had four hits for Los Angeles.
Chone Figgins drove in two runs to help the AL West-leading Angels move two games ahead of second-place Oakland. Only two and a half weeks after the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the Angels with an 18-inning victory -- the longest game in Toronto history -- the teams played their third straight extra-inning contest.
Orlando Cabrera greeted Pete Walker (5-4) with a leadoff double in the 11th, and Erstad lined an 0-2 pitch the other way to left-center. Scot Shields (8-8) pitched two innings of one-hit relief for the victory.
AP, CINCINNATI
Randy Winn hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats, sending the San Francisco Giants to a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.
Todd Linden also homered and drove in two runs for the Giants, who overcame solo shots by Ken Griffey Jr, Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns.
Winn, who scored twice, led off the first inning with a single and the third with his ninth homer this season -- his third in 13 games since being acquired from Seattle on July 30. The speedy center fielder doubled with one out in the fourth and opened the sixth with a triple to right-center, making him the 21st player in Giants history to hit for the cycle and the first since Jeff Kent in a 9-8 loss at Pittsburgh on May 3, 1999.
It was the first time Winn hit for the cycle in his eight-year major league career. He is the third player to accomplish the feat this season, joining St. Louis' Mark Grudzielanek on April 27 against Milwaukee, and Washington's Brad Wilkerson on April 6 in Philadelphia.
Kevin Correia (2-3) went five innings to beat the Reds for the second time this season.
Aaron Harang (8-11) took the loss.
Nationals 6, Phillies 3
At Philadelphia, Preston Wilson homered twice, Livan Hernandez pitched eight strong innings and Washington won again on the road, beating Philadelphia.
The Nationals, knocked out of first place during a second-half slump, have turned things around away from home and put themselves in contention for the NL wild card. Coming off a three-game sweep in Colorado, Washington won its fourth in a row overall.
Hernandez (14-5) stifled the surging Phillies and showed no effects of the balky right knee that's bothered him this season. Nick Johnson and Brian Schneider also homered for the Nationals.
Philadelphia starter Brett Myers (10-6) couldn't overcome three two-out homers. He gave up five runs in six innings.
Astros 12, Cubs 4
At Houston, Morgan Ensberg hit a long home run and finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs, and Chris Burke, Adam Everett and Humberto Quintero also homered to help Houston follow consecutive shutouts with its second-highest scoring game of the season.
Ensberg homered in the seventh, a solo shot that landed on the train track well above the left-field stands. Burke hit a three-run homer in the third, and Everett had a solo homer and Quintero a two-run shot in a six-run fifth. Astros rookie Willy Taveras had his fourth four-hit game, finishing 4-for-6.
Wandy Rodriguez (8-5) again benefited from generous run support. Matt Murton hit his first career homer and Todd Walker hit his eighth this season for the Cubs, who began a six-game road swing with their sixth consecutive road loss. Chicago has lost 10 of 13 to fall 7.5 games behind the Astros in the wild-card race. Glendon Rusch (5-5) was the loser.
Rockies 11, Brewers 2
At Denver, Aaron Cook pitched six solid innings for his first win in more than a year, Garrett Atkins homered and drove in four runs, and Colorado ended a four-game losing streak a victory over slumping Milwaukee.
Cook (1-1) returned to Colorado's rotation on July 30 after missing nearly a year with blood clots in his lungs that nearly killed him. After being tagged for seven runs in 4 1-3 innings his first start back, he pitched well enough to win his next two outings, only to walk away with no-decisions in both games.
Cook got the victory this time, allowing two runs and nine hits for his first win since Aug. 1 last year against Arizona. Colorado's offense sent Milwaukee to its sixth loss in seven games.
The Rockies managed only four runs against Washington last weekend, setting a record for fewest in a three-game series in Coors Field's 10-year history.
Colorado had one more than that in the fifth inning alone and ended up with 17 hits. Most of the damage came against Ben Sheets (8-9), who gave up a career-high 13 hits and matched another career high with 10 runs allowed in six innings.
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