Harden, A's stuff Yankees
New York's 8-game run ends in Oakland
Rich Harden struck out nine in his first win of the season and the Athletics snapped the New York Yankees' eight-game winning streak with a 7-4 victory last night in Oakland, Calif.
Mark Kotsay matched his career high with four RBIs, helping the A's avoid their first three-game sweep by the Yankees in Oakland since May 31-June 2, 1996. Erubiel Durazo went 3 for 3 with a solo homer. The A's had lost nine of 11 and three straight.
Harden, a 22-year-old righthander making his first appearance against the Yankees, fell behind, 4-0, on five straight hits in the second inning, then settled down and calmly held one of baseball's best lineups in check the rest of the way.
He retired the side in order in the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings, striking out Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in consecutive at-bats to end the seventh. Harden threw a career-high 121 pitches in a career-high 7 2/3 innings, leaving to a standing ovation.
The Yankees, who fell a game behind the Red Sox in the American League East, were held to six hits after getting 28 in the first two games of the series. New York won the first five meetings between the teams in 2004, including a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium last week. The Yankees, who also had an eight-game winning streak last season, lost for the first time since April 25, when they were swept in three games by the rival Red Sox.Angels 7, Devil Rays 3 -- Jose Guillen hit his third homer in as many nights, a three-run shot that helped host Anaheim beat Tampa Bay for its sixth straight win. The Angels, off to their best start since the 1970 team also went 19-10, have won 12 of their last 14. The Devil Rays, the AL's weakest hitting team, have lost nine of 11.
Aaron Sele (1-0) gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings, throwing 96 pitches in his second start this season and first since replacing Ramon Ortiz in Anaheim's rotation.
Mariners 2, Twins 1 -- Freddy Garcia got his first win of the season in his sixth start and host Seattle scrapped its way past Minnesota. Garcia (1-1) outpitched Brad Radke in another fine performance -- and finally got something to show for it. The righthander threw seven strong innings, holding the Twins to one run on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Through his first five starts, Garcia had received only seven runs of support, but he improved to 4-0 lifetime against Minnesota and improved his ERA to 2.11 -- third best in the American League.
Cubs 11, Diamondbacks 3 -- Derrek Lee went 5 for 5 and drove in five runs and Matt Clement won his fifth straight start, leading host Chicago past Arizona. Lee raised his average from .256 to .295 with his performance, and his home run keyed a five-run fifth inning for a Cubs offense that had been struggling. Chicago was shut out Wednesday and had managed only 22 runs in its previous nine games.
The biggest winner so far on the Cubs' high-profile starting staff, Clement (5-1) allowed three runs and seven hits over seven innings.
Dodgers 9, Marlins 4 -- Shawn Green homered twice and drove in four runs to back Kazuhisa Ishii, who earned his fifth win for visiting Los Angeles. Juan Encarnacion homered and knocked in three runs for the Dodgers, Milton Bradley hit a solo shot, and Eric Gagne extended his major league record to 72 consecutive saves. Mets 2, Giants 1 -- Mike Piazza homered off Jim Brower with two outs in the 11th inning, giving host New York a three-game sweep of last-place San Francisco.Cardinals 7, Phillies 4 -- Hector Luna's three-run homer capped a five-run first inning and led visiting St. Louis over Philadelphia.Reds 9, Brewers 6 -- Dropped below the cleanup spot for the first time in 14 years, Ken Griffey homered and drove in a season-high five runs to send host Cincinnati past Milwaukee.Astros 5, Pirates 2 -- Wade Miller shut out visiting Pittsburgh for 7 1/3 innings and Houston completed a three-game sweep.Padres 7, Braves 3 -- Khalil Greene led off the game with a home run and Jay Payton also connected in the first inning, sending Brian Lawrence and San Diego over host Atlanta.Expos 3, Rockies 1 -- Livan Hernandez pitched a five-hitter for Montreal's first complete game of the season, escaping a late jam to beat Colorado. 