AL: Yankees spoil Boone's return
Associated PressPublished July 8, 2005
NEW YORK - A new centerfielder and the Jason Giambi of old helped host New York extend its winning streak to five.
Giambi homered for the third straight game and 20-year-old Melky Cabrera singled in his major league debut. Alex Rodriguez homered for the second straight game, tying Boston's Manny Ramirez and Texas' Mark Teixeira for the AL lead with 22, and Derek Jeter also connected.
Aaron Boone returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2003, when his 11th-inning homer off Boston's Tim Wakefield won Game 7 of the AL championship series. Boone, who received an ovation from fans, went 2-for-4 with two singles.
Giambi added an RBI single and raised his batting average to .274, the highest it has been since he went 1-for-2 in the season opener. He has four homers, two doubles and a single in his last 10 at-bats, and has homered in three straight games.
Cabrera became the first player to make his major league debut as the Yankees' starting centerfielder since Bernie Williams on July 7, 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He went 1-for-4, showed decent range and displayed a strong arm.
Yankees manager Joe Torre said before the game that Cabrera would likely start all four games of the series.
ORIOLES 3, RED SOX 1: Eli Marrero and Melvin Mora hit solo home runs, and Sammy Sosa added his first RBI since June 19, leading host Baltimore in a game called after six innings because of rain.
Daniel Cabrera pitched five rocky innings for the Orioles, whose third win in 12 games pulled them within three games of first-place Boston in the AL East.
Wells gave up three runs and five hits in six innings. The left-hander was 4-0 in eight starts since May 18, and the Red Sox were 7-0 in his starts since May 29.
Alex Cora played shortstop and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in place of injured Johnny Damon, who has a sore shoulder.
Sosa's run-scoring single in the sixth ended a run of 47 at-bats without an RBI. The slumping slugger had only four hits in that span.
BLUE JAYS 4, ATHLETICS 2: Vernon Wells hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to help host Toronto take two of three from the A's.
Eric Byrnes hit a two-run homer for the Athletics, who lost for just the fourth time in their last 18 games.
Wells hit his 17th home run off Rich Harden, giving Toronto a 3-2 lead. Wells also hit a three-run homer.
Toronto starter Gustavo Chacin won for the first time since June 6 - a span of seven starts. The 24-year-old left-hander allowed two runs on five hits in 52/3 innings.
ROYALS 8, TWINS 5: Angel Berroa had four hits and Jose Lima won for the second time in 18 starts for host Kansas City.
Berroa is 11-for-18 and has hit in five straight games since manager Buddy Bell lowered the slumping shortstop in the batting order. Lima went 62/3 innings, limiting the Twins to three runs on eight hits.
MARINERS 10, ANGELS 2: Joel Pineiro threw a six-hitter to win for the first time in 12 starts, and Adrian Beltre and Jeremy Reed hit three-run doubles for visiting Seattle.
Pineiro went the distance for the second time this season. All-Star Bartolo Colon lost for only the second time in nine decisions, allowing a season-high seven runs and seven hits over six innings. The Angels scored in the fourth on Garret Anderson's RBI groundout and in the ninth on Josh Paul's second homer.