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Mondesi powers Yanks in ninth

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Raul Mondesi got a big break, and he took advantage of it.

Mondesi hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning and Bernie Williams went 5-for-5 as the New York Yankees rallied for a 7-5 victory over the Royals on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.

Roberto Hernandez almost retired Mondesi, but catcher A.J. Hinch got a late break on a low pop behind the plate and the ball hit off his glove as he lunged for it.

Mondesi hit the next pitch into the leftfield bullpen for his 23rd homer.

"I was supposed to be out," Mondesi said. "He dropped the ball and I said, "I've got another chance. Let's see if I can put the ball in play.' "

The Yankees won their fourth straight to move a season-high 31 games over .500. They beat the Royals for the fifth time in six meetings this season and improved to 33-8 against Kansas City since the 1998 season.

Williams led off the ninth against Hernandez with a single, tying his career high with five hits. He moved to second on a groundout, bringing up Mondesi.

"We had a lot of big hits tonight, not the least of which was Mondesi's homer," manager Joe Torre said.

Jorge Posada added a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Yankees, who matched last season's total by winning for the 17th time in their final at-bat.

Williams tied Tony Lazzeri for 10th place on the team's career list with 1,784 hits. Williams has hits in six straight plate appearances, including the go-ahead single in the 14th Wednesday. He is second in the league with a .333 average.

"I feel really good at the plate," he said. "I think I am being more aggressive, and that's a key. I have more confidence in my swing."

MARINERS 4, RED SOX 3: Freddy Garcia won for the second time since the All-Star break and host Seattle used four unearned runs in the fourth to edge Boston.

Carlos Guillen, Ichiro Suzuki and Jeff Cirillo had run-scoring singles as Seattle increased its West lead to 11/2 over Anaheim.

Cliff Floyd homered for Boston, which dropped six behind the Yankees in the East and 21/2 back of the Angels in the wild-card race.

ORIOLES 3, TWINS 1: Melvin Mora hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lift Jason Johnson and visiting Baltimore.

Chris Singleton also homered for the Orioles, who have won five of six against Minnesota the past two weeks.

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