NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui each hit two-run doubles, and Jon Lieber struck out a season-high nine to lead the New York Yankees past the slumping Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11-2 on Tuesday night.

Gary Sheffield had four hits and Bernie Williams homered for the Yankees, who won their third in a row. They entered with 2-game lead over Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox played late Tuesday night in Oakland.

New York’s new 1-2 punch sparked the offense again. Leadoff hitter Derek Jeter had three of the Yankees’ 16 hits, including a two-run single. Rodriguez, moved up to the No. 2 spot Monday for the first time since 1999, had three RBIs.

Every Yankees starter scored. Matsui, the new cleanup hitter, snapped an 0-for-16 skid with three hits. Sheffield’s fourth hit in the seventh prompted chants of “MVP! MVP!”

Twins 3, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE – Mike Cuddyer snapped a tie with a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 Tuesday night.

The Twins pulled even with an eighth-inning run, then took control in the ninth against Jorge Julio (2-4). Pinch-hitter Jason Kubel drew a one-out walk, and after Cristian Guzman hit a fly ball, Cuddyer drove a 1-0 pitch deep into the left-field seats.

It was his ninth home run, the first since July 31.

Julio then threw a high inside pitch that nearly hit Augie Ojeda in the head, and plate umpire Ron Kulpa promptly ejected the right-hander.

Royals 6, Tigers 2

DETROIT – Dee Brown homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Jimmy Serrano (1-1) picked up his first major league victory with three scoreless innings of relief, helping the Royals win for just the fifth time in 16 times.

Carlos Pena and Craig Monroe homered for the Tigers, who had their two-game winning streak end.

Pena’s career-high 20th homer in the second and Monroe’s 14th homer in the fourth – both off Brian Anderson – gave the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.

Pirates 2, Brewers 0

PITTSBURGH – Dave Williams pitched 6 1-3 shutout innings for his first victory in nearly three seasons and Jason Bay homered, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0.

The Pirates ended a five-game losing streak with only their sixth victory in 21 games. The Brewers lost their ninth in 10 road games, and are 1-5 in Pittsburgh this season.

Williams (1-1), making only his second start since May 27, 2002, pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first, then allowed only one more hit – Craig Counsell’s single in the fifth.

Marlins 7, Mets 3

MIAMI – Playing for the first time in five days following Hurricane Frances, the Florida Marlins picked up right where they left off.

A.J. Burnett allowed two hits in 6 1-3 innings, Miguel Cabrera hit a tape-measure homer and the Marlins extended their longest winning streak since 1997 to eight games by beating the New York Mets 7-3 Tuesday night.

New York allowed two unearned runs, totaled three hits and lost its 10th game in a row.

The winning streak by the defending World Series champions has put them back in the playoff race. They began the night trailing NL wild-card leader Chicago by three games.

Astros 9, Reds 7

HOUSTON – Roy Oswalt became the National League’s first 17-game winner and the Houston Astros extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 9-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

Oswalt (17-9) gave up four runs on six hits in 7 2-3 innings, improving to 9-1 in his last 11 starts and 11-0 in 15 career games against the Reds. He struck out nine and walked three.

Mike Lamb homered and drove in four runs and Carlos Beltran hit a two-run shot for the Astros, who are on the second-longest winning streak in club history. The team record is 12 straight from Sept. 3-14, 1999.

Rangers 10, White Sox 3

ARLINGTON, Texas – Kenny Rogers allowed three runs over seven innings, David Dellucci keyed a seven-run second with a three-run double and the Texas Rangers snapped the Chicago White Sox’s four-game winning streak with a 10-3 victory Tuesday night.

Rogers (16-7) is now one win shy of matching the best season of his 16-year career – 17-7 for the Rangers in 1995. He gave up eight hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Expos 7, Cubs 6

CHICAGO – Brian Schneider hit a go-ahead single in the 12th inning and the Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday night.

Chicago is a half-game ahead of San Francisco and Houston in the NL wild-card race.

The Cubs loaded the bases in the 10th, but with the wind blowing in, Moises Alou’s drive to left field was easily caught for the third out.

The same happened to Derrek Lee’s long drive in the 11th.

Rockies 8, Giants 7

DENVER – Jeromy Burnitz hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to overshadow Barry Bonds’ 698th homer and lift the Colorado Rockies to an 8-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

on Tuesday night.

Colorado took a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning on Mark Sweeney’s grand slam, only to give it back on Ray Durham’s two-run double off Tim Harikkala (6-3) in the eighth.

Burnitz followed with a two-run homer in the bottom half off Jason Christiansen (4-3), giving Colorado its fifth win in six games.

Shawn Chacon gave up Deivi Cruz’s RBI single and loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but struck out Marquis Grissom for his 33rd save.

Michael Tucker also homered for San Francisco, which failed to make up ground on the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race.

The Rockies beat the Giants despite pitching to Bonds, something manager Clint Hurdle said he wouldn’t do.

With a runner on first in the first, Jamey Wright got him to hit a weak pop up to shallow center.

The Rockies weren’t so lucky in the third inning.

With Edgardo Alfonzo on second after an RBI double, Wright tossed a first-pitch strike to Bonds, drawing cheers from the fans. After a ball, Wright left a fastball out over the plate and Bonds lifted a fly toward left.

The ball didn’t appear to have enough on it to clear the wall, but it bounced off left fielder Matt Holliday’s glove and landed in the stands for a two-run homer that put the Giants up 3-2.

Bonds is within two homers of joining Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) as the only players to reach 700. The six-time NL MVP also has hit 40 homers in five straight seasons and eight overall, tying Aaron’s NL record. Ruth holds the major league record with 11 seasons with 40 homers.

Wright was far more careful with the Giants slugger in the fifth inning, walking him on four pitches with two outs on nobody on. Bonds just missed his second homer in the sixth inning, lining Jeff Fassero’s 3-0 fastball near the top of the wall in right. He finished 2-for-3 with two walks.

Giants starter Jason Schmidt had another rough outing, allowing six runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings after giving up 12 runs in eight innings his previous two starts.

He gave up a two-run homer to Holliday in the second before loading the bases in the sixth. Sweeney followed with his first career grand slam and team-record fifth pinch-hit homer this season.

Notes: Colorado’s Andy Tracy grounded out to second as a pinch hitter in the sixth, his first appearance in the majors since June 13, 2001, while playing for Montreal. … San Francisco’s A.J. Pierzynski is 3-for-26 the past eight games. … Colorado’s Todd Helton was 0-for-3, ending his hitting streak at 10 games. … Holliday left in the seventh inning after being hit just above the left ear on a pitch by Schmidt. … Bonds is two walks short of the major league record of 198 he set in 2002.

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