Note: During interleague play, home teams are reported under their respective leagues.
American League
NY Mets 3 Detroit 0 - The Mets kept a tight hold on 1st place in the NL East as
Jorge Sosa (right) blanked the Tigers on 4 hits and 2 walks over 8 innings, fanning 5. Sosa improved to 6-1, with a 2.64 ERA. The Mets are 4 1/2 clear of Atlanta - losers of 4 straight - in the division, 19-7 on the road
(easily the best in the majors) and 3-1 against the American League.
Washington 8 Minnesota 5 -
Christian Guzman doubled, singled three times, scored 3 runs and had an RBI in 5 at-bats to lead the Nationals to a win at Minnesota to even their interleague record at 2-2. Guzman is batting .339, but, with only 121 at-bats, does not yet qualify as a league leader. He would be 2nd behind the Rockies' Matt Holliday.
Houston 5 Chi White Sox 2 -
Craig Biggio cracked a solo homer - his 4th of the season and 285th of his career - for hit #2980. Biggio, batting only .227 should reach the 3000-hit mark just prior to the All-Star break (July 9-12).
Other AL Scores
NY Yankees 5 Pittsburgh 4, 10 innings - D. Jeter, GW RBI
Baltimore 4 Colorado 2
Kansas City 8 Philadelphia 4 - F. Garcia (L, 1-5) 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER
Texas 9 Milwaukee 6 - 4th loss in last 6, 1-3 vs. AL, P. Fielder HR (22)
National League
Chicago Cubs 9 Atlanta 1 - Maybe it's time to put
Alfonso Soriano (right) in the #3 or 4 spot in the Cubs' batting order. The leadoff hitter smacked three home runs (10) and a single in 5 at-bats to lead the Cubs to their 3rd straight game and close to within 5 games of the struggling Milwaukee Brewers. With Milwaukee and St. Louis both losing on Friday, Chicago took over sole possession of 2nd place in the NL Central. The Cubs have two more at Atlanta before playing a single game at Houston, then moving on to interleague play, hosting the Seattle Mariners beginning Tuesday.
Boston 10 Arizona 3 -
Josh Beckett got his 9th win without a loss, allowing just 2 earned runs on 5 hits over 8 innings with 8 Ks, and
J.D. Drew (right) went off the charts with a pair of 3 run homers and a run-scoring double for a 7 RBI night. An equal-opportunity masher, Drew victimized starter Doug Davis (4-7) with one blast, while reserving the other for reliever Edgar Gonzalez. Both Arizona pitchers allowed 5 earned in 4 innings. The Sox stayed 10 1/2 clear of the Yankees and O's in the AL East. With the Padres losing, the Diamondbacks remained a game out of first with the Dodgers 1 1/2 back.
Florida 14 Tampa Bay 8 - The Florida Marlins may not make the playoffs, but they have some real juice in their bats.
The Marlins are tied for the NL team RBI lead with Philly at 294, having added 14 on Friday.
Jeremy Hermida totaled 4 with a grand slam home run,
Josh Willingham added 3 with a pair of singles and a triple in 5 at-bats. Shortstop
Hanley Ramirez drove in just 1 run, but stroked 4 singles in 5 at-bats, stole a base and scored 3 times.
Other NL Scores
Cincinnati 4 Cleveland 3 - K. Griffey Jr. HR (14)
LA Angels 10 St. Louis 6 - Angels, 17 hits; 8-2 last 10
Seattle 6 San Diego 5, 11 innings - R. Ibanez, 4-6, GW HR (2)
Oakland 5 San Francisco 3, 10 innings - Giants, last place
LA Dodgers 4 Toronto 3 - O. Saenz, GW HR (3)
Scott Kazmir (L) tossed 6 innings of shutout ball and the Tampa Bay Rays continued their long-ball assault against the Red Sox, pounding out 3 more homers.
The Rays wasted no time at all getting to Game 1 winner Daisuke Matsuzaka. B.J. Upton (R) launched a two-run homer over the Green Monster in the first inning, and, in the third, Carlos Pena blasted another two-run homer to right, followed immediately by Evan Longoria's solo shot - his 4th home run in consecutive games, a rookie and major league record - and the Rays seemed to be on their way.
Hideki Okajima settled the Rays down for a couple of innings, blanking them in the 5th and 6th, but in the 7th inning, the wheels nearly came completely off Boston's beleaguered bandwagon.
Manny Delcarmen started his mound stint by walking the first two batters in the inning, Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura. Closer Jonathan Papelbon was summoned from the Boston bullpen. While Papelbon was focused on pitching to Upton, the baserunners pulled off a double steal, putting the runners on second and third base. They scored easily when Upton doubled to the left-center gap. 7-0, Rays, and the Boston faithful began heading for the exits of fabled Fenway Park.
Once Kazmir was off the mound, however, the wheels did come off for the Rays, as the Red Sox responded with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning off reliever Grant Balfour, three of them on David Ortiz's home run, just his second hit of the series. Fans scrambled back into their seats.
In the 8th, Dan Wheeler gave up the 2-run homer to Drew, making the score 7-6. And when Coco Crisp singled home Mark Kotsay from second, the game was tied at 7-all.
J.P. Howell went to the mound in the ninth, but, after getting two quick outs, surrendered a single to Kevin Youkilis, who moved to second on Longoria's throwing error. After issuing an intentional pass to Jason Bay, Drew came through once more, lashing a single to right which easily plated Youkilis with the game-winner.
Notes: It was a collapse of magnificent proportions for the youthful Rays, who were on the verge of heading to the World Series. The decision to pull Kazmir, who was pitching brilliantly, has to be questioned, as does the insertion of Wheeler to start the 8th. The Rays and Red Sox will have a day off to think things over prior to game 6 at Tropicana Field on Saturday. Starting time is 8:07 pm ET. Josh Beckett gets the call for Boston, against the Rays' James Shields.
