Sports

AL: Orioles win tale of two big swings

Associated Press
Published July 10, 2005

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BALTIMORE - Rafael Palmeiro and David Ortiz took mighty cuts in the third inning Saturday, producing one gigantic momentum swing.

Luis Matos robbed Ortiz of a three-run homer. But Palmeiro's became a three-run homer in the Orioles' 9-1 win over Boston.

Palmeiro drove in six and had two hits, leaving him three shy of 3,000 Teammate Miguel Tejada went 5-for-5 while Boston's Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 24 games.

With the score 1-1, Ortiz hit a two-out drive to center. But Matos, with his elbow above the 7-foot wall, made the catch.

"With ... the importance of the game, it was fun," said Matos, who made a diving catch in the fourth to rob Kevin Millar. "I got goose bumps after I caught it."

In the bottom half, Palmeiro followed singles by Brian Roberts and Tejada with a shot that cleared the 25-foot scoreboard in right, his 566th homer.

Palmeiro also had sacrifice flies in the first and eighth. And his single in the seventh scored Tejada, who had two singles, two doubles and a triple, to make it 5-1.

"I'm just trying to get (the 3,000th hit) over with so we can focus on winning games," he said.

A'S 10, WHITE SOX 1: Barry Zito, whose start was pushed back a day because of sore ribs, allowed two hits in seven innings for visiting Oakland. Mark Buehrle, whose nine-game win streak ended July3 against Oakland, allowed a career-high 14 hits in 61/3 innings.

Up 2-1, Nick Swisher led off the seventh for Oakland by reaching on third baseman Pablo Ozuna's second error of the game. Two outs later, Jason Kendall singled, and Mark Kotsay followed with his homer.

INDIANS 8, YANKEES 7: Jose Hernandez had two two-run homers and five RBIs to end host New York's six-game win streak. Consecutive homers by Hernandez and Jhonny Peralta in the second put the Indians up 3-2.

Hernandez's homer in the third made it 5-2, and his single in the fifth made it 7-3. Down 8-6, Ruben Sierra led off the ninth with a homer for New York. Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter followed with singles, but Robinson Cano grounded into a double play. And after Sheffield walked, Rodriguez grounded out to short to end it.

RANGERS 12, BLUE JAYS 10: Mark Teixeira hit two of Texas' five homers, all of which came with two outs, and Kenny Rogers overcame a shaky first for the win. Loud cheers mostly drowned out an audible chorus of boos from the home crowd when Rogers was introduced.

Texas scored seven in the third, including Gary Matthews' two-run homer to left that replays showed went foul.

Down 12-3, Toronto made it close in the ninth. Aaron Hill singled and Frank Menechino was hit by a pitch to lead off before Frank Catalanotto's homer. Five consecutive hits followed to make it 12-9, and Hill's sacrifice fly with one out made it 12-10. But Francisco Cordero, the third reliever of the inning, struck out Menechino to end it.

ROYALS 12, TWINS 8: Mike Sweeney had five hits and three RBIs for host Kansas City. Sweeney has eight consecutive hits, tying a Royals record.

Down 6-4 in the sixth, singles by David DeJesus and Terrence Long tied it for the Royals. Sweeney's seventh hit made it 8-6. A run-scoring double play made it 9-6, and Mark Teahen's double made it 10-6.

MARINERS 6, ANGELS 3: Richie Sexson's two-run double capped a five-run fifth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 Saturday night for their third straight victory over the AL West leaders.

Raul Ibanez had three hits and drove in a run for the last-place Mariners, who beat the Angels 10-2 and 10-4 in the first two games of the four-game series.

Ryan Franklin (5-10) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out three and walking three. The left-hander, coming off a six-hit shutout at Kansas City last Monday, has won consecutive starts for the first time this season.

[Last modified July 10, 2005, 00:56:37]