Major League baseball
Blue Jays end Yankees five-game win streak NEW YORK (AP) – Bruised by a line drive again, Jaret Wright was ineffective and the Toronto Blue Jays ended New York’s five-game winning streak with a 7-4 victory Saturday over the Yankees.
Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano made costly errors for the Yankees, who lost for only the second time in 13 games. Chasing their eighth consecutive division title, they fell into a tie for the AL East lead with Boston, which won 4-3 at Baltimore.BALTIMORE – Edgar Renteria drove in two runs with a broken-bat single in the ninth inning, and Boston regained a share of first place in the AL East by defeating Baltimore.
After Trot Nixon and Tony Graffanino hit one-out singles off B.J. Ryan (1-4), Johnny Damon drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Renteria, who blooped a single to left that broke a 2-2 tie.
Astros 8, Cubs 3
CHICAGO – Roger Clemens couldn’t have done it much better.
Ezequiel Astacio (3-6), starting in place of the injured ace, allowed four hits in six innings Saturday, and the Houston Astros increased their lead in the NL wild-card race with an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Craig Biggio matched his career high with his 24th homer, a solo shot in the first inning, and drove in another run, and Lance Berkman also homered.
Reds 3, Phillies 2
CINCINNATI – Philadelphia couldn’t come up with another ninth-inning comeback.
The Phillies were unable to overcome a three-run deficit and lost to Cincinnati, falling two games behind Houston in the NL wild-card race.
Eric Milton (8-14) rebounded from the shortest start of his eight-year career to beat his former team, and Adam Dunn backed him up with a two-run homer.
Braves 6, Marlins 1
ATLANTA – Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 51st home run as Atlanta beat Florida to move closer to a 14th straight division title.
Atlanta (88-67) lowered its magic number for clinching the NL East to three and eliminated the Marlins from contention in the division.
Florida (80-75) has lost eight of 10 in a playoff push that has gone into reverse and is five games behind Houston (85-70) in the wild-card race with seven games remaining.
Jeff Francoeur and Rafael Furcal hit two-run homers in the second inning, and Chipper Jones connected in the third to reach 20 homers for the 11th straight season.
John Thomson (4-5) won for the first time since May 5, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings.
Brian Moehler (6-10) gave up five runs and six hits in three innings.
Mets 5, Nationals 2
WASHINGTON – Tom Glavine carried a shutout into the sixth inning for his 274th career win, David Wright’s grand slam capped a five-run first off Livan Hernandez, and New York won for the sixth time in eight games.
If the Mets (77-77) complete a series sweep Sunday, they’ll move up to fourth place in the NL East and drop the Nationals (78-77) into last.
Washington, losers of six of its past seven, started a lineup filled with rookies and reserves, and manager Frank Robinson said before the game that he’ll rest most regulars the rest of the way.
Rockies 6, Giants 0
DENVER – Sunny Kim (6-2) shut down Barry Bonds and the rest of the San Francisco lineup, throwing a three-hitter for his first career shutout.
Bonds went 0-for-3 and was held without a homer for the second straight game, as the Giants were shut out for the second time in three games.
Bonds has been held to two singles and a walk so far in two games at homer-friendly Coors Field, where his 24 home runs are the most of any visiting player. He stayed stuck on 707 for his career, seven behind Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list.
Noah Lowry (13-13) threw 6 1-3 innings and allowed six runs and seven hits.
Brewers 8, Cardinals 7
MILWAUKEE – Chad Moeller hit a three-run homer and Brady Clark added a two-run drive in a seven-run second inning off Mark Mulder that led Milwaukee over St. Louis.
Mulder (16-8) lasted 1 2-3 innings, the shortest of his 181 major league starts, and allowed seven runs, seven hits and one walk. He pitched at least seven innings in each of his previous six starts, allowing no more than two earned runs.