By Sun Journal staff

NEW YORK – Jaret Wright must feel as though there’s a bull’s-eye on his back – not to mention his neck, chest and elbow.

Bruised by a line drive again, Wright was ineffective and the Toronto Blue Jays ended New York’s five-game winning streak Saturday with a 7-4 victory over the Yankees.

“A bat, two balls – I don’t know,” Wright said. “When it keeps happening, it’s definitely frustrating.”

Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano made costly errors for the Yankees, who lost for only the second time in 13 games. Chasing their eighth consecutive division title, they fell into a tie for the AL East lead with Boston, which won 4-3 at Baltimore.

Shea Hillenbrand and Eric Hinske each drove in two runs for Toronto. Wright was chased with none out in the second inning, his shortest start since August 2004 with Atlanta.

Angels 7, Devil Rays 5

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Casey Kotchman grounded a tiebreaking, two-run single through a drawn-in infield in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-5 Friday night to increase their AL West lead to four games over second-place Oakland.

The Angels took advantage of three Devil Rays’ errors and extended their winning streak to seven.

With the score 5-all, Joe Borowski (1-5) walked Juan Rivera with one out in the eighth and Bengie Molina doubled over a leaping Alex Gonzalez at third. Kotchman batted for Robb Quinlan and got his first pinch hit of the season.

Indians 7, Royals 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo – Travis Hafner homered in his sixth consecutive game and the Cleveland Indians scored an unearned run in the ninth inning to defeat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Friday night, remaining 11/2 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

Cleveland recovered after wasting a 6-2 lead and won for the ninth time in 10 games, maintaining a 11/2-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card race. The White Sox, who led the Indians by 15 games in the division on Aug. 1, beat Minnesota 3-1.

Hafner hit a two-run homer off Jose Lima in the third inning and is one short of tying the Cleveland record for consecutive game with home runs, set by Jim Thome from June 25-July 3, 2002. Hafner’s last 10 hits have been for extra-bases.

Tigers 7, Mariners 1

DETROIT – Jason Grilli pitched seven strong innings in his first Detroit start, and the Tigers hit four home runs Saturday night in a 7-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners that snapped an eight-game losing streak.

The Tigers improved to 5-19 in September, while the Mariners fell to 3-7 on their season-high 11-game road trip.

Grilli (1-0) won for the first time since Sept. 11, 2004, for the Chicago White Sox, allowing one run and two hits. He walked four and struck out four. Chris Spurling, Jamie Walker and Fernando Rodney finished.

Athletics 7, Rangers 6

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jason Kendall hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and the Oakland Athletics rallied from a three-run deficit for a 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

With the A’s struggling to get back into playoff contention, they pulled out a much-needed win by coming back after trailing 5-2.

White Sox 3, Twins 1

CHICAGO – Jose Contreras gave the struggling Chicago White Sox what they needed most – a strongly pitched game and a victory.

Contreras pitched a six-hitter for his first career complete game, and Jermaine Dye hit a three-run homer in the first inning to lead the White Sox over the Minnesota Twins 3-1 Friday and stop Chicago’s slide for at least one night.

Astros 8, Cubs 3

CHICAGO – The Houston Astros did fine without Roger Clemens.

Ezequiel Astacio, starting in place of the injured ace, allowed four hits in six innings Saturday, and the Astros preserved their lead in the NL wild-card race with an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Craig Biggio matched his career high with his 24th homer, a solo shot in the first inning, and drove in another run, and Lance Berkman also homered. It was the ninth win in 11 games for Houston, which will go into Sunday with at least a one-game lead in the wild-card race.

Braves 6, Marlins 1

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves took another step toward their 14th straight division title, moving the Florida Marlins closer to postseason elimination.

Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 51st home run as the Braves beat the Marlins 6-1 Saturday night.

Mets 5, Nationals 2

WASHINGTON – Tom Glavine carried a shutout into the sixth inning for his 274th career win, David Wright’s grand slam capped a five-run first off Livan Hernandez, and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 5-2 Saturday night.

The Mets (77-77) have won six of their last eight games, and if they complete a series sweep Sunday, they’ll move up to fourth place in the NL East and drop the Nationals (78-77) into last.

Reds 3, Phillies 2

CINCINNATI – The Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t come up with another ninth-inning comeback.

The Phillies were unable to overcome a three-run deficit and lost 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, falling two games behind Houston in the NL wild-card race.

Eric Milton rebounded from the shortest start of his eight-year career to beat his former team, and Adam Dunn backed him up with a two-run homer.

The Phillies scored a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to get within one run, but David Weathers pitched a perfect ninth as Philadelphia had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Philadelphia scored five times in the ninth for an 11-10 victory Friday night. Weathers blew a four-run lead in that game, but bounced back to earn his 15th save in 19 opportunities.

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