Brook Fordyce punches in three runs for Baltimore.
By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Rodrigo Lopez outpitched Mike Mussina with a six-hitter, and Brook Fordyce drove in three runs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 7-2 Saturday.

Jay Gibbons homered and Tony Batista added a two-run double for the Orioles, who defeated the Yankees for the second day in a row.

Baltimore, swept at home by the Yankees in a four-game series last weekend, has won four straight overall following a season-high eight-game losing skid.

Jorge Posada homered for the Yankees, who saw their AL East lead over Boston trimmed to five games.

Lopez (6-8) struck out a career-high 10 in his second complete game this season and the third of his career. He walked one in his third matchup of the year with Mussina – Lopez was 1-1 in the previous two, including an 8-0 loss last Sunday.

Mussina (14-7) pitched into the ninth inning, when the Orioles broke it open with four runs. He left after Batista’s double and before Deivi Cruz and Fordyce added RBI singles off Jeff Nelson

Mussina had been 4-0 in six starts since his last loss at Toronto on July 12. He gave up six runs and nine hits in 8 1-3 innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. The right-hander dropped to 6-3 lifetime against the Orioles after spending the first 10 years of his career in Baltimore.

Gibbons led off the second with his 20th home run, ending Mussina’s 22-inning scoreless streak.

Angels 14, Tigers 8

DETROIT – Garret Anderson hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, and the Anaheim Angels rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Detroit Tigers 14-8 Saturday.

Scott Spiezio added a three-run double and Jeff DaVanon walked with the bases loaded in the 10th for the Angels, which handed the Tigers their 11th straight loss – their third losing streak of nine or more games this season. The Tigers last lost 11 straight to start the 2002 season.

Trailing 5-0 after six innings, Anaheim scored four in the seventh, three in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead, and tied it 8-all in the ninth on DaVanon’s run-scoring single.

Athletics 11, Blue Jays 5

TORONTO – Reliever Mike Wood, who took injured Mark Mulder’s roster spot, earned his first major league victory as the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-5 Saturday.

Billy McMillon hit a two-run double as part of a six-run sixth inning. The Athletics moved within two games of Seattle for first place in the AL West and remained tied with Boston in the AL wild-card race.

Wood (1-0) allowed two runs on one hit, while striking out three and walking one in 1 2-3 innings. The 23-year-old right-hander made his second big league appearance.

Indians 7, Devil Rays 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Jody Gerut and Travis Hafner each homered during a six-run seventh inning Saturday night as the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 7-5 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Casey Blake had a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh for the Indians, who are 12-6 since Aug. 6.

Tampa Bay led 5-0 and starter Rob Bell retired nine straight before Gerut opened the seventh with a homer.

Royals 4, Twins 3

MINNEAPOLIS – Aaron Guiel hit a three-run homer off Joe Mays in the fifth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins for the second straight night, 4-3 Saturday.

Guiel, who entered the game with two hits in his last 18 at-bats, went 2-for-4 for Kansas City as the Royals stayed within a game of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central race.

Luis Rivas homered for Minnesota, which fell 21/2 games back.

Diamondbacks 13, Cubs 2

PHOENIX -Danny Bautista and Robby Hammock each matched a career high with four RBIs as the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Chicago Cubs 13-2 Saturday.

The Diamondbacks closed within 21/2 games of Philadelphia for the National League wild-card berth with the win, their fourth in seven contests.

Cubs center fielder Kenny Lofton made his first error in 265 games, ending the longest errorless streak in the majors among outfielders.

His last error came on Sept. 2, 2001, when he was with Cleveland.

Bautista had a single and a three-run homer, and Hammock had a pair of two-run doubles. Matt Kata added a run scoring double and triple for Arizona.

Giants 3, Marlins 2

SAN FRANCISCO – Neifi Perez doubled home Yorvit Torrealba with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants won their fifth straight with a patchwork lineup, beating the Florida Marlins 3-2 Saturday.

The teams and fans at Pacific Bell Park observed a moment of silence before the game for Bobby Bonds, the former San Francisco star who died of cancer earlier in the day. His son, Barry, will be away from the Giants indefinitely.

Jeffrey Hammonds homered for the Giants, who also rested regulars Rich Aurilia, Benito Santiago and Marquis Grissom.

But after a strong start from Dustin Hermanson and outstanding relief by Jim Brower (8-4), San Francisco got its sixth straight home victory – and its 21st in the last 24 games for the NL West leaders.

The Marlins lost their fifth straight.

Cardinals 5, Phillies 3

ST. LOUIS – Matt Morris returned to the mound for St. Louis and received some help from his two new teammates.

Sterling Hitchcock won in his St. Louis debut Saturday, pitching a scoreless inning in relief of Morris as the Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time in eight meetings, 5-3.

“It was great to have some fresh arms,” La Russa said. “We needed that.”

Hitchcock, who was acquired Friday from the New York Yankees in exchange for two minor leaguers, took over for Morris, who was making his first start since July 21, to start the sixth with the Cardinals trailing 1-0.

Reds 3, Astros 1

HOUSTON – Paul Wilson beat Houston for the second time in a week and Juan Castro hit a two-run double as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Astros 3-1 Saturday night.

The Reds won for the second straight day at Minute Maid Park and have taken four of their last five against the NL Central leaders. Last Sunday, Wilson was the winner as Cincinnati clinched the three-game series.

The Astros lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

They still maintained a one-half game lead over Chicago, which lost to Arizona 13-2.

Wilson (8-10), who had won only two of his previous eight decisions, didn’t allow a runner to reach third base until the seventh inning when Richard Hidalgo doubled with two out and scored on Brad Ausmus’ single.

Wilson pitched seven innings and allowed one run and five hits.

Chris Reitsma worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save in 10 opportunities.

The Reds took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Castro’s hit. Tim Redding (8-12) was lucky he didn’t fall farther behind because of early wildness.

Redding hit leadoff batter Ruben Mateo with a pitch and walked Dernell Stenson before Castro hit an opposite-field double to right.

Redding struck out Jason LaRue, walked Wilson and then struck out Reggie Taylor. D’Angelo Jimenez flied out on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning.

Taylor doubled in the fifth and scored on Jimenez’s single for a 3-0 lead.

Hidalgo extended his major league lead to 19 outfield assists in the third inning when he threw out Sean Casey trying to stretch a single into a double.

Notes: The Reds signed RHP Richie Gardner, their sixth-round pick in the June 2003 draft. The Reds have signed 11 of their top 13 picks. … The Reds placed SS Barry Larkin on the disabled list for the third time this season. He sprained the ring finger on his left hand in Friday night’s game. Larkin’s injury leaves the Reds with only 10 players active from their opening day roster. Only Casey and LaRue are left from the opening day starting lineup.

AP-ES-08-23-03 2145EDT