Numbers Game: Thomas: 500, Biggio: 3002

Editor's Note: It's rare that milestones are reached in baseball, but this season is seeing it's air share of big ones. Seeing two reached in one night is especially pleasing for the fans (and the reporters). On Thursday, Frank Thomas belted his 500th home run and Craig Biggio got his 3000th hit. Both players have been mainstays in the game for most of the past two decades and both are deserving of Hall of Fame inclusion when their brilliant careers are complete. Congratulations to them both. American League Toronto 5 Minnesota 8 - Frank Thomas (right) became the 21st player in major league history to hit 500 home runs with a 3-run job in the 1st inning off Twins' starter, Carlos Silva, and also doubled in another run for 4 RBI. Despite the historic feat, the Twins rallied to win and Thomas was ejected in the 9th for arguing balls and strikes. Torii Hunter homered twice for Minny, a solo shot in the 4th and a 2-run dinger in the 5th, which broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Twins the lead for good. Hunter has 17 homers and 62 RBI on the season. Texas 2 Detroit 5 - Kenny Rogers picked up his 2nd win in as many starts, keeping the Tigers 1/2-game ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central. Rogers allowed a single run on 4 hits over 7 innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. Other AL Scores Oakland 3 Cleveland 4 - P. Byrd, W (7-3) Chi White Sox 5 Tampa Bay 1 - J. Vazquez, W (4-5) 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K NY Yankees 8 Baltimore 6 - suspended, to be resumed on July 27 with NY batting in the top of the eighth, 2 out, D. Jeter on 2nd. National League Colorado 4 Houston 8, 11 innings - Craig Biggio (right) didn't waste any time getting his 3000th hit before the home crowd at Houston. After sitting out 2 of 3 games in Milwaukee (though he did pinch hit on the 27th) Biggio rapped out 3 singles in his first four trips to the plate, the 3rd one besides being #3000, also drove in a run to tie the game at 1. Biggio picked up another single in the 9th but was forced out at 2nd on Hunter Pence's grounder. In the 11th, after Troy Tulowitzki's solo homer put Colorado up 5-4 in the top of the inning, Biggio singled with 2 outs and moved to 3rd on Pence's double. After Lance Berkman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Carlos Lee took Brian Fuentes out of the yard to finish a perfect night for Houston. Biggio finished the night 5-6 with 3002 hits, and Houston got the win. It was Fuentes' third straight blown save and the Rockies' 7th straight loss. Cincinnati 7 Philadelphia 8, 10 innings - Jimmy Rollins doubled, tripled and singled twice in 6 at-bats, his final single in the 11th driving in the winning run in a wild win for Philadelphia. Chase Utley belted a pair of 2-run homers in Philly's 14-hit attack. With the Mets and Braves idle, Philadelphia took over sole possession of second place in the NL East, 3 back of New York. Pittsburgh 7 Florida 9 - The Marlins banged out 15 hits and Scott Olson fanned 10 in 6 innings while allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, avoiding the sweep in the finale of their 3-game series with the Pirates. Other NL Scores LA Dodgers 9 Arizona 5 - Dodgers tied w/San Diego for 1st in NL West, Arizona 1/2 back

Griffey Blasts 2, Passes McGwire; Biggio Closes In

American League Ken Griffey Jr., possibly the best outfielder of his era, tied and then passed Mark McGwire on the career home run list with a pair of homers - numbers 583 and 584 - for sole possession of 7th place all-time. Griffey bombed Seattle starter Miguel Batista in the 1st and 5th innings, though his effort was all the Reds could muster, losing 3-2 to the Mariners. Cincinnati 2 Seattle 3 Griffey's next target isn't far off. He's only two homers behind Frank Robinson at 586, and then it's on to 600. At 37, "The Kid" still has plenty of pop in his bat, with 21 homers already this season. With 600 in sight, Griffey (right) will be chasing Texas slugger Sammy Sosa, who has 601. Ahead of both Sosa and Griffey is Willie Mays with 660. It's conceivable that both players could reach Mays' mark, which is 4th all time. After that, time, and avoidance of injuries, will tell. Houston 12 Texas 9, 10 innings - The countdown to 3000 got into high gear for Craig Biggio as he stroked a pair of singles and a tie-breaking double to get the Astros over the Rangers on Sunday. The three hits gave Biggio 2996, and with a full slate of games this week, he'll likely reach the mark either on the road at Milwaukee (June 25, 26, 27) or at home against the Rockies (June 28, 29, 30). Batting in the #2 spot, right behind Biggio,

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rookie Hunter Pence went 4-6, scored 4 times and drove in a run with his 8th home run. Pence, a 2004 2nd round draft pick of the Astros, is near league leader Matt Holliday (.355) with a .353 batting average. Pence is just shy of being a qualified leader. His 207 at bats through 50 games, left him 23 short of the needed 230. Now that he's a regular in center field Pence should soon show up in the mix. Toronto 5 Colorado 0 - Nobody, not even the Toronto coaches, saw this coming. Dustin McGowan (4-3) tossed a no-hitter through eight innings, finally surrendering a single to lead off the ninth to Colorado's Jeff Baker. Undaunted, McGowan finished off the Rockies with a 1-hitter, issuing just 1 walk while striking out 7. The strong pitching performance helped the Blue Jays sweep the previously red-hot Rockies in the 3-game series and move into 2nd place in the AL East, 11 games back of Boston. Other AL Scores Tampa Bay 9 LA Dodgers 4 - Dodgers drop 2 of 3 at TB Chi Cubs 3 Chi White Sox 0 - Sox swept by Cubs, score 2 runs in 3 games LA Angels 4 Pittsburgh 3, 10 innings - Angels sweep, have won 7 of 8 National League Detroit 5 Atlanta 0 - The Tigers, already boasting the top batting average in the majors at .293, showed the Braves that they have a bit of pitching as well. as Andrew Miller and Chad Durbin combined for a 6-hit shutout on Sunday. Miller (3-1) worked the first 6 innings, with Durbin going the final 3 for his first save. Sweeping the series, the Tigers allowed just one run - Chipper Jones' solo homer on Saturday - over the three game span. The Braves have now been shut out in four of their last five games. Their hitters might as well be using fly swatters. Detroit opened up a 2-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. NY Mets 10 Oakland 2 - As the Braves struggled, the Mets pounded out another win and maintained their 3-game edge on surging Philadelphia. John Maine improved to 8-4 and Jose Valentin led the 14-hit assault with a 3-4 effort and 3 RBI, including his 3rd home run of the season. Boston 4 San Diego 2 - Josh Beckett (right) outgunned the Padres' Jake Peavy and became the first 11-game winner in the majors, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits over 8 innings. Beckett (11-1) struck out 8. Arizona 8 Baltimore 3 - With both the Padres and Dodgers losing, the Arizona Diamondbacks took their turn at first place in the NL West, taking 2 of 3 from the rapidly-disintegrating Orioles. With just a 1-game edge on San Diego and 1 1/2 on the Dodgers, the D-Backs open a 4-game home series against LA on Monday. Other NL Scores Minnesota 7 Florida 4 - J. Mauer, 2 HR (3), 3 RBI Washington 3 Cleveland 1 - J. Simontacchi (W, 5-5) 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Kansas City 4 Milwaukee 3, 11 innings Philadelphia 5 St. Louis 1 - S. Victorino, 3-run double in 8th San Francisco 7 NY Yankees 2 - Yankees, 36-37, 3rd in AL East 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 Tuesday (6/19): AL: 3, NL: 11 Wednesday (6/20): AL: 10, NL: 4 Thursday (6/21): AL: 3, NL: 2 Friday (6/22): AL: 7, NL: 7 Saturday (6/23): AL: 8, NL: 6 Sunday (6/24): AL: 8, NL: 6 Total: AL: 107 NL: 90 Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues.