Baltimore scores eight runs with two outs in the eighth inning to rally past Toronto.
By The Associated Press

BALTIMORE – Brook Fordyce doubled in two runs to give the Baltimore the lead during an eight-run eighth inning, and the Orioles went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5 Friday.

All eight runs scored with two outs. The Orioles got seven hits, two walks and sent 12 players to the plate in the inning.

Toronto’s Kelvim Escobar took a 5-0 lead into the eighth, but finally tired on humid day in which temperatures reached 97 degrees. The right-hander allowed a two-out, two-run single to Jeff Conine and a single to Jay Gibbons before being replaced by Aquilino Lopez (1-2), who yielded an RBI double to Tony Batista.

B.J. Surhoff then tied the game with a double to right-center. Brook Fordyce, who started the inning with a groundout, doubled into the gap in right-center to make it 7-5.

Pirates 3, Astros 2

PITTSBURGH – Reggie Sanders homered in the eighth and the Pittsburgh Pirates, accustomed to losing in the late innings, came back to beat the Houston Astros 3-2 Friday.

The Pirates have lost 15 times when leading or tied after six innings, including twice in the previous three games against the Cincinnati Reds.

Pittsburgh reliever Mike Williams, who squandered a lead Wednesday night in his team’s loss to the Reds and nearly did it again Thursday in the Pirates’ 8-7 victory, pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.

Cardinals 11, Cubs 8

CHICAGO – Jim Edmonds and Albert Pujols hit consecutive homers in the first inning, and Tino Martinez tied a season high with four RBIs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat Kerry Wood and the Chicago Cubs 11-8 Friday.

Moises Alou hit three homers and tied a career best with five RBIs, but the Cubs lost for the eighth time in 10 games. It was the first three-homer game of his career.

Sammy Sosa hit his 511th career homer, tying Mel Ott for 16th place on the career list.

Mets 7, Reds 2

CINCINNATI – Tom Glavine pitched seven strong innings for his first victory since May 18, and Jeromy Burnitz hit a long three-run homer as the New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-2 Friday.

Burnitz had three hits, including one of the longest homers in Great American Ball Park’s inaugural season. His decisive drive in the seventh inning deflected off a walkway on the home run smokestacks in center, a drive estimated at 444 feet.

The Mets, who had 14 hits, batted around in the seventh for four runs off Jimmy Haynes (1-8) and two relievers, sending the Reds to their ninth loss in 13 games. Cincinnati and four errors, pushing its major league-leading total to 80.

Rockies 8, Brewers 6

MILWAUKEE – Jay Payton and Juan Uribe drew bases-loaded walks from Leo Estrella in the eighth inning as the Colorado Rockies rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 Friday night.

Pinch-hitter Greg Norton led off the inning with a homer off Estrella (2-1), whose failure to hold a 6-5 lead cost 30-year-old reliever Brooks Kieschnick what would have been his first major league victory.

Kieschnick, who spent parts of four seasons as an outfielder in the majors before converting to a relief pitcher this spring, pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief and also singled in his only at-bat to raise his batting average to .333 (14-for-42).

Twins 9, Indians 2

MINNEAPOLIS – Justin Morneau and Corey Koskie each hit a two-run homer, and Rick Reed won for the first time since May 25 as the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 9-2 Friday night in a game that featured five ejections after the benches cleared in the third inning.

They also showed some of the emotion that manager Ron Gardenhire said Thursday has been lacking – though some of that was summoned when Cleveland starter Jason Davis threw inside to Torii Hunter in the third inning.

One night after the Twins accused Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia of throwing at their hitters, three players and both managers were ejected after a dustup that began when Hunter took exception to an inside pitch from Davis and shouted at him.

Devil Rays 4, White Sox 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Carl Crawford hit his first homer since opening day, a three-run drive with one out in the ninth inning Friday night that gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Crawford also hit a three-run homer in the ninth to beat Boston on March 31. This time he drove a 0-1 pitch from Billy Koch (5-5) into the right-field seats after Javier Valentin walked and pinch-hitter Al Martin singled.

Jesus Colome (2-4) pitched one inning and won despite giving up a solo homer to Brian Daubach in the top of the ninth. Roberto Alomar drove in Chicago’s other two runs for his first RBIs with the White Sox.

Braves 8, Expos 6

ATLANTA – Andruw Jones homered for the second straight game and Russ Ortiz won his fourth straight start to lead the Atlanta Braves over the Montreal Expos 8-6 Friday night.

Jones had four hits, Rafael Furcal added two RBIs, and Robert Fick and Javy Lopez had two hits apiece for the Braves, who won for only the fourth time in 10 games. They beat the Expos for the first time in five tries this season at Turner Field.

Ortiz (11-4) moved into a tie with Colorado’s Shawn Chacon for the most victories in the NL. He fell behind 4-1, then settled down and retired 10 of his last 12 batters.

Marlins 2, Phillies 1

PHILADELPHIA – Derrek Lee hit a go-ahead single off Jose Mesa with two outs in the ninth inning Friday night, leading the Florida Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

Florida, which has won three of its last four games, was held to one hit – a Juan Pierre single leading off the game – over the first eight innings and finished with just three hits in all. The Marlins scored a run in the fourth off Kevin Millwood on a walk, a steal and a groundout.

Mesa (3-5) walked Mike Lowell with two outs in the ninth, and Juan Encarnacion singled Lowell to third. Lee followed with a single up the middle on a 3-2 fastball.

Royals 9, Tigers 8

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Michael Tucker had four hits and three RBIs as the Kansas City Royals held off Detroit 9-8 Friday night, improving to 7-0 against the Tigers this season.

Ken Harvey also drove in three runs for the Royals, who remain first in the AL Central and have their best record (46-38) through 84 games since the 1989 club was 47-37.

Rookie Nate Field (1-0) got his first major league win with 1 1-3 innings of one-hit relief. Detroit’s Craig Monroe hit a two-run homer and Eric Munson a solo shot off Sean Lowe in the ninth to cut it to 9-8, but Mike MacDougal retired pinch-hitter Kevin Witt on one pitch for his 23rd save in 28 chances.

Angels 1, Athletics 0

OAKLAND, Calif. – Aaron Sele and three relievers combined on a two-hitter as the Anaheim Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 1-0 on Friday night.

Benji Gil had two hits and scored the game’s only run on David Eckstein’s suicide squeeze as the Angels won for the sixth time in eight games.

Sele (5-6) went the first five innings, his limit mandated by manager Mike Scioscia for at least a couple starts.

Rangers 7, Mariners 3

ARLINGTON, Texas – Juan Gonzalez hit a three-run homer – his first in almost a month – and the Texas Rangers used a five-run fourth inning to rally past the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Friday night.

R.A. Dickey allowed two hits over three scoreless innings of relief as the Rangers handed Seattle a rare road loss. The Mariners’ 30-14 road record is the best in the majors.

Ugueth Urbina got two outs for his AL-leading 24th save.

in 28 chances.

With the Mariners ahead 3-0 in the fourth, Alex Rodriguez drove in the Rangers’ first run with a triple.

After Rafael Palmeiro walked, Gonzalez hit Freddy Garcia’s first pitch over the center field fence to put the Rangers ahead. The homer the 424th of his career and 19th of the season, and it was his first since June 8.

Gonzalez hadn’t homered at home since May 7.

Todd Greene added an RBI double to complete the scoring in the fourth, and sacrifice flys by Michael Young and Palmeiro in the seventh stretched Texas’ lead to 7-3.

Texas starter Victor Santos allowed three runs, four hits and five walks, and wasn’t around to collect his first win as a Ranger. After a walk to Edgar Martinez leading off the fifth, Texas manager Buck Showalter brought in Dickey (4-3).

Seattle’s Freddy Garcia (9-7) had won his previous six decisions, and he got off to a strong start, limiting Texas to one hit over the first three innings.

He ended up allowing seven runs and nine hits over 6 1-3 innings, however, and failed to join Jamie Moyer and Gil Meche as double-digit winners for Seattle. Garcia, whose previous defeat was on May 21, struck out seven and walked one.

The Mariners scored twice in the first on Edgar Martinez’s RBI single and Ben Davis’ sacrifice fly.

Seattle made it 3-0 in the third on Randy Winn’s run-scoring single.

Notes: Mariners 1B John Olerud missed his fourth straight game due to a strained right hamstring. Olerud is listed as day-to-day. …The Rangers opened a nine-game homestand. … Santos was seeking his first victory for Texas in seven appearances. … The crowd of 49,530 was the fourth-largest in the history of The Ballpark.

AP-ES-07-04-03 2312EDT