OAKLAND, Calif. - Mark Kotsay needed more than two months to hit his first home run for his new team. With Athletics home-run leader Eric Chavez sidelined, the timing was perfect.
Kotsay hit Oakland's second straight game-ending home run, a 10th-inning drive Wednesday that gave the A's a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
"It was a good time for a first one," Kotsay said. "It was worth the wait."
A day after Bobby Kielty's 12th-inning homer beat the White Sox 6-4, Kotsay pinch hit for Kielty in the eighth.
Then in the 10th against Jon Adkins, Kotsay homered for the first time since Sept. 19 against Colorado. Kotsay had not homered in 51 games and 206 at-bats.
It was the first time Oakland got consecutive game-ending homers since Dwayne Murphy and Mike Heath did it Aug. 14 and 15, 1981. Kotsay had one previous game-ending homer, against the Mets on June 30, 1999.
"I'm not that type of player who's flashy or does spectacular things, but over the course of 162 games you might say, "He helped the team,' " Kotsay said. "If you come here one night, you might think I'm the worst player in the big leagues. If you come here every night, you might think otherwise."
Kotsay received praise from manager Ken Macha last month for being unselfish when Eric Byrnes was playing in his place as Kotsay spent time working on his swing. Kotsay went 0-for-5 Tuesday but insists he has become more confident in recent weeks.
"This park's killing me," he said. "You can't get caught up in numbers. If you do, you start thinking about things that are out of your control."
Scott Hatteberg's run-scoring single in the ninth tied the score against former A's closer Billy Koch, who blew a save for the second time in nine chances.
ANGELS 10, RED SOX 7: Vladimir Guerrero had a club-record nine RBIs, homering twice and getting four hits to lead host Anaheim.
Guerrero's RBIs were the most in the majors since Boston's Bill Mueller had nine at Texas on July 29, 2003.
Guerrero's second homer was a three-run shot in the sixth off Mike Timlin, who had just replaced Pedro Martinez, and brought the Angels back from a 7-5 deficit.
Guerrero hit a two-run homer off Martinez in the first, doubled home two in the third and hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth. He drove in his ninth run with a single against Keith Foulke in the seventh.
YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 5: Gary Sheffield and Derek Jeter homered and Ruben Sierra hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly, rallying host New York.
Baltimore scored five in the first, knocking out Jose Contreras two outs into the game. The Yankees bullpen, led by former Devil Ray Tanyon Sturtze, held the Orioles scoreless the rest of the way.
Sheffield's three-run homer closed the early cap and Jeter's seventh homer pulled New York within a run. Jeter has driven in at least one run in a career-high nine straight games, but he also made a pair of errors at shortstop, giving him a team-high six.
RANGERS 5, INDIANS 3: Gary Matthews homered leading off the ninth and Hank Blalock connected with two outs, leading Texas to a sweep of the two-game series. Matthews, who hit a run-scoring double in the second and a sacrifice fly in the sixth, connected on an 0-and-1 pitch from Rafael Betancourt to break a tie at 3.
BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 3: Josh Phelps, mired in a 1-for-14 slump, hit his first career grand slam to lead visiting Toronto and help Ted Lilly win his fourth straight decision.
TIGERS 2, ROYALS 0: Former Devil Ray Jason Johnson pitched shutout ball into the eighth and Brandon Inge homered to lead host Detroit.
