American LeagueJohnny Damon hit a leadoff homer against his former team, Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot and the New York Yankees roughed up Tim Wakefield before holding off the Boston Red Sox 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Jaret Wright (2-3) pitched five shutout innings for the Yankees, allowing four hits and leaving with a 3-0 lead. New York added one run in the sixth and Rodriguez's drive in the seventh made it 7-1 and chased Wakefield (3-6).
The knuckleballer gave up six earned runs on six hits and five walks, striking out five in 6 2-3 innings. The Yankees scored an unearned run in the sixth when Doug Mirabelli had three passed balls that allowed Rodriguez to reach, take second and, after advancing to third on a fielder's choice, score.
PHOTO: AP
Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer in the seventh to make it 7-4, then Kyle Farnsworth walked consecutive batters with one out in the eighth. Mariano Rivera got David Ortiz to pop up behind second base before Ramirez singled in one run to make it 7-5.
Trot Nixon fouled out to third base to end the inning. Rivera finished for his ninth save and New York's second victory in six games.
White Sox 9, Athletics 3
At Chicago, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye hit consecutive homers in the first inning, and Jim Thome also connected to power the White Sox.
Javier Vazquez (5-3) pitched six effective innings, overcoming wildness to earn the win.
Konerko's two-run shot, his 12th, made it 3-0 and gave the slugger sole possession of third place on the team's career list with 215. He passed Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. Dye's homer also was his 12th. Thome hit his AL-leading 18th homer.
Former White Sox slugger Frank Thomas went 0-for-1 with three walks for the A's and was hit by a pitch. Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer for Oakland, his 11th.
Kirk Saarloos (2-2) allowed six runs in 4 1-3 innings to get the loss.
Tigers 8, Royals 5
At Kansas City, Missouri, Curtis Granderson's double keyed a four-run eighth inning and lifted Detroit to the victory.
The Royals, who have lost 11 straight, led 5-3 in the eighth. Ambiorix Burgos struck out the first two batters in the inning but walked Craig Monroe, bringing in reliever Elmer Dessens (2-4).
Omar Infante and Brandon Inge both singled, making it 5-4. Granderson then delivered the two-run double into center.
Joel Zumaya (2-0) went 1 2-3 hitless innings for the win for the Tigers, who have won 11 of 12. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 opportunities.
Mark Grudzielanek hit two home runs and Reggie Sanders and Emil Brown also homered for Kansas City.
Twins 6, Indians 5, 10 innings
At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning lifted Minnesota to its first win over its AL Central rivals in seven meetings.
After Guillermo Mota (0-3) got Joe Mauer to fly out to start the inning, Torii Hunter walked for the third time in the game. He advanced to third on a single by Michael Cuddyer, and then scored when Morneau lifted a lazy fly to fairly deep center.
Grady Sizemore had two hits and two RBIs and Eduardo Perez homered for the Indians.
Joe Nathan (2-0) struck out five in two innings of perfect relief to pick up the win for the Twins, who beat the Indians for the first time since Sept. 4.
Angels 7, Rangers 6
At Arlington, Texas, Vladimir Guerrero homered and Tommy Murphy robbed Rangers slugger Mark Teixeira of a potential tying homer in the ninth inning.
The Angels snapped a six-game losing streak.
Kendry Morales homered and had three hits in his major league debut for the Angels. Michael Young's two-run drive in the seventh gave the Rangers a 6-5 lead, but Los Angeles rallied in the eighth against Francisco Cordero (3-3).
Hector Carrasco (1-2) got one out for the win and Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.
Orioles 14, Mariners 4
At Seattle, Ramon Hernandez hit a grand slam and a three-run homer, and Baltimore scored nine runs in the ninth inning to beat Seattle.
Corey Patterson also homered and doubled twice to back emergency starter John Halama, who filled in after rookie Hayden Penn had an appendectomy. Halama (3-1) allowed four hits and two runs over five innings in his first start since Sept. 7.
Seattle's season-high four-game winning streak was snapped.
Hernandez matched his career high with seven RBIs, accomplished twice before. Chris Ray got four outs for his 11th save in 11 chances.
National League
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his second three-run homer in as many games and drove in four runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds were losing 3-1 when Felipe Lopez and Brandon Phillips led off the fifth inning with singles to right off left-hander Dana Eveland. Griffey then hit a 1-0 pitch into the stands in right for his sixth homer of the season and third in the last four games.
It was Griffey's 542nd homer, putting him 12th on the career list, six behind Mike Schmidt. Eveland is the 346th pitcher to give up at least one homer to Griffey.
Elizardo Ramirez (2-3) went five innings for his first win in four starts since beating Washington 4-2 on April 24. He allowed three runs and five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
Chris Hammond and Todd Coffey combined for four innings of shutout relief.
Eveland (0-1), making his third start of the season and first on the road, set a career high with seven strikeouts. But he gave up eight hits and four runs with one walk and a hit batsman in 4 2-3 innings.
The Brewers have lost four of their last five games.
Nationals 4, Astros 1
At Washington, Ramon Ortiz pitched seven strong innings, and the Washington Nationals hit three solo home runs.
Jose Guillen returned to the lineup and drove in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Daryle Ward hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. Alfonso Soriano, the next batter, followed with a drive over the fence in center, his 16th of the year.
Damian Jackson homered off rookie Fernando Nieve (1-3) in the fifth for Washington.
Ortiz (2-4) allowed six hits and one run. Chad Cordero threw a perfect ninth inning for his sixth save.
Morgan Ensberg hit his 15th homer for the Astros.
Mets 9, Phillies 8, 16 innings
At New York, Carlos Beltran led off the bottom of the 16th inning with a home run, lifting the Mets to the victory in the longest game in the major leagues this season.
The game lasted 5 hours, 22 minutes and there were 522 pitches.
Ryan Madson (4-3) threw seven shutout innings of relief for the Phillies but Beltran spoiled his marathon effort with his 12th homer of the season. Darren Oliver (2-0) worked four shutout innings to get the win.
Jose Reyes capped a furious New York comeback with a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth, tying the score at 8-8. David Wright and Cliff Floyd also homered for the Mets.
David Bell homered and drove in five runs for Philadelphia.
Padres 2, Braves 1
At San Diego, Josh Barfield's bases-loaded grounder bounced off Chipper Jones' chest for an error and brought in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, helping the Padres snap a four-game losing streak.
San Diego won for the second time in eight games despite getting only two hits. The Braves scored their only run on a homer by pitcher Jorge Sosa.
Mike Thompson (2-0) won for the second time in two major league starts by holding the Braves to one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked none.
Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his eighth save in eight opportunities.
Sosa (1-6) allowed two hits and two runs, one earned, in 6 1-3 innings for the Braves.
Cardinals 8, Giants 5
At San Francisco, Barry Bonds spent a third day stuck at 714 and watched Albert Pujols hit his 23rd homer of the season.
Bonds went 1-for-4 with an RBI single, but Pujols hit a three-run shot to help Jason Marquis win his third straight start for the Cardinals.
Randy Winn hit a two-run homer in the fifth to pull the Giants to 6-4. San Francisco lost for only the second time in eight games.
Marquis (6-4) allowed six hits in 8 1-3 innings. He got Bonds to ground out in the ninth before Jason Isringhausen got two outs for his 15th save in 17 chances.
Pujols connected for a three-run shot to left in the first off Matt Morris (3-5), who faced his former team after spending the last nine seasons with St. Louis.
Dodgers 8, Rockies 1
At Los Angeles, Kenny Lofton hit a two-run triple, J.D. Drew tripled home another run and Los Angeles beat Colorado to extend its winning streak to a season-high six games.
Brad Penny (5-1) allowed five hits over five scoreless innings and struck out five, helping the Dodgers win for the 14th time in 17 games.
Garrett Atkins homered for Colorado. Jason Jennings (2-5) was charged with six runs -- five earned -- and 11 hits in six-plus innings.
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