Perez delivers for Mets
Win gets Randolph off hook - for now
Willie Randolph smiled easily, joked freely, and acted very much as if nothing could possibly spoil his night.
Quite the change in mood from just a few hours earlier.
Oliver Perez pitched seven stellar innings and the New York Mets beat the Texas Rangers, 7-1, last night at Shea Stadium, giving their embattled manager a win and momentarily easing the tension in a clubhouse desperate for something good to happen.
"I'm a fighter," said Randolph, who again is dealing with rumors that his job is on the line. "When the team's losing, I'm going to take that real personal."
Perez (5-4) helped himself by driving in two runs for the Mets, who played small ball to perfection in manufacturing all of their runs. Marlon Anderson snapped an 0-for-25 slump with a base hit and also had a pair of RBIs for New York.
"We scored some runs and got to breathe a little bit," Randolph said. "It was a big contrast to the way things have been going."
Josh Hamilton homered and had two hits for the Rangers, but the best hitting club in the American League managed just one other hit.
Yankees 2, Astros 1 - Derek Jeter hit a solo homer in the eighth inning off Doug Brocail and Joba Chamberlain pitched six strong innings in his first career road start to lead New York over Houston.
Alex Rodriguez added an RBI single for the Yankees in their first regular-season game at Minute Maid Park.
Chamberlain allowed six hits and struck out two in his third career start, keeping the Yankees in the game as the offense struggled against Astros starter Shawn Chacon. Chacon, who played for the Yankees in 2005 and '06, gave up three hits and struck out two in 6 1/3 innings.
Brocail (2-1) started the eighth in relief of Wesley Wright and Jeter drove the second pitch he saw into the right-field seats, his fourth homer of the season and first since June 1.
White Sox 5, Rockies 4 - Juan Uribe tied it with a two-run single and came around to score on A.J. Pierzynski's infield hit in a three-run seventh inning that lifted host Chicago over Colorado.
Trailing, 4-2, in the seventh, Uribe drove in Jermaine Dye and Nick Swisher with a bases-loaded single and scored from third on Pierzynski's single that hit off a sliding shortstop Omar Quintanilla.
The win was the ninth straight at U.S. Cellular Field for Chicago, which went 7-0 on its previous homestand before getting swept at Detroit this week.
Rays 7, Marlins 3 - Eric Hinske and Dioner Navarro both drove in two runs to lead host Tampa Bay.
Hinske's first-inning double off Ryan Tucker (1-1) wiped out a two-run lead the Marlins took against Andy Sonnanstine (7-3), who settled after a shaky opening inning to win for the first time in nearly a month.
Blue Jays 3, Cubs 2 - Scott Rolen and Matt Stairs hit back-to-back home runs and A.J. Burnett (6-6) won for the first time in four starts as host Toronto snapped Chicago's four-game winning streak.
Tigers 5, Dodgers 0 - Armando Galarraga (6-2) and Freddy Dolsi combined for a three-hitter and Marcus Thames and Magglio Ordonez homered to lift host Detroit to its fourth straight win.
Twins 10, Brewers 2 - Kevin Slowey (3-6) pitched eight effective innings and hit a two-run single for his first career RBIs, leading Minnesota at Milwaukee.
Orioles 9, Pirates 6 - Luke Scott homered and Melvin Mora had three hits and a key RBI for host Baltimore, which rallied from a five-run deficit. 