Sep 5, 2006 6 min read

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Rondell White hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Boof Bonser allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings to help Minnesota beat Tampa Bay 2-1 on Monday, continuing the Twins domination of the Devil Rays. Minnesota has won 13 in a row against Tampa Bay dating back to 2004.

Trailing 1-0 in the seventh, White gave the Twins the lead with a shot to left off Tim Corcoran (4-7).

Blue Jays 4, Indians 3

TORONTO – Vernon Wells and Reed Johnson homered to help Toronto beat Cleveland for its third straight win.

The Blue Jays entered the day two games behind Boston for second place in the AL East. The last time Toronto finished higher than third place was in 1993, when they won the division and the World Series.

Red Sox 3, White Sox 2

BOSTON – Sparked by the return of Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek, the Boston Red Sox tied the score in the ninth inning and beat the Chicago White Sox on Carlos Pena’s home run leading off the 10th.

Boston, which won for just the third time in 10 games, trailed 2-1 in the ninth when Ramirez walked on four pitches leading off against Bobby Jenks. He moved to second on Nixon’s groundout to first, then scored on Mike Lowell’s double into the left-field corner. It was just the third blown save in 42 chances for Jenks.

Pena’s homer, his first since last Oct. 2, was a drive into the right-field seats on a 2-1 pitch from Brandon McCarthy (3-6) – who was released by the Yankees on Aug. 15.

Mike Timlin (6-4) pitch a hitless inning for the victory.

With the loss, Chicago gave up the AL wild-card lead and fell a half-game behind Minnesota. The Red Sox, who trail the Twins by six games, won despite scoring three runs or fewer for the 13th time in 15 games.

Tigers 6, Mariners 2

DETROIT – Omar Infante’s two-run double keyed a four-run seventh and Nate Robertson pitched seven strong innings to help the Tigers beat Seattle.

Robertson (12-11) allowed one run on eight hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts, all of Adrian Beltre, while improving to 2-5 in his last seven starts.

Rangers 8, Athletics 1

OAKLAND, Calif. – Rookie Nelson Cruz hit an inside-the-park homer and a three-run shot on the way to a career-high five RBIs.

Robinson Tejeda (4-3) took a shutout into the seventh, Ian Kinsler added a solo homer and Eric Young hit a two-run double in his first big league at-bat in more than a month.

Frank Thomas singled in Oakland’s only run – it was unearned – in the seventh, and the Big Hurt tied Fred McGriff for 36th on the RBIs list at 1,550.

Nationals 4, Cardinals 1

WASHINGTON – Ramon Ortiz came within three outs of pitching the majors’ first no-hitter in more than two years in Washington’s win over St. Louis.

Ortiz, who homered in the eighth inning to put the Nationals up 3-0, began the ninth against Aaron Miles. With the crowd cheering on the right-hander, Miles lined the second pitch into center field for a clean single.

The 33-year-old from the Dominican Republic was bidding to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Randy Johnson’s perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 18, 2004.

After a double play, Ortiz (10-12) gave up Albert Pujols’ 43rd homer of the season – the slugger’s fourth homer in two days.

Ortiz was then pulled to a standing ovation by the crowd of about 30,000.

Marlins 8, D’backs 5

MIAMI – The resilient Florida Marlins became the first team in major-league history to climb above .500 after being 20 games under, rallying to beat reeling Arizona.

Joe Borchard’s three-run homer capped a six-run sixth inning against the Diamondbacks, who have lost six in a row despite leading in each of the past five games. Dan Uggla hit a two-run homer, his 22nd, and broke Jeff Conine’s franchise record for RBIs by a rookie with 81.

Phillies 3, Astros 2

PHILADELPHIA – Chase Utley’s home run with two outs in the 10th inning gave the Phillies a win over the Astros.

After both teams wasted opportunities to win late in the game, Utley his 25th homer to right off Dave Borkowski (1-2). The second baseman was mobbed by his teammates and helped the Phillies snap a 12-game losing streak to Houston that dated back to August 2004.

Rick White (3-1) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win, retiring the final two batters he faced to leave a runner stranded on third. The Phillies entered 11/2 games back of San Diego in the NL wild card standings.

Roger Clemens left his 15th start of the season with a strained right groin after allowing only one hit in five innings. The Houston right-hander was 6-4 with a 2.29 ERA coming into the game. He gave up one run, struck out six and walked two. The Astros said he is day-to-day.

Brewers 6, Dodgers 3

MILWAUKEE – Greg Maddux lost his first decision since joining the Dodgers as the Brewers ended a 10-game losing streak.

Maddux, who was 3-0 since being traded to Los Angeles by the Chicago Cubs on July 31, allowed a run and two hits in his first four innings. But an infield hit glanced off Maddux’s glove in the fifth, setting up a three-run inning for Milwaukee.

Giants 5, Reds 4

CINCINNATI – Barry Bonds hit a tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Shea Hillenbrand had a solo shot in the 10th off David Weathers (4-4). With 730 homers, Bonds is 25 shy of Hank Aaron’s record.

Ken Griffey Jr. dug his right cleats into the padded wall while vainly trying to catch Bonds’ homer, which landed in the first row in right-center field. Griffey left with a dislocated toe next to the big toe on his right foot.

The Giants have won three in a row and 15 of 21, pulling into contention for the NL wild card, and they moved back to .500 (69-69) for the first time since July 27. Cincinnati has lost nine of 10.

Braves 5, Mets 0

NEW YORK – Chuck James pitched one-hit ball for eight neat innings, shutting down the Mets.

James (8-3) also scored twice and got his first hit of the season for Atlanta. Helped by a string of strong defensive plays, he allowed only a second-inning single off the left-field fence to David Wright, who was thrown out at second by Matt Diaz on the play.

Adam LaRoche and Edgar Renteria each drove in two runs for the Braves, trying to stay within striking distance of the NL wild card.

Atlanta took advantage of a season-high seven walks by Steve Trachsel (14-6) and gave manager Bobby Cox his 2,158th win, which moved him ahead of Hall of Famer Bucky Harris for fifth place on the career list.