Rocket Returns; Lieber Blanks Royals; Haren Wins 7th Straight

Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues. American League NY Yankees 9 Pittsburgh 3 - The Yankees welcomed the return of Roger Clemens and won their 5th straight. The Rocket wasn't exactly dominant, but he was good enough to win, lasting 6 innings while giving up 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 earned runs. Clemens threw 108 pitches and stuck out 6. The Yankees didn't pick up any ground on the Red Sox, but did take over sole possession of 2nd place, 10 1/2 back, as the Orioles lost. Philadelphia 4 Kansas City 0 - Jon Lieber twirled a complete-game 3-hitter and stuck out 11 Royals as the Phillies continued to close in on the Braves and Mets in the AL East. Lieber (right) won for only the 3rd time against 4 losses, but has pitched well enough to win a number of times this season. Note to fantasy players, Lieber is 129-119 with a 3-1 strikeout-walk ratio lifetime. The Phillies are 5 behind New York and trail Atlanta by just 1 1/2. Washington 3 Minnesota 1 - Washington probably isn't going anywhere this season, but Minnesota has definitely gone south in June. The Twins lost for the 6th time in their last 7 games, scoring just 11 runs in the losses. Starter Johan Santana took another tough loss, surrendering just 2 earned runs over 7 innings. Other AL Scores Houston 3 Chicago White Sox 2 - Sox' 5th straight loss Colorado 3 Baltimore 2, 10 innings Detroit 8 NY Mets 7 - J. Bonderman (W, 6-0); C. Guillen, HR (8), 3 RBI Texas 4 Milwaukee 3 - Rangers score 4 in bottom of 9th National League Oakland 6 San Francisco 0 - Oakland hammered former teammate Barry Zito for the second time this season and Dan Haren (right) won his 7th straight decision with a masterful performance, shutting out the Giants on 5 hits over 7 innings. Zito (6-6) lasted only 4 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 9 hits. In a previous meeting between the two Bay Area teams (May 18), Zito gave up 7 earned runs on 6 hits and 7 walks and was also lifted after 4 innings. Haren (7-2) struck out 6 without walking a batter, lowering his ERA to a major league-best 1.58 and his WHIP to 0.86. The A's kept pace with Seattle and the first place LA Angels in the AL West. The Mariners trail LA by 5 1/2 games. Oakland is 6 back. Cleveland 8 Cincinnati 6, Final 11 innings - Grady Sizemore singled, doubled, homered and scored 3 times, including the final run of the game, as the Indians rallied past the Reds. The Indians are being dogged by the Detroit Tigers, who also won on Saturday and remain 2 1/2 back.

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The top two teams in the AL Central are separating themselves from the remainder of the division as Minnesota (-8), Chicago (-10) and Kansas City (-15 1/2) all lost. Atlanta 9 Chicago Cubs 5 - Edgar Renteria slugged a 2-run homer (9) in the 4th inning and added a single and double in 5 at-bats, driving in 4 and scoring twice as the Braves got one back from the visiting Cubs. Chicago won the first two games of the series, which concludes this afternoon in Atlanta. The Braves remain 3 12 behind the Mets in the East. Chicago is 5 back of Milwaukee in the Central. LA Angels 9 St. Louis 3 - The Angels are 12-3 over their last 15 games and 5-0 in interleague play this season, having previously swept the Dodgers back in May. With two straight at St. Louis, the Angels can complete the sweep Sunday afternoon. Toronto 1 LA Dodgers 0 - Derek Lowe pitched all 9 innings and only allowed 4 hits, but one of them was a 6th-inning Matt Stairs solo homer. Shaun Marcum (3-2) and a pair of relievers blanked the Dodgers and evened the series - which concludes today - at a game apiece. Other NL Scores Tampa Bay 7 Florida 2 - J. Shields (W, 6-0), 9 Ks Boston 4 Arizona 3, 10 innings - D. Ortiz scores on M. Lowell sac fly in 10th Seattle 6 San Diego 5 - Padres lead D-Backs and Dodgers by 1, 1 1/2 in NL West Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4