NEW YORK: The New York Yankees ended the Los Angeles Angels five-game winning streak with an impressive 8-2 victory in the American League on Saturday.
New York starter Mike Mussina retired the final 17 batters he faced, making several stellar plays on the mound, to guide the Yankees to an overdue win, having lost five of their previous six games Jose Molina hit one of New York’s four homers as the Yankees won in front of 54,170 fans on Old-Timers’ Day.
Rays 9 Tigers 3: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Tampa Bay beat Detroit to notch its fourth straight win and set a franchise record for the most home victories in a season at 42. Rookie Evan Longoria homered and drove in three runs for the Rays, who retained a three-game buffer atop the AL East. Longoria had a RBI double during a four-run second inning and a run-scoring single in the fourth. He led off the sixth with his 21st homer, tying Tampa Bay’s record in a rookie season. Tampa Bay starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine won for the first time in nearly a month, allowing only two runs in six innings.
Royals 9 White Sox 7: In Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City got its most hits in a game for almost two years, beating Chicago.
In very high temperatures, the Royals got 19 hits and Chicago remained only half a game clear atop the AL Central. Jose Guillen and Billy Butler both homered off ineffective Chicago starter Mark Buehrle, and Esteban German had a two-run triple.
Indians 5 Twins 1: In Minneapolis, Cleveland’s Paul Byrd pitched seven sharp innings to win his third straight start, beating a managerless Minnesota. Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run homer for the Indians. The Twins were without manager Ron Gardenhire, who served a one-game suspension for his outburst that led fans to throw hats and baseballs on the field during a game Thursday. Byrd allowed just one run, extending an run of good performances in which he has given up just five runs in four starts.
Red Sox 12 Athletics 2: In Boston, Jason Bay hit his first home run as a Boston player as the Red Sox cruised past Oakland.
Kevin Youkilis added a pair of two-run homers for the Red Sox. Bay finished 1-for-4 and has reached base safely in six of his first 11 at-bats with Boston since arriving in a trade.
Blue Jays 6 Rangers 4: In Arlington, Texas, Rod Barajas and Scott Rolen each had two-run doubles in the sixth inning as Toronto rallied past Texas.
Orioles 3 Mariners 1: In Seattle, Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie retired 26 of the final 28 batters he faced in his first career complete game, beating Seattle. Guthrie overcame a rocky start to allow just four hits and win for the sixth time in his past seven decisions.
Dodgers close in on NL
West rival DBacks
In Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Dodgers closed within two games of Arizona in the National League West by beating the Diamondbacks 4-2 on Saturday.
New Dodger acquisitions Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake hit their first home runs as National Leaguers to complement a strong pitching effort by Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda allowed just one run in 7 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking none - a marked contrast to recent form that saw him give up 20 earned runs in 18-1/3 innings.
Ramirez, playing his second game since the Dodgers obtained him from Boston on Thursday, drove the first pitch he saw deep into the seats in left-center in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
Phillies 2 Cardinals 1: In St. Louis, pitcher Joe Blanton won his first game since joining Philadelphia, steering the in-form Phillies past St. Louis. The former Oakland pitcher gave up only four hits and struck out five in seven innings.
The NL East-leading Philadelphia needed just two solo homers to get the victory. The Phillies have homered in 11 straight games, and have won six of seven.
Marlins 5 Rockies 3: In Miami, pitcher Ricky Nolasco struck out a career-high 13 batters to guide Florida over Colorado. Nolasco allowed just four hits over eight innings and did not walk a batter to earn his first win in five appearances. Jeff Baker finished with three RBIs.
Brewers 4 Braves 2: In Atlanta, Milwaukee equaled a club record of nine straight road wins by beating Atlanta. C.C. Sabathia pitched deep into the game in another terrific outing for the Brewers, who stayed four games off NL Central leader Chicago.
Sabathia struck out nine in 8 1-3 innings, allowing only two runs. He has a 1.88 ERA in six starts with Milwaukee, which acquired him from Cleveland last month. Prince Fielder led off the seventh inning with his 24th homer of the season, tying the game 1-1.
Cubs 5 Pirates 1: In Chicago, the home team won its sixth game in seven by beating Pittsburgh. Reed Johnson had three hits and Geovany Soto drove in two runs for the NL Central-leading Cubs.
Astros 5 Mets 4, 10 innings: In Houston, Lance Berkman sprinted to home plate on a lined sacrifice fly to give Houston a dramatic win over New York. The Astros won after leveling the game with a memorable play in the bottom of the ninth. New York was leading 4-2 when Houston loaded the bases with one out.
Giants 2 Padres 0: In San Diego, Barry Zito pitched a season-high eight innings to shut down San Diego and steer San Francisco to a narrow victory. Zito, a former Cy Young award winner who has the most losses in the majors this year, gave up only three hits in a pitching duel against San Diego ace Jake Peavy.
Nationals 10, Reds 6: In Washington, infielder Pete Orr picked up his first RBIs in more than 15 months as Washington beat Cincinnati. Orr slapped a pinch-hit, two-run single into left field in the seventh inning to put Washington ahead to stay.
