NEW YORK, 18 August 2004 — Mark Redman pitched eight strong innings as the Oakland Athletics clung on to first place in the American League West with a 3-1 road win over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. The A’s entered the night with a half game lead in the division and maintained the advantage over the Texas Rangers by winning for just the second time in the last six games.
Redman (9-9) allowed one run on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk, improving to 2-4 life-time against the Orioles.
Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 11th save of the season in 15 opportunities.
Eric Byrnes and Eurbiel Durazo both had two hits and one RBI for the Athletics. Jermaine Dye drove in the other run for Oakland, which took a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning.
Javy Lopez homered for the Orioles, who lost for just the third time in their last 14 games.
Baltimore (57-60) failed to get within one win of the .500 mark for the first time since June 2. Erik Bedard (5-7) allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out seven and walking three, to take the loss.
In other games, Derek Lowe pitched seven strong innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to an 8-4 win over the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.
Lowe (11-10) allowed four runs — three earned — on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Keith Foulke pitched two shutout innings for his 20th save and Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar and Orlando Cabrera all drove in two runs. Justin Miller (1-2) allowed five runs — four earned — on six hits over 4 1/3 innings and took the loss.
Pujols Drives in Five Runs as Cardinals Rout Reds
Albert Pujols homered for the fifth time in the last four games and drove in five runs as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Cincinnati Reds 10-5 in National League play at Busch Stadium on Monday.
Pujols tied a career high with the five RBI and has driven in 11 runs in his last four games with five homers. He also scored his league leading 100 and 101st runs of the season.
St. Louis has won 16 of its last 20 games and have opened up a 14-game lead on the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, the team’s biggest lead of the season. Scott Rolen drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals, giving him a major-league leading 104 RBI.
In other games, Chipper Jones hit his 300th career home run as the Atlanta Braves edged the San Diego Padres 5-4. J.D. Drew and Andruw Jones also homered for the Braves, winners of nine of 12.
Mike Hampton (9-8) allowed three runs on seven hits over seven-plus innings for the win while John Smoltz got four outs for his 30th save.
In Los Angeles, Carl Pavano pitched 7 1/3 solid innings, leading the Florida Marlins past the Dodgers 4-2. Pavano (13-5) allowed two runs on six hits while setting a career high for victories. Armando Benitez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 35th save and Miguel Cabrera homered for Florida.
Darren Dreifort (1-4) allowed two runs on two hits in 2/3 innings to take the loss. Cesar Izturis had two hits for the Dodgers. Jack Wilson drove in the winning run with a 10th inning sacrifice fly as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-7.
In San Francisco, Ricky Ledee drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run eighth inning as the Giants beat the Montreal Expos 8-5. Marquis Grissom drove in two runs for the Giants.
Jason Christiansen (3-2) got two outs for the win and Dustin Hermanson pitched the ninth for his fourth save. Alex Gonzalez had three hits and drove in two runs for Montreal. Chad Cordero (3-3) allowed three runs on two hits in 2/3 innings to take the loss.
