Yankees earn 10th in a row

Jason Giambi is doing his best to influence the Yankees' front office into making an easy call on his future.

Giambi hit a solo home run, singled twice and drove in three runs, and Carl Pavano pitched a five-hitter as surging New York won its 10th straight, beating the Mariners, 6-0, last night in Seattle.

Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 13th home run, a two-run shot, and Jorge Posada had an RBI single as the Yankees collected 10 hits and matched their longest winning streak since a 10-game run from June 30 to July 12, 1998.

Pavano (3-2) pitched his fourth shutout, his first since a seven-hitter for Florida against the Cubs in Chicago last Sept. 10, and his sixth complete game. It was New York's third shutout of the season, and the third time the Mariners failed to score.

Giambi hit his fourth homer, sending an 0-1 pitch from reliever Matt Thornton deep into the right-field stands in the sixth. The 394-foot shot was his first since April 19 and put the Yankees up 6-0.

He was promised plenty of at-bats during the current nine-game trip. After Giambi's average dropped to .195 last week, general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Torre asked the former AL MVP to consider a trip to the minor leagues, a move than can't be made without Giambi's consent.

He is 7 for 20 (.350) with four RBIs on the trip, and Torre said before the game that Giambi was showing good signs and will continue to play this weekend in the interleague series at the Mets.

White Sox 5, Rangers 2 --Jon Garland became the first eight-game winner in the majors, and A.J. Pierzynski homered for the third straight game to lead Chicago over visiting Texas.

Garland (8-0), the first White Sox pitcher to win his first eight starts since John Whitehead in 1935, gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking two. Relying on his sinker, he got Texas to hit into a pair of double plays.

Dustin Hermanson walked two in the ninth but remained perfect in nine save chances. He hasn't given up a run in 19{sbquo} innings this year.

Indians 13, Angels 5 -- Ben Broussard and Travis Hafner each hit two-run homers and Cleveland took out some of its offensive frustration on Los Angeles rookie Ervin Santana.

The Indians entered with the majors' lowest batting average at .233, but teed off early on Santana, who made his big league debut after being recalled from Double A Arkansas.

Cleveland had three runs after just four batters and the Indians poured it on, posting season highs in runs and hits (19).

Even struggling Aaron Boone, batting just .147 before going 2 for 4, had two RBIs. The Indians chased Santana after four innings and improved to 9-0 when scoring six runs or more.

Orioles 12, Royals 8 -- Rafael Palmeiro had four hits, including his 555th home run, and drove in five runs, helping Baltimore rally from a six-run deficit at Kansas City.

Brian Roberts added his 11th home run and Sal Fasano had a pinch-hit shot for the Orioles (25-13), who moved 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1997 season.

Palmeiro had his first four-hit game since Sept. 28, 2001. His homer leading off the Orioles' six-run fourth was his 41st against the Royals, the most by any player.

Five Orioles relievers combined to hold the Royals scoreless on four hits for 7{dbcomma} innings.

Tigers 4, Devil Rays 3, - Ivan Rodriguez tied the game with a two-out single in the ninth, and Rondell White singled home the winning run in the 11th as host Detroit rallied past Tampa Bay.

With Tampa Bay ahead, 3-2, Danys Baez blew a save for the third time in six chances. Carlos Pena walked leading off the ninth and advanced on a sacrifice. Brandon Inge walked with two outs, and Rodriguez blooped a single down the left-field line.

Inge singled off Travis Harper (0-2) leading of the 11th and continued to second when the ball got past Carl Crawford for an error. Rodriguez was intentionally walked, Ramon Martinez sacrificed and with the outfield in, White lined his single off the wall in left-center.

Blue Jays 10, Twins 3 - At Minneapolis, Josh Towers won his fourth straight start, and Toronto took advantage of Johan Santana's worst outing in nearly a year to beat Minnesota.

Towers (5-1) has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this year. He gave up seven hits, one walk and struck out two in five innings, throwing 84 pitches.

Vernon Wells, trying to rediscover his batting form from 2003, when he had the most hits in the majors and 33 home runs, smacked a two-run homer off Santana in the first. That set the tone for the reigning AL Cy Young winner's uncharacteristically rough night.