AMERICAN LEAGUE Yanks' Martinez bombs Red Sox

The Athletics won again to hurt Boston's wild-card hopes.
ASSOCIATD PRESS
NEW YORK -- Mike Mussina didn't come close to perfection. Thanks to Tino Martinez, he didn't need to this time.
Martinez homered twice and drove in five runs while Mussina, who came within one strike of a perfect game at Fenway Park in his last start, pitched the New York Yankees over Boston 9-2 Saturday.
"I had a sense that the way the fans were reacting, Mike was trying to do it again. The first five or six hitters, he had three-ball counts on and then it looked like he was trying to make perfect pitches to them," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Mussina (15-11) struck out the side in the first inning on 19 pitches.
Troy O'Leary drew a two-out walk in the second from Mussina. Trot Nixon ended the no-hit suspense when he led off the fourth with a line-drive double to right-center field.
"It's just the way the game goes sometimes. You have to get the same guys out six or seven times in a row," Mussina said.
"Sometimes it's harder, sometimes it works out. Today, for me, it worked out," he said.
Martinez, in the final year of his five-year contract with the Yankees, leads the team with 31 home runs and 102 RBIs.
"I'm just trying to help the team win. I'm not playing for next year, I'm playing for this year," Martinez said.
Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first inning. He added his 31st homer, a three-run shot, to trigger a seven-run sixth.
Beating the Red Sox for the fifth straight time, the Yankees extended their AL East lead over Boston to 12 games.
For the second straight start, Mussina outpitched David Cone (8-5). Last Sunday night, Mussina won 1-0.
BOSTONNEW YORK
abrhbiabrhbi
Offrmn 2b5020Knblch lf4110
TNixon cf4022Velarde 3b5011
CEvrtt rf4000BeWms cf2200
MRmrz dh4000TMrtnz 1b4235
Dubach 1b2000Justice rf4000
Alcntra 1b1000GWlms rf0000
O'Lry lf2000Posada c3110
DLewis lf1010NJhnsn dh3100
Stynes 3b3100Soriano 2b4132
Lnsing ss2000EWilsn ss4121
Merloni ss2100
JOliver c2000
Santos ph1000
Totals33252Totals339119
Boston000010100--2
New York20000700x--9
E--EWilson (2). DP--Boston 1. LOB--Boston 8, New York 5. 2B--TNixon (26), Velarde (18), Soriano (31). 3B--EWilson (1). HR--TMartinez 2 (31). SB--Soriano (40). CS--Soriano (12).
IPHRERBBSO
Boston
Cone L,8-55 2-366633
Garces1-333320
SKim220002
New York
Mussina W,15-11631025
Wohlers1-311121
Stanton1 2-310002
Witasick100003
WP--Cone. Umpires--Home, Bucknor; First, Kellogg; Second, Runge, Brian; Third, Reilly. T--3:14. A--55,316.
Athletics 10, Devil Rays 4: OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even without Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, the Oakland A's overpowered the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for their sixth straight win.
Miguel Tejada, Ron Gant, Frank Menechino and Jermaine Dye all homered for the A's.
Mark Mulder (18-7) became the A's first left-handed 18-game winner since Vida Blue in 1976.
With Boston's loss to the Yankees, the A's widened their lead in the wild card race to 12 games.
Tampa Bay, already eliminated from playoff contention, has lost three straight and eight of its last 11. The Devil Rays have never won a series in Oakland.
Giambi was scratched from the starting lineup before the game to give the reigning AL MVP a day off. He has been nursing a sore left hamstring.
Damon, who has a sore left thumb, was also scratched and replaced by F.P. Santangelo. Damon homered in the A's 9-3 victory over the Devil Rays Friday night, but had taken the previous two games off.
The other A's picked up the slack.
Mulder allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Tejada hit his 26th home run in the second inning off rookie left-hander Nick Bierbrodt (1-4).
Tampa Bay loaded the bases in the third with one out. Randy Winn had an RBI grounder and Mulder struck out Greg Vaughn.
TAMPA BAYOAKLAND
abrhbiabrhbi
Abrnth 2b5030Sntnglo cf4000
Grieve lf4011Mnchno 2b4221
Winn cf5001Saenz 1b5000
GVghn dh3000Dye rf5112
Hall c4110Gant dh4321
JGuilln rf4120Long lf4231
Sndbrg 3b4000Tejada ss3222
Huff 1b4001EChavz 3b3011
Gomez ss3121RJHdz c4010
Hoover ph1110
Totals374104Totals3610128
Tampa Bay001200001--4
Oakland02023102x--10
E--JGuillen (2), Huff (20), EChavez (11). DP--Tampa Bay 1. LOB--Tampa Bay 8, Oakland 7. 2B--Hall (10), Long 2 (36). HR--Menechino (12), Dye (24), Gant (2), Tejada (26). CS--GVaughn (5).
IPHRERBBSO
Tampa Bay
Bierbrodt L,1-44 2-387544
Zambrano1-300000
Standridge343310
Oakland
Mulder W,18-7773315
LVizcaino231101
HBP--by Mulder (Grieve). Umpires--Home, Cuzzi; First, Barron; Second, Froemming; Third, Meals. T--2:51. A--32,548.
Tigers 4, Blue Jays: DETROIT -- Heath Murray won for the first time in more than four years and Jose Macias drove in three runs.
Murray (1-4) got his first win since June 2, 1997, in his first start of the season. He had made nine starts and 63 relief appearances since beating Greg Maddux and Atlanta for San Diego in 1997.
Roy Halladay (3-2) took the loss despite allowing just one run and four hits in four innings. He left after a rain delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes.
TORONTODETROIT
abrhbiabrhbi
JoCruz lf4110Cedeno rf4010
ASGzlz ss3010Macias 3b4033
Stewart dh3001Hggnsn lf4000
CDlgdo 1b4000TClark 1b4000
Mndesi rf3110Simon dh4000
VWells cf3010Halter ss4020
Latham ph1000Easley 2b4000
FLopez 3b3010Magee cf3110
Fllmer ph1111Crdona c2220
Izturis 2b2000Inge c0100
Smmns ph1001
Phelps c2000
TFrndz ph1000
Fltcher c1000
Totals32363Totals33493
Toronto000001002--3
Detroit00101020x--4
E--Izturis (3), Loaiza (3), Halter (20). DP--Detroit 1. LOB--Toronto 6, Detroit 6. 2B--JoCruz (33), Magee (10), Cardona (6). 3B--Fullmer (2). SB--Cedeno (55), Halter (2). CS--Macias (4). S--Cardona. SF--Stewart.
IPHRERBBSO
Toronto
Halladay L,3-2441103
Loaiza243202
Eyre1 1-310001
File2-300001
Detroit
HMurray W,1-4520014
Pettyjohn121101
Santos1-310010
Perisho100000
Pineda1-300000
Miller1-30000012211
Loaiza pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. WP--Pettyjohn. Umpires--Home, Scott; First, Spieler; Second, Miller; Third, Timmons. T--2:45. A--29,158.
Royals 8, Rangers 3: ARLINGTON, Texas -- Alex Rodriguez extended his AL record for homers by a shortstop with his 44th for Texas, but the Kansas City won behind strong pitching from rookie Chris George (3-5).
Rodriguez, who has 11 homers in his last 23 games, is three homers shy of tying Ernie Banks major league mark for the position.
Mike Sweeney homered and drove in two runs off Darren Oliver (11-9) for the Royals, who ended their three-game losing streak.
KANSAS CITYTEXAS
abrhbiabrhbi
Febles 2b5121Ctlnotto lf4120
NPerez ss4110Curtis dh3000
CBeltrn cf5121Sierra dh1000
MJSwy 1b4222ARdrgz ss4112
Randa 3b5031RPlmo 1b4000
Quinn rf5010Kapler cf4010
Zaun c4000MLamb 3b4000
McCrty dh2111Hslman c2111
Alicea dh1111CPena ph0000
DBrwn lf4111Mgrder rf4020
MYong 2b2010
Totals398148Totals32383
Kansas City221010011--8
Texas200000100--3
E--ARodriguez (15). DP--Kansas City 3, Texas 1. LOB--Kansas City 7, Texas 5. 2B--Febles 2 (9), CBeltran (26), McCarty (10). 3B--CBeltran (10), Catalanotto (5). HR--MJSweeney (27), Alicea (4), ARodriguez (44), Haselman (2). SF--McCarty.
IPHRERBBSO
Kansas City
George W,3-56 1-383313
Bailey1-300010
Grimsley1 1-300000
voyles100010
Texas
DOliver L,11-95116610
Mahomes321101
JMoreno2-301010
Petkovsek1-310000
Umpires--Home, Brinkman; First, Diaz; Second, Higgins, Scott; Third, Hollowell. T--2:38. A--37,501.