Jeter Continues Streak as Yanks Beat BoSox; Church's 6 RBI Leads Nats

Wednesday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League The New York Yankees made somewhat of a statement, taking 2 of 3 from the Red Sox with an 8-3 win Wednesday in New York as Derek Jeter continued his torrid bid for MVP, going 3-5 with a triple and a pair of singles, driving in 2 runs and scoring twice, extending his hitting streak to 18 games. Jeter is tied with teammate Jorge Posada for the league lead at .367. The Yanks rapped out 16 hits against Boston, 12 of them against starter Curt Schilling, who lasted just six innings, allowing 5 earned runs, including a pair of homers off the bats of Doug Mientkiewicz and Hideki Matsui. Jeter had a 20-game hit streak earlier in the season and has hit safely in 41 of 43 games in which he has recorded at least one official at-bat. The Yankees trail the Red Sox by 9 1/2 games in the AL East. Magglio Ordonez hit a pair of solo homers in the Tigers' 8-7 win over the visiting Angels. Ordonez continues to dog NY's Alex Rodriguez for the AL RBI lead. A-Rod has 43, Ordonez, 42. Detroit closer Todd Jones picked up his 15th save as the Tigers took a slim 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. The Angels remain 4 1/2 better than Seattle and Oakland in the AL West. Chad Gaudin improved to 4-1 with 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball as the A's won 4-0 at Chicago. Gaudin allowed just 5 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Break up the Royals! Suddenly the hottest team in the majors, the Kansas City Royals took their 2nd straight from Cleveland on Wednesday in KC, 11-7, knocking the Indians out of first place in the AL Central. Mike Sweeney homered for the 2nd straight game and Mark Grudzielanek singled, doubled and homered in 5 at-bats, driving in 3 runs and scoring a pair. The Royals have won 4 in a row (their longest win streak of the season) and 8 of the last 10. They remain in last place in the AL Central, however, 10 games behind leader Detroit. Other AL Scores Minnesota 5 Texas 3 Baltimore 5 Toronto 2 Seattle 5, Tampa Bay 1 - J. Guillen, 4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB (1); I. Suzuki, 16-gm. hit streak National League Ryan Church knocked in 6 runs with a pair of homers - a 2-run shot in the 1st and a solo blast in the 7th - and followed that up with a game-winning bases loaded double in the 8th, propelling the Washington Nationals to a 12-7 win at Cincinnati. The Nats have taken 2 of 3 from the Reds with the teams set to finish their 4-game set on Thursday. Oliver Perez kept the Braves' hitters scoreless through 7 innings on 4 hits and Joe Smith and Billy Wagner worked the 8th and 9th in the Mets' 3-0 win at Atlanta. Perez walked 2 and struck out 5 to improve to 6-3 while Wagner picked up his 11th save. Jose Reyes swiped his league-leading 26th base. The win gave NY a 2 1/2-game lead over the Braves in the NL East. Brad Penny kept the Dodgers in first place for another day with 7 innings of shutout ball as LA beat the visiting Brewers, 5-1. Penny (6-1) allowed just 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4.

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Catcher Russell Martin provided the bulk of the offense with 4 RBI on a bases-loaded triple in the 1st and a sac fly in the 7th. The Dodgers stayed 1/2-game ahead of San Diego and 2 1/2 ahead of Arizona and San Francisco in the NL West. The Brewers, despite winning just 3 times in their last 10 games, maintain a 6 1/2-game edge on the Cubs and Astros in the Central. Dan Uggla needed just a single to hit for the cycle Wednesday as he cracked his 9th home run, doubled and tripled in 6 at-bats, scoring 3 times and driving in 3 runs. The single may have helped as, despite Uggla's heroics, the visiting Phillies outlasted the Marlins, 8-7 in 10 innings. Jimmy Rollins scored the game-winner for Philly. The two teams are battling for 3rd place in the NL East. The Phillies are currently 6 1/2 back of the Mets, the Marlins 7 1/2 behind, but the teams have split the first 2 games of their 3-game series, with the rubber game on Thursday. Other NL Scores St. Louis 5 Pittsburgh 3 San Francisco 9 Houston 1 - B. Zito (W, 4-5), 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER; B. Bonds, DNP Colorado 2 Arizona 0 - J. Francis (W, 3-4), 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER San Diego 2 Chi Cubs 1 - D. Wells (W, 2-2)