National League races are red hot

American League LA Angels 8 Seattle 2 - The Angels completed their sweep of the Mariners and distanced themselves by 5 games in the division. The win was largely a team effort, as 7 different players drove in at least one run as the Angels pounded out 17 hits. Vladimir Guerrero socked his 22nd home run - a solo shot - and Garret Anderson stroked four hits in five at-bats. Starter Jered Weaver allowed just 1 run over 8 innings, striking out 5 without walking any. Boston 3 NY Yankees 4 - Alex Rodriguez cracked his 44th homer, but the real story was Roger Clemens (right), the ageless veteran who outdueled Boston's ace, Josh Beckett, allowing just two hits and one run on a solo homer by David Ortiz. Clemens (6-5) nibbled at the corners and walked five batsmen while fanning just two. The Yankees won their second straight over the Red Sox and can complete the sweep in Thursday's afternoon game. New York is 6 games behind the Sox in the division, but have caught Seattle for the wild card lead. Minnesota 3 Cleveland 4 - The Indians scored all of their runs in the first inning off Twin's starter Johan Santana, and C. C. Sabathia made them stand up, allowing two earned runs over 7 innings for his 15th win against 7 losses. By sweeping the three-game series with the Twins and Detroit falling apart with two straight losses to the lowly Royals, the Indians have suddenly opened up a 4 1/2-game lead in the Central division and dropped the Twins to 8 1/2 back in third place. Other AL Scores Toronto 4 Oakland 5, 11 innings Tampa Bay 5 Baltimore 4, 12 innings Detroit 0 Kansas City 5 Chi White Sox 4 Texas 5, 11 innings National League NY Mets 2 Philadelphia 3 - The Phillies surely have the Mets' attention now, after sweeping the first three games of their 4-game series between the two top NL East contenders. Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell (right) socked solo homers in the first inning off Mets' starter Oliver Perez, but the game winner came when Jamie Moyer scampered home from third on Burrell's sac fly to left. Moyer (12-10) walked to lead off the inning and made third on singles by Rollins and Tao Iguchi. He also earned the win (12-10), with sic innings of mound work, giving up 2 earned runs before handing the ball over to the bullpen. The trio of J. C. Romero, Tom Gordon and Brett Myers each turned in an inning of scoreless relief, with Myers picking up his 15th save. Philly is now 3 games behind the Mets and they'll have one more crack at them with a day game on Thursday to complete the series. The Phillies are 8-5 on the season against the Mets, but, after losing three straight to them at the end of June, have taken six straight from the division leaders. The two teams will conclude their season series with 3 games at New York on September 14, 15 and 16. Arizona 1 San Diego 3 - Greg Maddux allowed one earned run over 7 innings, but didn't get the decision, as the Padres rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 8th to take their third straight from the Diamondbacks and tie them for first place in the NL West. San Diego can complete the sweep and dethrone Arizona with a win on Thursday as the series concludes. Milwaukee 6 Chi Cubs 1 - Ben Sheets (11-4) came off the DL, worked six innings and limited the Cubs to one earned run, as the Brewers evened the series at a game apiece. The Brewers took back second place in the division as the Cardinals lost at Houston. Chicago leads by 1 1/2 over Milwaukee and 2 games over St. Louis. The series concludes tonight at Wrigley field. Other NL Scores Colorado 8 San Francisco 0 Washington 9 LA Dodgers 10, 12 innings Cincinnati 8 Pittsburgh 0 - K. Griffey Jr., 3-run HR (29) Atlanta 7 Florida 4 St. Louis 0 Houston 7

Clemens clobbered; Peavy NL K king

American League Chi White Sox 13 NY Yankees 9 - The Sox hammered Roger Clemens for 8 runs in the second inning, so the Yankees answered with 8 of their own off Chicago starter Jon Garland in the bottom frame. Unfortunately for the Yanks, Jermaine Dye was just getting started. After his double in the 2nd started the scoring, he crunched a 2-run homer in the 4th and a solo shot in the 8th, finishing with a 4-5 night, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. The Yankees fell 8 behind Boston and 3 back of Cleveland in the wild card race. Texas 0 Cleveland 5 - The Indians liked what Jake Westbrook (2-6, right) did on Thursday, hurling 6 innings of shutoff ball on 5 hits. His best performance of the season may be a sign that he is coming around to last season's form, when he posted 15 wins. This season, injury kept him sidelined for most of May and June, and when he returned, he was largely ineffective, posting 4 losses and 3 no decisions in his 7 starts. The win over Texas was his first since an April 27 victory over Baltimore. The Indians snapped a 4-game skid and now trail Detroit by just 1/2 game. LA Angels 6 Oakland 4 - Vladimir Guerrero socked a pair of homers, the second one a 3-run shot in the fifth that broke a 1-1 tie, leading the Angels with 4 RBI. LA improved its lead on Seattle to 3 1/2 games in the West. Other AL Scores Baltimore 4 Boston 7 National League NY Mets 12 Milwaukee 4 - David Wright (right) went 4-5 with a double and his 19th home run and scored 3 times as the Mets pressed their edge in the NL East. The Mets pulverized the Brewers in the final 2 games of this series after dropping the opener, 4-2. In the finale, the New Yorkers pounded out 18 hits, 10 of them off Brewers starter Chris Capuano (5-8), who lasted 6 innings and allowed 5 earned. The Cubs lost to the Phillies, leaving the standings unchanged in both divisions, except that Atlanta fell 1/2-game behind the Phillies, 4 1/2 games out. Houston 12 Atlanta 11, 14 innings - Jason Lane and Mike Lamb each drove in 4 runs as the Astros stole one from Atlanta. Lane whacked a three-run homer in the 3rd inning and scored the winning run 11 frames later, while Lamb's grand salami in the 8th inning tied the game at 9. Arizona 0 San Diego 11 - Jake Peavy (right) fanned 10, allowing just 3 hits over 7 innings for his 11th win against 5 losses. The Padres tightened the race in the wild NL West, drawing to within 1 1/2 of the division-leading Diamondbacks, with the Dodgers sandwiched in between, one game out. Peavy's 154 strikeouts lead the league. Colorado 4 Florida 3 - The Rockies stayed in the race with a come-from-behind win over the Marlins. Once again, Matt Holliday was smack in the middle of the action. His double in the 8th plated Kazuo Matsui with the tying run, and he scored on Garrett Atkins' sac fly one out later. Holliday is batting at a brisk .337 pace and his 86 RBI have him just 2 behind league leader Prince Fielder. Other NL Scores St. Louis 4 Pittsburgh 5, 11 innings Philadelphia 10 Chi Cubs 6 Cincinnati 3 Washington 7 - A. Dunn, HR (28) Houston 12 Atlanta 11, 14 innings San Francisco 4 LA Dodgers 2

Clemens Makes Elite 8; Miller Powers Brew Crew

American League Minnesota 1 NY Yankees 5 - The Yankees haven't had much to get excited about this season, but yesterday offered mixed blessings. 44-year-old Roger Clemens (right) pitched like he was 25, buzzing through the Minnesota Twins lineup for 8 innings on 2 hits, allowing just one earned run while striking out 4. Clemens improved to 2-3, but more importantly, notched career win #350, becoming only the 8th major leaguer to achieve that mark and the first pitcher since Warren Spahn did it in 1963. On the flipside, 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez tripped over 1st baseman Justin Morneau's leg in the 6th inning and was forced to leave the game with a noticeable limp. It was later diagnosed as a strained hamstring, through the extent of the injury was not immediately known. Rodriguez will undergo tests on Tuesday and will likely sit at least a few games. The Yankee faithful are hoping that the All-Star will not have to go on the DL. Tampa Bay 2 Cleveland 10 - The hits just keep coming for the Indians. Rookie Ben Francisco went 3-3 with a double and his 2nd home run in just 12 at-bats, scored twice and drove in 3 runs, and Grady Sizemore jammed a grand slam to close out the scoring in a 7-run 8th inning. Rookie starter, Fausto Carmona allowed one earned run on 4 hits while striking out 8 over six innings to improve to 9-4. The Indians lead Detroit by 2 games in the AL Central. Toronto 11 Oakland 7 - Vernon Wells was moved to the leadoff spot and he responded with a pair of solo home runs as part of a 4-5 effort, leading the Jays over the A's.

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Seattle 2 Kansas City 3, 11 innings - Maybe Hargrove should have stayed. In the first game after losing their manager, the Mariners end their 8-game winning streak on an Emil Brown sac fly. Not a pretty sight. Other AL Scores Texas 3 Boston 7 - E. Hinske, 2-4, 3 RBI Baltimore 7 Chi White Sox 6 National League Milwaukee 10 Pittsburgh 3 - Part-time catcher Damian Miller went 4-5 with a pair of singles, a 2-run homer and a grand slam for 7 RBI as the Brewers maintained their 6 1/2-game lead over the Cubs. Other NL Scores Chi Cubs 7 Washington 2 Philadelphia 5 Houston 7 - H. Pence, 2-5, HR (9) Arizona 3 St. Louis 11 - S. Rolen, 2-5, 4 RBI NY Mets 2 Colorado 6 - M. Holliday, HR (14), 3 RBI (65) Florida 1 San Diego 3 - D. Wells, W, (4-5); T. Hoffman, S (24) Atlanta 2 LA Dodgers 8 - R. Martin, 4-5, 2 RBI

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