AMERICAN LEAGUE
Derek Jeter watched New York Yankees team mate Jose Molina get hit by a pitch and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Molina’s pain, endured with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning, brought Jeter home from third to give the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
PHOTO: AP
“I’ve never been so happy to see someone get hit,” Jeter told reporters. “I really don’t think I would’ve scored if he hit it anywhere else. I was too tired.”
Molina had replaced catcher Jorge Posada in the 10th and ground out with his first chance to win the game. However, in his next at bat, Oakland relief pitcher Lenny DiNardo plunked him with the ball to bring Jeter home.
The Athletics blew the chance to win the game in the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead but reliever Huston Street could not close the door.
New York first baseman Wilson Betemit delivered a clutch two-out single to force extra innings.
“I guess if I could have the pitch back I would have bounced it instead of throwing it at his ankles,” said Street of Betemit’s 0-2 hit. “I tip my hat. He put a pretty good swing on what I thought was a good pitch.”
Both teams received quality efforts from their starting pitchers.
The Athletics’ Sean Gallagher went five innings and struck out seven while allowing two runs.
Joba Chamberlain pitched six innings, allowing one run and striking out eight for the Yankees (52-45), who have won three of their last four.
The Athletics (51-46) have lost four in a row and will try to avoid being swept by New York on Sunday.
ANGELS 4, RED SOX 2
A late bases-clearing triple by pinch-hitter Erick Aybar rallied the Los Angeles Angels to beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 in the American League on Saturday.
Aybar’s hit highlighted a four-run seventh inning for the Angels, and improved a poor season for LA’s pinch hitters, who had a sum of just five RBIs all year before Saturday.
The Angels won their fourth straight game to move a season-high 21 games over .500 and extend their division lead over Oakland to eight games.
The Angels have won a big league-leading 59 games, including four of five against the Red Sox, who swept them in the first round of the playoffs on their way to World Series championships in 2004 and last year.
TWINS 14, RANGERS 2
In Minneapolis, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each homered and drove in eight runs between them as Minnesota crushed Texas.
Morneau had a two-run homer and a three-run double. Mauer hit a two-run double and a solo shot.
Minnesota moved within half a game of the AL Central leader Chicago.
RAYS 6, BLUE JAYS 4
In St. Petersburg, Florida, rookie All-Star Evan Longoria hit his first career grand slam to key Tampa Bay’s win over Toronto.
Longoria has struggled recently, going 3-for-23 with no RBIs in his previous seven games. He broke out the slide in a big way with the bases-clearing drive to put the Rays ahead 5-0.
Matt Garza pitched seven-and-two-third scoreless innings for the Rays, striking out six.
ROYALS 9, WHITE SOX 1
In Chicago, Kansas City starter Gil Meche and three relievers combined on a two-hitter, steering the Royals past Chicago.
John Buck and Billy Butler homered for Kansas City.
Meche shut down the AL Central leaders, allowing only two hits in six-and-one-third innings.
Orioles 11, Tigers 10, 10 innings
In Baltimore, Luke Scott homered in the bottom of the 10th, completing the Orioles rally from a six-run deficit to beat Detroit.
Scott’s shot to right field came with one out. It was Scott’s third homer in two games, and he marked the occasion by sliding into the plate before his teammates mobbed him.
The drive capped an uplifting night for the Orioles, who fell behind 6-0 in the top of the first and trailed 10-9 in the ninth before a last-gasp homer.
Baltimore had a lucky escape in the top of the 10th when Detroit’s Placido Polanco was called out trying to score. The replay indicated Polanco beat the tag at home plate.
It was only the second time in 43 games this season that the Tigers had lost after leading through eight innings.
INDIANS 9, MARINERS 6
In Seattle, Cleveland snapped a 10-game road losing streak by beating Seattle.
One-time Mariners prospect Choo Shin-soo homered and doubled in his first two at-bats, and pitcher Jeremy Sowers picked up his first win of the season.
The 10-game skid was Cleveland’s longest road slump since 1991.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, MIAMI, FLORIDA
The tight race for the National League’s East division got a little bit tighter Saturday as the Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-5.
Rookie catcher John Baker drove in four runs Saturday and hit a homer for Florida, who squeezed within one-and-a-half games of NL East-leading Philadelphia, with New York between them.
Baker’s shot was one of three homers in the game for the Marlins, who lead the majors in that category with 138 from 97 games.
ASTROS 4, CUBS 1
In Houston, pitcher Wandy Rodriguez struck out seven as Houston again stifled Chicago’s offense.
Rodriguez allowed nine hits but the Cubs stranded seven runners and dropped their third straight game.
The Astros have won four in a row.
Carlos Zambrano hit his 14th career homer in the seventh inning, a Cubs record for a pitcher.
REDS 7, METS 2
In Cincinatti, pitcher Josh Fogg extended his midseason resurgence by getting New York to hit into three double plays, as Cincinatti beat the Mets.
Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto had a run-scoring single, then broke the game open with a two-run triple in the seventh.
The three double plays were just what Fogg needed to get his first victory since April, when he was in his first stint in the rotation. He has overcome a demotion to the bullpen and a stint on the disabled list before settling in.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, DODGERS 2
In Phoenix, Dan Haren threw seven scoreless innings to steer Arizona past Los Angeles.
Conor Jackson homered for the Diamondbacks, who moved one game in front of the Dodgers in the NL West.
Haren scattered four hits, struck out seven and allowed only two runners to reach second base.
BREWERS 8, GIANTS 5
In San Francisco, Rickie Weeks hit a two-run double to cap a four-run sixth inning that turned the game as Milwaukee beat San Francisco.
Prince Fielder homered for the Brewers, who had nine extra-base hits in winning their third straight.
Milwaukee trailed 4-2 in the sixth before scoring four times to break the game open. One run scored on a wild pitch and another came home on an error by the Giants catcher — both on the same play.
Weeks then doubled to left-center to drive in two more and give the Brewers a 6-4 lead.
Fielder added his 20th home run of the year in the seventh, a towering shot that easily cleared the stands in right field and landed in the bay.
It marked the 15th consecutive game in which the Brewers have homered, tying the third-longest streak in franchise history. The club record is 19, set in 1996.
CARDINALS 6, PADRES 5
In St. Louis, the home side rallied from five runs down to beat San Diego and post a fourth straight win.
Albert Pujols had three hits and four RBIs for the Cardinals.
The Padres have lost five in a row.
ROCKIES 7, PIRATES 1
In Denver, Scott Podsednik had three doubles among his four hits, leading Colorado comfortably past Pittsburgh.
Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa gave up a run and faced seven batters in the first inning but then settled down, scattering four hits over his last five innings of work while striking out seven.
The Pirates have dropped four straight.
NATIONALS 8, BRAVES 2
In Atlanta, Willie Harris shone with the bat against his old team as Washington beat Atlanta.
Harris, a part-time starter for Atlanta last season, had three hits, two RBIs, a triple, a stolen base and scored three runs.
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