Washburn brings down Yankees
Jarrod Washburn was so good he reminded the opposing pitcher of a former Mariners ace.
Washburn continued his Yankee taming by allowing just six hits and striking out a season-high nine in the Mariners' 4-2 win over New York last night in Seattle.
``He looked like Randy Johnson out there. The only thing that was missing was the Kingdome roof out there," the Big Unit said.
Two RBIs each from Jose Lopez and Richie Sexson also helped Seattle rebound from a franchise-worst 0-11 road trip for its first home series win over New York since April 7-9, 2000.
The Yankees lost for the second time on their eight-game road trip and saw their AL East lead cut to 5 1/2 games over Boston -- despite Johnson's second complete game of the season and 98th of his career. Johnson (14-10) allowed four runs and seven hits. ``Randy was great," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Washburn (7-12) was better. He allowed six hits, two runs, and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. With two runners on, he struck out Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi in succession to end the third inning.
``I'm aggressive with my fastball," Washburn said. ``It's like facing an All-Star team with their lineup. So maybe some guys tend to be tentative when they pitch to them. But I don't."
White Sox 10, Tigers 0 -- Visiting Chicago rallied for a four-game split, preventing Detroit from building another huge lead in the AL Central.
Jon Garland pitched a six-hitter and Jermaine Dye hit two homers to lift the White Sox to a second straight win after losing the first two games by a combined 11-1.
Chicago trails the Tigers by 5 1/2 games in the division and has a half-game lead over Minnesota in the wild-card race. Detroit, which has lost five of seven, had a 10-game lead after play Aug. 7.
Twins 11, Orioles 2 -- Michael Cuddyer went 4 for 4 with four RBIs, Joe Mauer had three hits and drove in four runs, and visiting Minnesota cruised past Baltimore.
Boof Bonser (3-4) was solid in his 11th big league start for Minnesota. The rookie righthander took a four-hit shutout into the seventh. Although he didn't make it out of the inning, Bonser earned his first win in five starts since June 24. He gave up two runs, seven hits, and a walk in 6 2/3 innings.
Rangers 4, Devil Rays 3 -- Robinson Tejeda won his second consecutive start since being called up from the minors and Carlos Lee hit a solo homer, helping Texas beat host Tampa Bay and avoid a four-game sweep.
Tejeda (3-3) gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. He was recalled from Triple A Oklahoma last Saturday to start and earned a spot in the rotation after giving up one run over 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win over Detroit.
Indians 8, Royals 4 -- Rookie Andy Marte had a career-high three RBIs, and Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko hit ninth-inning solo homers to lead visiting Cleveland over Kansas City.
Marte's RBI double in the eighth drove in Jhonny Peralta for a 5-4 lead. It was the only hit off Jimmy Gobble (3-5) and the run was unearned because Peralta reached on shortstop Angel Berroa's throwing error. Marte was 3 for 4 and reached base four times.
Mets 6, Cardinals 2 -- Carlos Delgado homered for the fourth time in four games, and host New York completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis that extended its winning streak to seven.
Shawn Green had a RBI single in his debut for New York, which has won 11 straight at Shea Stadium, its longest home winning streak since September 1995. The Mets (78-48) moved to 30 games over .500 for the first time since 1999 and lead Philadelphia by 14 1/2 games in the NL East.
Reds 6, Giants 3 -- David Ross's solo homer broke a tie with two outs in the eighth and Cincinnati rallied from a three-run deficit to win in San Francisco.
Ross connected against Vinnie Chulk (0-2) with a drive to left for the NL wild-card-leading Reds, who began a season-long 10-game road trip against contending NL West teams.
Pirates 5, Astros 3 -- Fading Houston lost for the 10th time in 13 games as Paul Maholm worked his way through a shaky first three innings to earn the victory for host Pittsburgh, which has won three straight.
Maholm (6-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Mike Gonzalez worked the ninth for his 24th save in 24 opportunities.
Brewers 12, Rockies 6 -- Tomo Ohka drove in a career-high four runs batting lefthanded for the first time in his major league career, and Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer as Milwaukee extended visiting Colorado's losing streak to six.
Ohka (4-3), a righthanded pitcher, drove in runs in his three plate appearances. After swinging for the fences on the first pitch of his first at-bat and doing a pirouette, he hit the mitt of catcher Danny Ardoin on his next swing, and Geoff Jenkins scored on the catcher's interference.
Cubs 11, Phillies 2 -- Aramis Ramirez homered and tripled, and host Chicago hit four homers to stop Philadelphia's five-game winning streak.
