Major League Baseball
Ortiz, Schilling come through for Red Sox ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – David Ortiz had his 25th two-homer game and Curt Schilling threw seven solid innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-2 on Friday night.
Ortiz’s second homer of the game, his AL-leading 39th this season, was a solo shot in the eighth inning off Seth McClung (3-11) that gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. He also hit a solo homer in the fourth.
Schilling (14-4) gave up two runs and nine hits, walked two and struck out four. He became the major leagues’ second 14-game winner, joining Detroit rookie Justin Verlander.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 33 opportunities.
Damon Hollins and Carl Crawford homered for Tampa Bay.
Yankees 5, Orioles 4
BALTIMORE – Jorge Posada homered off Chris Ray to break a ninth-inning tie, and the Yankees rallied for their fifth straight victory.
Ray (1-4) retired Jason Giambi before Posada hit his 14th homer, a solo shot that soared well above the 25-foot scoreboard in right. Three of Ray’s four losses have come against the Yankees.
Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 27th save. By finishing his 114th game over two seasons, Rivera guarantees his $10.5 million option for 2007.
Scott Proctor (4-2) worked the eighth to earn the win for New York, which had 13 hits and stranded 13 runners.
Tigers 7, Indians 6
DETROIT – Craig Monroe hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Tigers over the Indians.
The Indians led 6-4 after seven innings but the Tigers pushed across three in the eighth. Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez singled off Rafael Betancourt with no outs to begin the rally. Magglio Ordonez then lined a pitch to right-center that looked like a game-tying extra-base hit, but Shin-Soo Choo raced into the gap to make a diving catch. Polanco tagged and went to third.
Betancourt was replaced by Fernando Cabrera (1-2), who surrendered a sacrifice fly to Carlos Guillen. Monroe then drilled a 3-2 pitch into the left-field stands for his 18th homer of the season.
White Sox 6, Blue Jays 4
TORONTO – A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer and Jon Garland outpitched Roy Halladay to win his eighth straight decision, leading Chicago over the slumping Blue Jays.
Sluggers Jim Thome and Paul Konerko returned to the Chicago lineup. Thome went 3-for-4 with a walk after missing four games because of tendinitis in his right wrist and back spasms.
Konerko went 3-for-3 with two walks after missing a game with a bruised left arm.
Troy Glaus hit two homers for the Blue Jays, who have a season-high six-game losing streak – their longest since losing six straight from July 9-18, 2004.
Phillies 5, Mets 3
NEW YORK – Chase Utley’s hitting streak ended at 35 games, David Dellucci hit a tiebreaking homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets for their fourth straight win.
Utley went 0-for-5, striking out twice. He hit a bouncer to the right of second base in the seventh inning but Jose Valentin backhanded it and threw him out in a close play at first.
Dellucci led off the seventh against reliever Darren Oliver (4-1) with his ninth homer for the Phillies, who improved to 13-8 since the All-Star break. Dellucci’s shot made it 4-3 and Ryan Howard hit a drive off Pedro Feliciano in the ninth for his NL-leading 37th homer.
Ryan Madson (10-7) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win and Tom Gordon struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances.
Philadelphia has won nine of its last 11 and now trails first-place New York by 11 games in the NL East.
Utley’s streak is the longest in the majors this season and he tied three others for the 10th-longest streak in major league history. It’s also the second-longest in franchise history, trailing only Jimmy Rollins’ 38-game run. Rollins hit in the final 36 games last season and the first two this year.
Luis Castillo of Florida (2002), Ty Cobb of Detroit (1917) and Fred Clarke of Louisville (1895) also had 35-game streaks. Utley also tied Castillo for the major league record for a second baseman.
The major league record is 56 games in a row by the Yankees’ Joe DiMaggio in 1941.
Brewers 4, Cardinals 3
ST. LOUIS – Prince Fielder went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and Milwaukee extended St. Louis’ losing streak to eight games.
Tony Graffanino had three hits and an RBI for the Brewers, who have won four of six.
Doug Davis (7-6) worked into the sixth and Dan Kolb rescued him from a bases loaded jam to end that inning. Francisco Cordero got the last three outs for his third save in as many chances with Milwaukee.
Chris Carpenter (10-6) needed only 65 pitches to get through six innings. The Brewers bunched three of their seven hits against him in a three-run third highlighted by Fielder’s two-run homer.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals were swept in three-game series by two sub-.500 teams, the Phillies and Cubs, before falling to another team with a losing record on Friday.
Reds 5, Braves 4
CINCINNATI – Royce Clayton hit his second homer in three games and Edwin Encarnacion added a two-run double to help Cincinnati snap a five-game losing streak.
The Reds, who were held hitless by Greg Maddux for six innings in a 3-0 loss to the Dodgers on Thursday night, didn’t get a hit off Atlanta’s Chuck James until the sixth inning. Clayton followed Ryan Freel’s one-out walk with a two-run drive to left-center for his second homer of the season, tying it at 2.
James (4-3) allowed four runs and two hits for the Braves, who’ve lost six of their last eight games.
Aaron Harang (12-7) lasted six innings, allowing two runs and five hits. Eddie Guardado loaded the bases in the ninth with no out then pitched out of the jam for his ninth save.
Dodgers 6
MIAMI – Derek Lowe pitched seven strong innings and Kenny Lofton homered and drove in two runs to lead Los Angeles to its season-high seventh straight victory.
Lowe (9-7) won his second straight start, allowing five hits and one run. He struck out five and walked none. It was his longest outing since a complete game win against Seattle on June 22.
Wilson Betemit hit a solo homer for the Dodgers.
Anibal Sanchez (4-2) lost his second straight start after winning four of his first five.