American LeagueDavid Ortiz homered in consecutive at-bats Wednesday night, including a solo shot in the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Ortiz finished with four RBIs, matching his career and season highs. Manny Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a run scored in his first game back in the lineup after being benched.
PHOTO: AFP
It was the 10th victory in 13 games for Boston, which began the day four games behind New York in the AL East race and a half-game behind Seattle for the wild-card.
PHOTO: AP
Ortiz hit a two-run homer off of Scott Sullivan in the eighth for a 4-3 lead and then homered off Tom Gordon (6-6) in the 10th.
Kim Byung-Hyun (7-4) gave up two hits in two innings.
Orioles 9, Athletics 0
In Baltimore, Rodrigo Lopez pitched a seven-hitter as Baltimore battered Tim Hudson and ended Oakland's 10-game winning streak.
The A's committed a season-high five errors, and Hudson (14-5) was pulled after allowing five runs and eight hits in three innings -- his shortest stint of the year.
The victory ended a nine-game skid for the Orioles, who entered 0-7 against Oakland and 0-7 against Hudson. Larry Bigbie hit a three-run homer for Baltimore.
Lopez (7-9) was 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA in two starts against Oakland this year, but only allowed one runner past second in his first shutout and third complete game of the season.
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3
In Toronto, Josh Phelps hit a two-run homer and Eric Hinske hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning as Toronto rallied from a three-run deficit to beat New York.
Phelps hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Mike Mussina in the fourth that cut New York's lead to 3-2. After Vernon Wells singled off Antonio Osuna (2-5) in the seventh, Myers doubled off Gabe White. Phelps was intentionally walked and Hinske hit his sacrifice fly.
Jason Kershner (1-3) pitched two innings for his first major league win, and Aquilino Lopez got the last out for his eighth save in 10 chances.
Twins 6, Angels 5
In Minneapolis, catcher Bengie Molina failed to hold onto a throw with two outs in the ninth inning, allowing the tying and winning runs to score on the error as Minnesota beat Anaheim.
Shannon Stewart lined a shot off Troy Percival (0-5) down the left-field line. Garrett Anderson's throw home beat pinch-runner Dustan Mohr, but Mohr collided with Molina, who couldn't hold onto the ball. Stewart then came home with the winning run.
Eddie Guardado (2-5) pitched two-thirds of an inning for Minnesota, which moved into a tie with Chicago for the division lead, one game ahead of Kansas City.
Royals 3, Rangers 1
In Arlington, Texas, rookie Jimmy Gobble pitched seven solid innings as Kansas City snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Texas. Mike Sweeney, Joe Randa and Carlos Beltran each had RBIs in a three-run fourth to help the Royals move within one game of both Chicago and Minnesota for the AL Central lead.
Gobble (3-3) allowed one run and four hits, struck out six and walked two after being called up from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday to join the expanded roster.
Mike MacDougal got for his 27th save in 35 chances.
Rangers starter John Thomson (12-12) gave up three runs in seven innings.
Devil Rays 7, Mariners 0
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Doug Waechter became the first Tampa Bay pitcher to throw a shutout in his first major league start, leading the Devil Rays over Seattle.
Waechter (2-0), who threw just 100 pitches, went to high school four miles from Tropicana Field and pitched in front of more than 100 friends and family members. Among those in attendance was his mother, Nancy Waechter, who celebrated her birthday at the ballpark. Seattle starter Freddy Garcia (11-13) allowed five runs and seven hits over five innings. He had been 6-0 against Tampa Bay.
Tigers 6, Indians 5
In Detroit, Shane Halter hit a leadoff homer in the 11th inning to lift Detroit over Cleveland. The Tigers (36-102) have won two straight and need seven wins in their final 24 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets' post-1900 record of 120 losses.
Halter homered off Jose Santiago (1-2) on the second pitch of the inning, making a winner of Jamie Walker (4-3), who got the final two outs in the top of the inning. Detroit improved to 2-11 in extra innings.
National League
Moises Alou had a career-high five hits, including a go-ahead single in the eighth inning that capped a comeback from a six-run deficit and led the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.
"Against St. Louis, right in the middle of a pennant race, for me to come up clutch and get the game-winning hit was awesome," he said. "It was a huge game. Down 6-0 this team really showed a lot of heart."
Before Wednesday's game, Alou was still angry over an umpire's call that the Cubs felt cost them the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader.
Alou had four RBIs in a tension-filled game that include a shouting match between managers and the two starting pitchers hitting each other with pitches.
"That was a great, great victory for us," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "We were hitting the ball hard all day long and had nothing to show for it. The guy's kept battling and fighting and grinding and grinding.
Mark Grudzielanek hit an RBI triple in the eighth and scored on Alou's single. Both hits came off Woody Williams (14-8), making his first relief appearance since June 6, 1996.
Joe Borowski (2-2) retired the final four St. Louis batters.
Giants 7, Rockies 6
In San Francisco, pinch-runner Eric Young avoided a tag at the plate to score the winning run in the ninth on Edgardo Alfonzo's sacrifice fly off Brian Fuentes (3-2), beating the throw by right fielder Larry Walker.
Even four homers could not save the Rockies from matching a club record with their 10th straight road loss. Joe Nathan (9-3) pitched one inning as the Giants won their fifth straight game and reduced their magic number for clinching the NL West to 13.
Phillies 8, Expos 3
In Philadelphia, Jim Thome homered and drove in two runs to back Kevin Millwood (14-9), who struck out eight in eight innings as Philadelphia won for the fifth time in six games. Philadelphia began the day tied with Florida in the NL wild-card race.
Montreal went ahead on Wil Cordero's three-run homer in the first but lost its sixth straight following a five-game winning streak and dropped five games behind the Phillies. T.J. Tucker (0-2) allowed six runs in 2 2-3 innings, but five runs were unearned because of an error by third baseman Jamey Carroll.
Mets 9, Braves 3
In New York, Jorge Velandia hit a two-run triple off Russ Ortiz (18-6) and an RBI double a day after being called up from the minors as New York completed its first sweep of the Braves since Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1995. Roger Cedeno broke an 0-for-18 slump with two hits and also drove in a run, and Steve Trachsel (14-8) allowed one run in eight innings and added an RBI single in a steady drizzle.
Atlanta tied a season high with four errors, and four of New York's runs were unearned.
Marlins 3, Pirates 0
In Miami, Josh Beckett (7-7) won for just the second time in seven starts, allowing three hits over 7 2-3 innings and hitting an RBI single in the fifth.
Ugueth Urbina got four outs for his 28th save as the Marlins stopped a four-game losing streak to the Pirates.
Josh Fogg (8-8) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits in six innings.
Padres 12, Diamondbacks 0
In San Diego, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a two-run triple to highlight the seven-run second inning as San Diego swept a two-game series and handed Arizona its fifth straight loss.
The Diamondbacks, who started the day four games back in the wild-card race, have lost 14 of their last 20, including four straight to the Padres, who have the NL's worst record.
Brian Lawrence (8-14) and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout. Lawrence allowed four hits in seven innings to win his third straight start.
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