American League
Chi White Sox 5 Cleveland 6, 11 innings -
Ryan Garko smacked a 2-run pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie it, then added a bloop single in the bottom of the 11th to send Jason Michaels home with the game winner. It was Cleveland's 28th come-from-behind win of the season.
Toronto 2 NY Yankees 3, 10 innings - With their 4th straight win, the Yankees picked up another game on Boston and now trail the Red Sox by 8 games in the AL East. It wasn't the prettiest of wins for the Bombers, as Melky Cabrera scored the tying run on a balk in the 9th, and Robinson Cano singled home Alex Rodriguez with the game winner in the 11th. The Yankees stranded 12 runners, but A-Rod got his 90th RBI on a single in the 1st inning.
Detroit 1 Minnesota 0 -
Nate Robertson (W, 6-6), shut out the Twins on 3 hits over 7, and
Todd Jones picked up his 24th save with a hitless 9th, keeping the Tigers a game clear of relentless Cleveland. Minnesota dropped to 7 behind in the division.
LA Angels 3 Tampa Bay 8 - After going 4-4 against the Yankees on Sunday,
Ty Wigginton (right) matched that with another 4-4 effort, tying the Tampa Bay record for most hits in consecutive plate appearances set by Aubrey Huff in 2004. The major league record for consecutive plate appearances with a hit is 12. Mike Higgins did it for Boston in 1938 and Walt Dropo matched it with Detroit in 1952.
Other AL Scores
Kansas City 9 Boston 3 - KC, 7-14 vs. AL East
Texas 11 Oakland 4 - A's, 9 straight losses
Baltimore 8 Seattle 3 - J. Gibbons, 2-5, HR (6), 5 RBI
National League
Philadelphia 15 LA Dodgers 3 - The top of the Phillies' lineup put a serious hurt on 5 Dodger pitchers Tuesday night. The Gang of Five -
Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley (left), Ryan Howard (right) and Aaron Rowand - knocked out 18 hits in 36 at-bats (.500), including 5 doubles, a triple and 3 homers. As a group, they drove in 11 runs and scored 12 times. Rowand went 5 for 6 with 3 doubles, 2 RBI and 3 scores; Howard banged out a pair of homers (23, 24), drove in 4 and scored twice; Victorino went 5 for 7, with 2 scores and 2 RBI.
The loss didn't hurt the Dodgers too badly, as the Padres also lost, keeping LA a game in front. The Phillies failed to gain ground on the Mets, who beat San Diego. Philly trails the Mets by 5 and Atlanta by 2 1/2.
Colorado 6 Pittsburgh 2 - The Rockies did benefit from the Phillies onslaught, picking up a game on all three teams in front of them in the West division. Colorado is now just 1 back of Arizona, 4 1/2 behind the Padres and 5 1/2 behind LA. Starter
Josh Fogg (5-6) went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits. The Rockies' offense did the rest.
NY Mets 7 San Diego 0 -
Orlando Hernandez (W, 6-4) blanked the Padres on 2 hits over 7 innings and the Mets expanded their lead on Atlanta to 2 1/2 games.
San Francisco 4 Chi Cubs 2 - Bonds watch: Last night,
Barry Bonds sat out for the second night in a row, was called on to pinch hit and . Barry's definitely slowing down. After slugging 8 bombs in his first 20 games (pitchers obviously were testing their stuff), he hit just 9 over his next 62 games. This included homerless stretches of 14 games in May and 12 from late May into June. Currently, Barry's in an 0-21 funk and hasn't hit one out in his last 8 games.
Looking ahead, Bonds better get busy. If he doesn't get his 4 to tie and 5 to break Aaron's record by the end of August, September doesn't figure to be any easier, with 18 games against Arizona, San Diego and Los Angeles, divisional foes with solid pitching staffs. Not only would Bonds be facing some of the top pitchers in the league, he'd likely be pressing, and that's never good. On the other hand, the divisional games are likely to be meaningful for his opponents, meaning that pitchers would be loathe to pitch around him. Barry turns 43 in a week (July 24).
The Cubs loss dropped them to 4 1/2 behind Milwaukee in the NL Central race.
Other NL Scores
Houston 4 Washington 2 - H. Pence, 2-5, HR (12), .334 ba
St. Louis 0 Florida 4 - Marlins use 6 pitchers for combined shutout
Cincinnati 6 Atlanta 5 - B. Phillips, 3-5, 2 RBI, 10 RBI in last 5 games
Arizona 2 Milwaukee 3 - D-Backs, 2-8 last 10
Racing to what appears to be their third straight NL West title, and 5th in the last 6 years, the LA Angels finished off their 4-game series in Baltimore, maintaining their 4 1/2 game lead over the Texas Rangers by beating the O's for the third straight night, 8-5. Driving in 5 runs with a pair of home runs - the 5th and 6th bombs in his last 10 games - Vladimir Guerrero continues to drive the Angels to wins. With the Angels up, 3-2 in the 6th inning, Guerrero launched his first moon shot of the night with one aboard to deep center off starter David Hernandez to put the Halos ahead 5-2. In the next inning, after Nick Markakis narrowed the lead to 5-3, Guerrero teed off again, this time with two on base, sealing the deal for the Angels and a 3-game-to-1 series win.
National League
While the Dodgers were losing at home to the Cardinals, 3-2, San Fran took advantage, notching a 10-1 win over the injury-ridden NY Mets. Spearheading the attack was Aaron Rowand, who has done everything ask of him for the Giants this season, including leading off the order on many occasions and playing a very steady center field. In this outing, the last of a 4-game series which ended in a 2-2 split, Rowand was down in the 7-hole, though that by no means diminished his effort, as he went 4-for-5, including a solo homer in the 4th, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Rowand and the Giants drew to within 1 game of second place Colorado and 5 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.
advancing the Mariners to within 3 games of the first-place Angels.
Suzuki's effort was his 51st multiple-hit game of the season, and boosted his batting average to .347, good for second in the AL, behind the Tigers' Magglio Ordonez at .351. The Angels and Mariners are in the midst of a crucial 3-game series, with games 2 and 3 on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Mariners are 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the wild card chase and have won 4 straight.
Detroit 5 Oakland 2 - Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco each collected three hits as the Tigers upped their slim lead in the AL Central to 1 full game over idle Cleveland. The Tigers topped the sliding A's, who have lost 4 straight and are 5-13 since the All-Star break.
Other AL Scores
Kansas City 1 Minnesota 3
Toronto 4 Tampa Bay 5, 11 innings
National League
Philadelphia 4 Chi Cubs 1 - Cole Hamels (right) improved to 12-5, allowing just three hits over 8 innings. The Cubs got their only run on Ryan Theriot's 6th inning solo homer. Hamels struck out 8, giving him 143 on the season, one behind NL leader Jake Peavy. Aaron Rowand cracked a 3-run homer off loser Ted Lilly in the 3rd inning and Tadahito Iguchi hit his first homer as a Philly - a solo shot in the 5th.
This was the first of a pivotal four-game set between the Cubs and Phillies, each team in second place in their respective division. The Cubs trail Milwaukee by only 1 game, while the Phillies are 3 behind the East-leading Mets.