Maine Slows Minny; Figgins' 6th Hit Grounds Astros

American League Sam Perlozzo was fired on Monday by the Orioles, becoming the first manager casualty of the season. Bullpen coach Dave Trembley, who has served as a minor league manager in the organization, will be the interim manager. Former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi is being rumored to be on the short list for a full-time replacement. Under Perlozzo, the O's were 29-40, in last place in the AL East, 15 1/2 behind the Boston Red Sox. LA Angels 10 Houston 9 - The series between the LA Angels and Houston Astros has already produced plenty of fireworks. Chone Figgins (right) went 6 for 6, his last hit - a triple - driving in the game's winning run. Figgins, who also stole a base, scored once and drove in 3. He is 36-for-79 (.456) over his last 17 games and the perfect night raised his batting average from .258 to .284. Not a bad night. Houston's Mark Loretta was 4-5 with 3 RBI and teammate Craig Biggio went 1-6 to get within 10 of 3000. The Angels simply won't slow down. So far in June they are 12-4 and Monday's win was their 3rd straight. They began the season 6-9, ending a 6-game losing streak on April 18. Since then, they've gone 39-17 (.696) and lead the AL West by 6 games over the A's, and have the best home record in baseball at 25-9. Cleveland 10 Philadelphia 1 - The Indians rocked Philly starter Cole Hamels (8-3) for 6 runs on 8 hits over 5 innings and retained their slim one game lead over Detroit in the AL Central. Kelly Shoppach, batting 9th, clubbed a 3-run homer off Hamels and added a run-scoring double in the 6th inning, finishing his night 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. The Phillies dropped to 3 back of the NL East-leading Mets. Other AL Scores Chi White Sox 10 Florida 6 - J. Thome, HR (9), 3 RBI (27) Oakland 6 Cincinnati 1 - J. Blanton (W, 7-4) 8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K National League NY Mets 8 Minnesota 1 - The Mets banged out 15 hits and John Maine (7-4) shut down the Twins on 5 hits over 7 1/3 innings, giving up just one earned run. The Mets stayed 1 1/2 clear of the Braves in the NL East. Detroit 9 Washington 8 - The Tigers nearly blew an 8-run lead as closer Todd Jones allowed 5 hits and 3 runs before finally getting the last out with runners on the corners. Carlos Guillen singled, doubled and hit a solo homer in 4 at-bats, scoring twice and driving in 3 runs for the Tigers. Detroit remained a game behind Cleveland in the AL Central race. Atlanta 9 Boston 4 - It was another Schilling shelling in Atlanta as the Braves roughed up starter Curt Schilling for 10 hits and 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings.

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It was the second straight tough outing for Schilling (6-4), who pitched a 1-hitter on June 7, but allowed 5 earned on 9 hits over 5 innings vs. Colorado in his next outing, June 13. Catcher Brian McCann doubled home a run in the 4th and smacked a 3-run homer in the 5th, ending the night for Schilling. Coco Crisp went 4-4 for the Red Sox, with a pair of solo homers. Other NL Scores Tampa Bay 10 Arizona 2 - D-Backs trail Padres by 1 1/2 in NL West Milwaukee 5 San Francisco 4 - P. Fielder, HR (26), F. Cordero, S (26) Kansas City 5 St. Louis 3 Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4 Sunday (6/10): AL 9, NL 5 Monday (6/11): AL 0, NL 2 Tuesday (6/12): AL: 8, NL: 6 Wednesday (6/13): AL: 6, NL: 8 Thursday (6/14): AL: 7, NL: 5 Friday (6/15): AL: 6, NL: 8 Saturday (6/16): AL: 5, NL: 9 Sunday (6/17): AL: 9, NL: 5 Monday (6/18): AL: 7 NL: 3 Total: AL: 75 NL: 61 Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues.