BALTIMORE - Aaron Boone hit a disputed three-run homer in the ninth, lifting the New York Yankees to a bizarre 6-4 victory over the Orioles on Friday night.
Boone's drive to left was called foul by third-base umpire Jeff Nelson. After Boone came running across the field to protest and Yankees manager Joe Torre joined the argument, the umpires huddled and reversed the call.
Orioles manager Mike Hargrove then came out to argue, and was ejected. Hargrove tossed his hat and a rectangular bat weight on the infield grass.
Replays seemed to indicate the ball traveled well inside the foul pole.
"Their job is get the call right, and they felt that they did," Hargrove said after the Orioles' fifth straight loss. "It's just a little tough to take."
Boone was 6-for-51 with the Yankees since arriving in a July 31 trade with Cincinnati before connecting off Jorge Julio. Alfonso Soriano added a homer for a 6-3 lead.
Jeff Nelson got the victory despite giving up a tiebreaking single to Larry Bigbie in the eighth.
The Orioles threatened again in the ninth. Jack Cust led off with a homer off Mariano Rivera to make it 6-4 and Baltimore had the tying runs in scoring position with Jay Gibbons up and two out. Gibbons hit a tapper back to the mound, and Rivera picked up his 25th save.
A shoddy performance by the New York bullpen denied Roger Clemens his 305th career victory, which would have tied him with Hall of Famer Eddie Plank for 18th all-time.
BLUE JAYS 8, ATHLETICS 5: Eric Hinske hit two home runs and matched his career high with four RBIs for visiting Toronto.
Chris Woodward also homered and had two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who won their second straight.
Terrence Long and Erubiel Durazo homered for the A's, losers of three in a row.
Josh Towers won as a starter for the first time since Aug. 17, 2001, at Boston when he was with the Orioles. He lost his previous seven starts, two this year. Towers, a reliever before the All-Star break, allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter.
Trever Miller pitched the ninth for his third save in four chances.
Rookie Rich Harden lost his second straight start, his worst outing in his brief major-league career. He gave up six runs - matching what he allowed in his previous five starts combined - on eight hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
RANGERS 11, WHITE SOX 5: Colby Lewis struck out a career-high 10 and Rafael Palmeiro drove in four runs for host Texas. Esteban Loaiza (15-6) came in leading the AL with a 2.24 ERA. He allowed a season-high seven runs in five innings and had his four-game winning streak snapped. Carl Everett went 1-for-4 with a homer in his return to Texas. The Rangers traded Everett to the White Sox for three minor-leaguers on July 1. He hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Ron Mahay to bring Chicago within 8-5. Chicago's Frank Thomas struck out swinging three times against Lewis, and Roberto Alomar was ejected after being called out on strikes.
TWINS 9, ROYALS 2: Kenny Rogers gave up two singles and one unearned run in eight innings, and Torii Hunter had a three-run home run for visiting Minnesota. Keeping the Royals off balance with off-speed and breaking pitches, Rogers was perfect through 41/3 innings. Then Joe Randa reached on third baseman Corey Koskie's throwing error and Mendy Lopez singled to left-center. The Royals' Jimmie Gobble, whose ERA was 0.73 after two victories over the Devil Rays, had it increase to 3.52 in his third major-league start.
ANGELS 3, TIGERS 1: John Lackey took a shutout into the ninth and Bengie Molina drove in two runs for host Anaheim. Lackey gave up Bobby Higginson's home run leading off the ninth, then Troy Percival closed it out for his 26th save in 27 chances. Nate Cornejo lost for the 10th time in 12 decisions over his past 17 starts.
