By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Casey Fossum took a shutout into the eighth inning to win as a starter for the first time since last August, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays held off the Yankees 5-4 Monday night to stop New York’s winning streak at six.

Hideki Matsui hit a three-run homer off Lance Carter in the eighth as the Yankees rallied from a five-run deficit to make it close.

Sean Henn (0-2), roughed up at Tampa Bay in his major league debut on May 4, did little better in start No. 2. Pitching because Kevin Brown is on the disabled list with back spasms, Henn allowed four runs – three earned – four hits and seven walks in 4 2-3 innings. But even that wretched performance was good enough to lower his ERA from 19.29 to 10.29.

Fossum (3-5) had been 0-7 in 12 starts since beating Cincinnati for Arizona on Aug. 28. While he had been 0-2 in six starts this year, he did win twice in 11 relief appearances.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 2

TORONTO – Ted Lilly and Justin Speier combined on a three-hitter, and Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill each hit first-inning home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays in an 11-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.

Wells hit a three-run homer off Bruce Chen (6-5) in his first at-bat since returning to the team after missing three games to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby boy this past weekend.

Cardinals 6, Reds 1

CINCINNATI – Chris Carpenter took a shutout into the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals got two-run homers from Albert Pujols and Reggie Sanders in a 6-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Sanders hit an RBI double in the third and homered in the fifth, his 14th. Reds pitchers have allowed at least one home run in 57 of 70 games for a total of 106 homers – most in the majors.

Cubs 5, Brewers 4

MILWAUKEE – Greg Maddux earned his 311th victory to tie Tom Seaver for 17th on the career list, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4.

Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez each hit home runs off Tomo Ohka (5-4) with two outs in the first to support Maddux, who was tagged for seven runs on eight hits in 3 2-3 innings by Florida in his last start.

Nationals 7, Pirates 4

PITTSBURGH – Livan Hernandez got plenty of help from his defense in winning his ninth consecutive decision, and Jose Guillen homered twice as the Washington Nationals built a five-run lead and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 Monday night.

Guillen, Cristian Guzman and Brad Wilkerson drove in two runs each as the NL East leaders won their 17th in 21 games.

Astros 7, Rockies 0

HOUSTON – Andy Pettitte pitched five-hit ball for seven innings, Lance Berkman hit his first homer of the season from the right side of the plate and the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 7-0 Monday night.

Pettitte (4-7) improved to 3-3 with a 3.15 ERA at Minute Maid Park this season. He tied his season high with eight strikeouts and walked only one.

White Sox 11, Royals 8

CHICAGO – Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas and Jermaine Dye each homered, and A.J. Pierzynski had a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 11-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Konerko hit a three-run homer in the first, Thomas had a solo shot in the third and Dye led off the fifth with a home run. But the Royals tied it 8-all on back-to-back home runs.

by John Buck and Ruben Gotay in the sixth.

The White Sox quickly answered against Ryan Jensen (3-2).

Tadahito Iguchi and Konerko singled, and Dye walked to load the bases with two outs. That brought up Pierzynski, whose bloop single to center made it 10-8. The next batter, Joe Crede, gave the White Sox an insurance run with an RBI single to left.

Neal Cotts (2-0) struck out three and allowed one hit in 2 1-3 innings, extending his scoreless streak to nine straight outings. Dustin Hermanson pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

Konerko was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Thomas’ home run was his sixth in nine hits.

Mark Teahan drove in three runs for the Royals.

The White Sox got to Royals starter Jose Lima early, tagging him for seven runs in four innings. That looked as if it would be enough support for Brandon McCarthy, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day to start for Orlando Hernandez. El Duque went on the disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder.

But McCarthy got in trouble in the fourth, allowing a two-run double to Teahan. Matt Stairs drove in a pair of runs in the fifth, pulling the Royals to 7-6 and chasing McCarthy.

Notes: The Royals placed four-time All-Star Mike Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left wrist and elbow before the game. LHP Jeremy Affeldt (strained left groin) and righty Ambiorix Burgos (strained rotator cuff) also went on the 15-day DL. … The Royals’ Emil Brown extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the top of the second. … The White Sox had four steals, giving them a major league-leading 75.

AP-ES-06-20-05 2339EDT

Copy the Story Link