A-Rod Bombs Pittsburgh; Pujols Answers Angels

Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues. American League NY Yankees 13 Pittsburgh 6 - The Yankees won their 6th straight, pounding the visiting Pirates in the series finale to pull within 9 1/2 of the Red Sox in the AL East. Alex Rodriguez (right) knocked his 23rd and 24th homers of the season, scored 4 times and drove in 5 runs to give him a MLB-leading 63. Bobby Abreu went 4-4, also scored 4 times and drove in 3 runs. Colorado 6 Baltimore 1 - Ryan Spilborghs, a part-timer with only 40 at-bats this season, drove in all 6 of Colorado's runs with a solo shot in the 4th, a 2-run single in the 5th and a 3-run bomb in the 7th inning. Milwaukee 9 Texas 6, 12 innings - The Brewers banged out 22 hits, Prince Fielder whacked his NL-leading 23rd home run and Geoff Jenkins raked a 3-run shot - his 11th - in the 12th to avoid the sweep at Texas. Milwaukee leads the Cardinals by 5 1/2 in the NL Central. Detroit 15 NY Mets 7 - Gary Sheffield went 4-5 with his 17th home run, Ivan Rodriguez has 2 doubles, a triple, drove in a pair and scored 3 times, and Brandon Inge has a pair of singles and a 2-run homer for 5 RBI as the Tigers took 2 of 3 from the visiting Mets. New York starter Tom Glavine was pounded for 11 hits and 9 earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Tigers clawed to within 1 1/2 of Cleveland in the AL Central while the Mets held onto a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL East. Kansas City 17 Philadelphia 5 - The Royals scored in every inning except the 5th, blowing out the visiting Phillies and posting their biggest score of the season. Mark Grudzielanek had a single, double and homer in 5 at-bats, driving in 5 runs and scoring twice. Other AL Scores Chicago White Sox 6 Houston 3 - White Sox, 3-7 last 10 Minnesota 6 Washington 3 - T. Hunter, 3-4, 3 R National League St. Louis 9 LA Angels 6 - After his Cardinals lost two straight to the Angels, Albert Pujols (right) broke out the whuppin' stick on Sunday, mashing a 2-run and a 3-run homer to lead the Cardinals over LA and avoid the series sweep. Pujols, off to a relatively slow start this season, is creeping up on the leaders with a .299 batting average, 15 homers and 40 RBI. Don't look now, but the Cardinals are just 5 1/2 behind Central leader Milwaukee. Oakland 2 San Francisco 0 - Lenny DiNardo, Santiago Casilla and Alan Embree combined for a 5-hit shutout of the punchless Giants. DiNardo started and surrendered 4 hits over the first 6, innings, then Santiago hurled a perfect 7th and 8th for the W, with Embree getting the save in the 9th. Marco Scutaro got the A's first run in the 8th with his 3rd home run, and Shannon Stewart singled home Mark Kotsay in the 9th with an insurance run. The fast-fading Giants haven't scored in two games, have lost 3 straight, 7 of their last 9 and rank 11th of 16 NL teams in batting average (.254), RBI (251) and home runs (51).

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Barry Bonds went 0-3 and hasn't homered in his last 12 games. His current homer drought follows a 14-game skein interrupted by career homer #746 on May 15. Over his last 27 games, Bonds has 1 home run, 5 RBI and a .213 (16-75) batting average. Is this an extended slump or is it finally over for Barry? Toronto 11 LA Dodgers 5 - Troy Glaus singled, doubled, hit a solo homer, drove in 2 and scored 3 times in 4 at-bats as the Blue Jays avoided the sweep at LA. The NL West remains tight, with Arizona and San Diego leading the Dodgers by 1 1/2. Other NL Scores Seattle 4 San Diego 3 Tampa Bay 9 Florida 4 - B. Harris, 2-5, HR (6), 5 RBI Cincinnati 1 Cleveland 0, 12 innings Arizona 5 Boston 1 - R. Johnson (W, 4-2), 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K Atlanta 5 Chicago Cubs 4 - Braves, 2 1/2 behind NY in NL East Interleague Scoreboard: Friday (6/8): AL 8, NL 6 Saturday (6/9): AL 10, NL 4 Sunday (6/10): AL 9, NL 5