SEATTLE – Edgar Martinez hit a go-ahead single and Miguel Olivo had two hits and two RBIs in a six-run seventh inning as the Seattle Mariners rallied to beat New York 7-3 Sunday and stop the Yankees’ four-game winning steak.
With Seattle trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Olivo singled off Kevin Brown, stole second and took third when catcher John Flaherty’s throw went into the outfield for an error.
Jose Lopez followed with an RBI double, Willie Bloomquist struck out, and left-hander C.J. Nitkowski (0-1) relieved and walked Ichiro Suzuki.
Paul Quantrill came in and gave up consecutive singles to Randy Winn and Martinez that put the Mariners ahead 4-3.
After Raul Ibanez’s single loaded the bases, Scott Proctor came in and forced in a run when he walked Bret Boone on a 3-1 pitch. Olivo followed with a two-run single.
Gil Meche (3-5) won his second straight start, giving up three runs – two earned – and seven hits in seven innings. He gave up an RBI single in the fourth to Bernie Williams and a two-run homer in the sixth to Hideki Matsui after Gary Sheffield reached on third baseman Willie Bloomquist’s throwing error.
Angels 3, Tigers 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Darin Erstad doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, lifting the Anaheim Angels to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
The win pulled Anaheim within a percentage point of Boston and Texas in the AL wild-card race.
David Eckstein drew a two-out walk in the eighth, stole second and scored when Erstad grounded Jason Johnson’s 1-2 pitch down the line past first baseman Carlos Pena.
Scot Shields (6-2) pitched two innings of one-hit relief for the victory, allowing an unearned run. Troy Percival pitched a hitless ninth for his 23rd save in 28 attempts.
Johnson (8-10) allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings, striking out three and walking three.
Orioles 11, Blue Jays 7
TORONTO – David Newhan tied a career high with four hits, including a go-ahead double in Baltimore’s eight-run eighth inning, and the Orioles rallied for an 11-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Newhan went 4-for-5 and Melvin Mora drove in three runs for the Orioles, who won their fourth straight series by taking three of four from Toronto. Baltimore has won 11 of 13 overall, but had to rally from a 7-1 deficit.
After Mora hit an RBI single in the fifth and added a sacrifice fly off Kevin Frederick in the seventh to cut it to 7-3, the Orioles sent 12 men to the plate in the eighth.
Carlos Delgado hit a three-run homer for the Blue Jays, who have lost 10 of 12 to fall 20 games below .500 (49-69). Toronto is 2-5 since John Gibbons replaced the fired Carlos Tosca as manager.
Rangers 6, Devil Rays 2
ARLINGTON, Texas – Laynce Nix homered and drove in three runs, including a tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Texas Rangers beat the slumping Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-2 on Sunday to sweep the three-game series.
Mark Teixeira also hit a two-run homer for the Rangers, and Ryan Drese pitched 7 1-3 solid innings to win his third straight start and tie a career high with his 10th victory. Drese (10-6) gave up two runs and seven hits before being relieved by Ron Mahay in the eighth.
Aubrey Huff hit his 22nd homer for the Devil Rays, who have lost six in a row. Tampa Bay completed its seven-game road trip 1-6, and has lost 15 of its past 16 road games. The Devil Rays are 14-25 since moving a season-high two games over .500 at 40-38 on July 3.
Royals 6, Athletics 1
OAKLAND, Calif. – Joe Randa hit a three-run double with two outs in the seventh inning to spoil a strong start by Barry Zito and lead the Kansas City Royals over the Oakland Athletics 6-1 on Sunday.
David DeJesus singled leading off the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, a Royals rookie record that matches the club’s longest this year. DeJesus struck out twice, walked and was hit by a pitch.
Kansas City surprised the AL West leaders by taking two of three, including Friday’s 10-3 win that featured two grand slams. It marks the first time in a month the Royals have won a road series and the first time this season the A’s have lost back-to-back home series.
Oakland lost to of three against Detroit last week.
Twins 4, Indians 2
CLEVELAND – Corey Koskie hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, and the Minnesota Twins overcame a two-run deficit to beat Cleveland 4-2 Sunday and prevent the Indians from pulling within a percentage point of the AL Central lead.
After Lew Ford was hit by a pitch, Koskie hit a 1-2 pitch from Rick White (4-5) to right-center for his 17th homer.
Joe Nathan pitched the 10th for his 34th save in 35 chances. He has not allowed a run in 27 appearances.
Minnesota, which had lost eight of 10, boosted its lead to two games over the second-place Indians, who had won 10 of 11.
The Indians put two runners in scoring position in the ninth, but Juan Rincon (10-5) retired Ronnie Belliard – hit only batter – on a lineout to center.
Terry Mulholland allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings.
, the longest outing for the 41-year-old left-hander since 2000, when he was with Atlanta.
The Indians scored in the first inning for the third time in the series, but Mulholland was able to keep them from a big inning. After Belliard walked, Omar Vizquel grounded to the pitcher for what should have been an easy double play. Mulholland threw wide of Christian Guzman at second and into center field for an error.
Matt Lawton hit into a run-scoring double-play grounder, and Grady Sizemore’s sacrifice fly in the second made it 2-0.
Minnesota tied the score in the sixth on a two-run double by pinch-hitter Jose Offerman off Rafael Betancourt, who blew a save for the seventh time in nine chances. Cleveland has failed to convert 25 of 48 save opportunities.
The Twins hit Indians starter Chad Durbin hard, but had only two hits to in five innings. Durbin got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by getting Corey Koskie to strike out and Guzman to line out.
Notes: The Twins lead the season series 5-4. … The Indians lead the majors in extra inning games, going 10-12. Minnesota is 10-6 in extra innings. … Tim Laker’s single in the second ended an 0-for-16 skid. … Hafner was hit by a pitch for the 17th time. He leads the AL and tied the club record set by Minnie Minoso in 1959. … Torii Hunter flied out four times and fouled out to the catcher.
AP-ES-08-15-04 1632EDT
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