ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: Dioner Navarro singled with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning, enabling Tampa Bay to beat Boston 2-1 on Tuesday and remain in first place in the American League East.
New York Yankees' Derek Jeter tips his helmet to the cheering crowd after he hit a single, his 1,270th hit at Yankee Stadium, during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox in their MLB American League baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday. The hit came off White Sox Starting pitcher Gavin Floyd. ReutersNavarro delivered his second game-winner in a week against the defending World Series champions, lifting a fly ball that sailed over the head of center fielder Coco Crisp on a 2-2 pitch from Justin Masterson (6-5).
A night after Boston hit six homers to rout Rays ace Scott Kazmir 13-5 and pull within percentage points of the division lead, Tampa Bay wiped out a 1-0 deficit on Carlos Pena's seventh-inning homer off Josh Beckett.
The Rays, who have led the division for the past 54 days, moved one game ahead of the Red Sox, who have lost seven of eight at Tropicana Field this season. Dan Wheeler (5-5) struck out the only batter he faced to bail Tampa Bay out of a ninth-inning jam and get the victory before 32,079.
White Sox 6, Yankees 2
In New York, Gavin Floyd pitched seven innings against New York and Paul Konerko had two hits and an RBI in his return from a knee injury for AL Central-leading Chicago.
Alexei Ramirez homered and Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in two runs for Chicago, which began the night with a 1 1/2game lead over Minnesota. Ken Griffey Jr. had an RBI single and Brian Anderson added an run-scoring double for the White Sox.
Floyd (16-7) put runners in scoring position in four of his seven innings but gave up just two runs for his first win in three starts this month. Floyd gave up nine hits, including Jason Giambi's 31st homer, and struck out three without walking a batter.
Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for most career hits at the soon-to-close Yankee Stadium with his 1,270th, a sharp single in the first inning.
Eagles 8 Braves 7
In Atlanta, Ryan Howard rallied Philadelphia back into the National League East lead, hitting a go-ahead homer in the eighth for his fourth hit in the victory over Atlanta on Tuesday.
Brad Lidge escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 37th save in as many chances and Philadelphia moved a half-game in front of fading New York, which lost 1-0 at Washington.
After trailing the Mets by 3 1/2 games going into last Thursday, Philadelphia leads the division for the first time since Aug 26.
Howard had a run-scoring triple as the Phillies scored twice in the seventh. He leads the majors with 45 homers and 136 RBIs. He was 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
Nationals 1, Mets 0
At Washington, Odalis Perez shut down slumping New York and scored the only run of the game.
The Mets lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped one-half game behind Philadelphia in the NL East.
A day after John Lannan held the Mets to one hit over seven innings, New York mustered just two in the first seven innings against Perez (7-10).
The lefty retired 13 straight between the hits - which came in the first and sixth innings - and never let a runner advance beyond second. Perez struck out six and did not walk a batter in 7 1/3 innings, his longest outing since Aug. 11, 2005.
With two outs in the fifth, Perez hit a soft liner to left that Fernando Tatis dived for and missed, allowing Perez to reach second with a double. Tatis remained on the ground in pain, eventually walking off with a separated right shoulder. After a walk, Cristian Guzman drove in Perez with a ground-rule double.
Cubs 5, Brewers 4
At Chicago, CC Sabathia took his first NL loss as Chicago dealt Milwaukee its fifth straight defeat while spoiling interim manager Dale Sveum's debut.
Sabathia (9-1), acquired by the Brewers on July 7, had won 12 straight decisions overall, dating to a June 5 loss to Texas when he was still pitching for Cleveland. He gave up four runs and nine hits in seven innings, including Alfonso Soriano's 29th homer in the seventh.
Sveum replaced Ned Yost, who was fired Monday in a shocking move by a team that is still 15 games over .500 with 11 left. But the Brewers lost for the 12th time in 15 games and fell one-half game behind New York for the NL wild card.
Source: China Daily
