AMERICAN LEAGUE

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Yankees 6, Orioles 4
BALTIMORE -- The Boss spoke, and the New York Yankees responded. Pinch-hitter Bernie Williams drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and the Yankees rallied from a three-run deficit to hand the Baltimore Orioles their sixth straight defeat. Before the game, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner issued a statement expressing his dissatisfaction with the inconsistent play of his high-priced club. New York pulled out of a 4-1 hole with a three-run sixth to pull even, then went ahead for the first time in the eighth. Jorge Posada led off with a single off Steve Kline (2-3). After Kline was ejected for arguing a balk call, Jorge Julio issued an intentional walk to Jason Giambi, and Posada went to third on a grounder by Ruben Sierra before Williams hit a sacrifice fly. Tanyon Sturtze (2-1) pitched the seventh, Tom Gordon worked the eighth and Mariano Rivera got three outs for his 17th save.
Devil Rays 4, Blue Jays 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Hideo Nomo pitched seven strong innings and Aubrey Huff hit a three-run homer. Nomo (5-6) allowed two runs and eight hits for just his third win in 13 starts. The victory moved Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella (1,479-1,375) within one win of tying Earl Weaver for 19th place on the career list. The Devil Rays snapped a six-game skid at home. Danys Baez got four outs for his 13th save in 19 opportunities, despite allowing an RBI single to Alex Rios in the eighth. Carl Crawford and Julio Lugo drew two-out walks from Pete Walker (3-1) before Huff's homer in the third snapped a 14-inning scoreless streak for Tampa Bay.
Twins 3, Royals 1
MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mays pitched eight sharp innings and Minnesota sent Kansas City to its seventh straight loss. Mays (4-3) allowed six hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter for Minnesota, which won consecutive games for first time since taking three straight June 5-8. The right-hander had been winless in six starts since shutting out the Blue Jays 4-0 on May 19. Joe Nathan worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save in 21 opportunities. David DeJesus homered and Emil Brown extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games for the Royals, who are 0-7 on their nine-game road trip. Kansas City has scored just 21 runs on the trip. Zack Greinke (1-9) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
Angels 13, Rangers 3
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Bartolo Colon won his 10th straight start against Texas, and Vladimir Guerrero homered to help Los Angeles extend its winning streak to seven. Adam Kennedy hit his first homer of the season and Juan Rivera had four hits for the Angels, who have a 71/2-game lead in the AL West over Texas, their largest since Aug. 31, 1995. Colon (10-4) beat Texas for the ninth time since joining the Angels last season. He scattered eight hits over eight innings, improving to 15-5 lifetime against the Rangers. Guerrero also had two RBI doubles and has hit in all 28 games he's played against the Rangers -- the longest active hitting streak by any player against one team. He is batting .431 (50-for-116) in his career against Texas, all the games coming since he left Montreal to join the Angels last season. Hank Blalock homered twice for Texas, which has lost seven of eight. Rookie C.J. Wilson (0-2) gave up seven runs -- five earned -- in 42/3 innings.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Braves 7, Marlins 2
MIAMI -- Julio Franco hit his eighth career grand slam, a pinch-hit shot, and Horacio Ramirez pitched the streaking Atlanta Braves past the Florida Marlins in a game called during the eighth inning because of rain. Brian Giles, Adam LaRoche and Johnny Estrada -- celebrating his 29th birthday -- also drove in runs for Atlanta, which has won nine of 11 to move within 21/2 games of first-place Washington in the NL East. Rafael Furcal tripled and doubled for his third multihit effort in his last five games. Ramirez (7-4) yielded one run and five hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision. He has beaten the Marlins twice in a week; Florida has managed just one run and eight hits in 12 innings against him this season. Marlins starter Brian Moehler (2-6) allowed seven hits and three earned runs in seven innings. His ERA rose to just 3.05, yet he's winless in his last eight starts.
Astros 11, Rockies 5
DENVER -- Lance Berkman homered and drove in three runs, Wandy Rodriguez was strong into the seventh inning, and Houston beat Jamey Wright for the 12th straight time. Light-hitting Raul Chavez hit his first homer in two years -- the third of his career -- and drove in two runs. Jason Lane added a three-run shot for the normally punchless Astros, who had a season-high 18 hits to win for the eighth time in 11 games. Every starter, including Rodriguez, had a hit by the fourth inning in Houston's seventh straight victory over Colorado. Most of the rare production came against Wright (4-8). The right-hander allowed eight runs and a team record-tying 15 hits in seven innings, becoming the first pitcher to lose his first 12 decisions against one team since Don Sutton lost 13 straight against the Chicago Cubs from 1966-69.
Associated Press