Thome ties Mantle with 536th career home run
BOSTON (AP) – Jim Thome tied Mickey Mantle for 14th place with his 536th career homer, Gavin Floyd won his fifth straight decision and the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. Thome hit a two-out, two-run drive off Tim Wakefield (8-9) in the first inning for his 29th of the season. Thome and Paul Konerko hit consecutive two-out doubles in the sixth to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.
Floyd (15-6) allowed one run and seven hits over 6 2-3 innings against a team that outscored the White Sox 16-4 and outhit them 30-11 in the first two games.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia singled in the first for his ninth straight hit, reaching safely in 11 consecutive plate appearances. He went 1-for-4 with a walk after going 4-for-4 with a walk in each of the previous two games.
Rays 10, Orioles 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – James Shields allowed one run over seven innings, and Jason Bartlett hit his first homer in over an year to help the AL East-leading Rays complete a three-game sweep.
Shields (12-8) gave up six hits to match his career high for wins set last season. He has won seven of his last nine starts at home.
Bartlett had four hits and drove in two runs, including a solo shot during a two-run seventh that made it 10-1. It was his first homer since Aug. 27, 2007.
Willy Aybar put the Rays ahead 2-0 on a two-out, two-run double off Brian Burres (7-9) in the first.
Tigers 4, Royals 2
DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs in Detroit’s win over Kansas.
Jose Guillen hit a home run for Kansas City, which has lost 12 of 14.
Kip Wells (0-1) came in to a tie game in the eighth and loaded the bases by hitting a batter and walking two. Ramon Ramirez replaced him, and Cabrera ripped Ramirez’s 3-2 pitch past third baseman Mark Teahen and into the left-field corner.
Gary Glover (2-3) pitched a perfect eighth inning for the win. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his seventh save in 11 chances.
Mariners 6, Indians 4
CLEVELAND – Adrian Beltre homered twice and Seattle beat the Indians to complete a three-game sweep.
Beltre’s third multihomer game of the season and 19th of his career helped Seattle win for the seventh time in nine games.
Ryan Rowland-Smith (4-2) allowed two runs – one earned – and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings to win his second straight start.
Zach Jackson (0-1) gave up six runs and seven hits in five innings and Shin-Soo Choo hit his ninth homer for Cleveland.
Roy Corcoran walked three in a shaky ninth but finished for his second save.
Twins 12, Athletics 4
OAKLAND, Calif. – Justin Morneau homered and drove in four runs, Scott Baker won for only the second time since the All-Star break and the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics to split a four-game series.
Alexi Casilla also homered and Nick Punto added two hits, including an infield single that sparked the Twins’ five-run sixth inning.
Minnesota, which missed a chance to move into first in the AL Central Saturday when closer Joe Nathan’s throwing error in the ninth led to a 3-2 loss, remained a half-game back of the White Sox, who beat Boston 4-2.
Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2
NEW YORK – Roy Halladay won his fourth straight start, giving him four wins over the Yankees this season, and Scott Rolen homered for Toronto.
The Blue Jays took two of three in this series to finish 100-124 at Yankee Stadium, which is closing at the end of the season.
Halladay (17-9) pitched seven effective innings, allowing only solo homers to Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner improved to 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA in five starts against the Yankees this year.
Barely clinging to slim playoff chances, the Yankees finished a 2-4 homestand against Toronto and Boston. They begin a four-city, 10-day road trip Monday with a makeup game at Detroit.
Andy Pettitte (13-11) was charged with six runs and 10 hits for the second consecutive outing.
Rangers 4, Angels 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Josh Hamilton and Marlon Byrd hit home runs and the Texas Rangers beat Los Angeles 4-3 to avoid a sweep of the four-game series.
Both home runs went to center field, a day after center fielder Torii Hunter had robbed the Rangers of a home run for the second straight game. Hunter, trying to win his eighth straight Gold Glove, was still a little banged up after hitting the back of his head against the fence and had the day off.
Kevin Millwood (9-7) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings following back-to-back complete-game victories over Detroit and Kansas City.
Mets 6, Marlins 2
MIAMI – Pedro Martinez pitched six innings for only his second victory since July 7, and New York homered three times to beat Florida.
Back-to-back home runs in the third inning by Nick Evans and David Wright put the Mets ahead to stay. Carlos Beltran added his 21st homer.
The first two batters to face Martinez scored, but those were the only runs he allowed. Martinez (5-3) gave up seven hits but only one walk.
Scott Olsen (6-9) gave up six runs in 6 1-3 innings and fell to 0-5 in eight starts since July 19.
The defeat meant that for only the second time in Marlins history, they went an entire month without back-to-back victories. They were 11-17 in August and fell seven games behind NL East leader New York.
Phillies 5, Cubs 3
CHICAGO – Jayson Werth hit another home run against the Chicago Cubs and 45-year-old Jamie Moyer got his 12th win, helping Philadelphia salvage a split of their four-game series at Wrigley Field.
Werth hit a two-run double in the first and a solo drive in the fifth for his 21st homer of the season. Werth, who went deep twice and drove in four runs in Philly’s 5-2 win Saturday, is 11-for-21 with four homers and 10 RBIs against the Cubs this season.
The Cubs’ NL Central lead was trimmed to 41/2 games over Milwaukee, which blanked Pittsburgh 7-0 on Sunday.
Moyer (12-7), who started his career with the Cubs in 1986, gave up eight hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings, and the Phillies bullpen worked its way out of a couple of jams.
Sean Marshall (3-4), subbing for Carlos Zambrano, allowed three of his five runs in the first inning. He walked two and surrendered nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Astros 3, Cardinals 0
HOUSTON – Ty Wigginton hit his 12th home run of August and four Astros pitchers combined to shut out St. Louis.
Houston swept the three-game series with the Cardinals and has won five straight. The Astros finished 21-9 for the month, third best record in the National League behind Chicago and Milwaukee.
The Cardinals fell 61/2 games behind the Brewers in the wild card race. Before the weekend, they were 31/2 games back.
Starter Wandy Rodriguez (8-6) left after 5 2-3 innings with a strained right oblique muscle. Club officials said he is day-to-day.
Todd Wellemeyer (11-6) went seven innings and allowed one run and four hits.
Nationals 8, Braves 4
WASHINGTON – Aaron Boone failed to lay down a sacrifice, then slammed a three-run, eighth-inning home run to lift Washington to its season-high sixth straight win.
Called on to bunt after a single by Ryan Zimmerman and a walk to Elijah Dukes, Boone popped Elmer Dessens’ first offering foul. Boone sent the next pitch from Dessens (0-1) into the left-field bullpen for his sixth homer, his first since May 27.
Boone finished with four RBIs and Washington went on to score five times in the eighth, sending 11 men to the plate. It’s the Nationals’ longest winning streak since a 10-game run from June 2-12, 2005, the team’s first season in Washington after moving from Montreal.
Garrett Mock (1-3) recorded his first major league win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Reds 9, Giants 3
CINCINNATI – Joey Votto went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, Bronson Arroyo turned in another impressive start and the Reds beat San Francisco to complete their first three-game sweep of the Giants at home in 14 years.
Arroyo also doubled in two runs and Jeff Keppinger scored three times for Cincinnati, which has won three straight for the first time since July 10-12.
Arroyo (13-10), who also recorded his first career stolen base, allowed two runs and 10 hits in seven innings to win his third straight start. He has allowed just four runs in his last 23 innings.
Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 1
PHOENIX (AP) – Andre Ethier and Casey Blake hit first-inning homers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers roughed up Brandon Webb and Arizona, climbing within 21/2 games of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.
Derek Lowe (11-11) tossed six shutout innings as the Dodgers took two of three games from Arizona. Los Angeles won a road series for the first time since July 20, when they also took two of three in Phoenix.
After dropping Friday night’s opener to fall 41/2 games back, Los Angeles rebounded to beat Arizona aces Dan Haren and Webb by a combined score of 14-3.
Padres 2, Rockies 1
SAN DIEGO – Trevor Hoffman blew the save after a terrific outing by Jake Peavy but Luis Rodriguez singled in the winning run in the ninth to give the San Diego Padres a victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Peavy struck out 13 over eight shutout innings but Hoffman (3-6) surrendered a pinch-hit RBI single to Chris Iannetta that tied it at 1. Hoffman, the career leader with 551 saves, has four blown saves this season.
Rookie Will Venable led off the bottom half with a base hit against Taylor Buchholz (6-4) and advanced to third on Brian Giles’ one-out single. Rodriguez followed with his winning hit.
Rodriguez also drove in Peavy with a two-out double in the fifth as San Diego handed the Rockies a costly loss.
Copyright Associated Press 2008