Blue Jays overcome Yankees
The New York Yankees failed to get a win from their starting pitcher -- again -- and lost another game to the Red Sox.
Carlos Delgado homered off Mike Mussina in Toronto's five-run seventh inning and the host Blue Jays ended a five-game losing skid with a 6-4 victory over the Yankees yesterday.
The result narrowed the Yankees' lead in the East to 4 1/2 games, their smallest margin since June 23.
Mussina (9-8) remained winless in four starts since coming back from an elbow injury that sidelined him for nearly six weeks. He gave up five runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Yankees have gotten just one win from their starting pitchers in the last 15 games.
Alex Rodriguez, who went 4 for 4 with a homer and a walk for the Yankees, isn't worried about the Red Sox. "They are playing extremely well, but we're in the driver's seat," Rodriguez said. "This game is about runs and they are in the best run of the year."
Miguel Batista (10-10) won for the first time since July 23 -- a span of seven starts -- and allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Angels 4, Twins 2 -- Adam Kennedy hit a two-run homer in the ninth to lead host Anaheim over Minnesota. The victory kept the Angels 1 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card standings and two back of the Athletics in the West.
Jose Guillen doubled home the tying run in the sixth for his 100th RBI of the season. Kennedy drove a 3-and-2 pitch from Juan Rincon (10-6) for his ninth homer after a one-out walk to Troy Glaus. Kennedy also hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in Friday's 9-6 win against the Central leaders.
Athletics 9, Devil Rays 6 -- Billy McMillon hit a three-run homer in the ninth as host Oakland completed a three-game sweep. Mark Mulder was in position to become the first 18-game winner in the major leagues until Oakland closer Octavio Dotel (4-1) gave up consecutive homers to Aubrey Huff and Jose Cruz with two outs in the ninth, tying it at 6-6.
McMillon, who replaced an ailing Jermaine Dye in the fourth, hit a 2-and-1 pitch over the center-field fence against Danys Baez (3-3). Eric Byrnes walked leading off the ninth and, after Bobby Kielty's sacrifice, Baez walked Eric Chavez intentionally to bring up McMillon.
Orioles 7, Rangers 6 -- Melvin Mora drove in four runs on a pair of bases-loaded singles, helping visiting Baltimore snap its season-high 12-game losing streak by edging Texas. The Rangers fell 3 1/2 games behind Oakland in the West, and three games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card standings.
Mariners 5, Royals 4 -- Ichiro Suzuki homered, scored three times, and got three more hits, leading Seattle over visiting Kansas City. Suzuki, who is chasing George Sisler's major league record for hits in a season, finished 3 for 4 and has 209 hits. Sisler got 257 hits for the St. Louis Browns in 1920.
Indians 9, White Sox 0 -- Scott Elarton pitched a two-hitter for his first career shutout and Casey Blake hit two of host Cleveland's four homers.
