NEW YORK, 17 September 2004 — Carlos Silva tossed a one-hitter before leaving the game with a bruised ankle as the Minnesota Twins won their eighth straight game, downing the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Wednesday.

Michael Cuddyer drove in a pair of runs, including the game-winner with a single in the fourth inning, as the Twins scored their second straight easy home win over their closest rivals in the division.

Silva (12-8) was pitching a one-hit shutout when he left the game after being hit by a Joe Crede grounder in the sixth inning. Three relievers finished up the five-hitter.

Cristian Guzman had two hits and drove in two runs for the Twins, and Matt LeCroy had two hits and drove n a run. Mark Buehrle (14-9) gave up five runs and six hits in seven innings. Crede drove in Chicago’s lone run with an eighth inning single.

In Kansas City, Tony Clark and Derek Jeter homered and Javier Vazquez tossed seven shutout innings to back the New York Yankees to a 3-0 win over the Royals.

Vazquez (14-9) struck out seven batters for his first win in six starts. Tom Gordon worked a scoreless inning of relief before Mariano Rivera finished for his 49th save.

In Cleveland, Ron Belliard had a pair of hits, including a solo homer in the sixth inning to push the Indians to a 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Bob Howry (2-1) allowed one run in an inning of relief and Bob Wickman struck out two batters in the ninth inning for his ninth save. Ted Lilly tossed eight scoreless innings to back the Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Lilly (11-10) struck out six batters and won for the third time in five starts and Justin Speier gave up a pair of hits before closing the game with his sixth save.

In Boston, Mark Bellhorn and Kevin Millar homered to lead the Red Sox to an 8-6 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Tim Wakefield (12-9) won for the first time in three starts after allowing four runs and six hits in five innings.

Mark Teixeira homered and drove in four runs as the Texas Rangers trounced the Oakland Athletics 10-3. Hank Blalock homered, had three hits and three RBI and Alfonso Soriano also homered for Texas. Ryan Drese (13-8) allowed two runs on nine hits over six innings for the win.

Sosa Belts Two Homers as Cubs Pound Pirates

Sammy Sosa belted a pair of home runs, including his first grand slam in more than two years giving him 571 in his career, as the Chicago Cubs pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-5 in National League at Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

The Cubs slugger lifted his batting average to .261 with the big day and went ahead of “Mr Cub” Ernie Banks for career homers at Wrigley Field with his 291st. Derek Lee, Sosa and Michael Barrett went deep in consecutive at-bats in the first inning and Neifi Perez added a two-run blast in the sixth for the Cubs.

Mark Grudzielanek and Perez also both had three hits for Chicago, who swept the three-game series. Jose Macias added three RBI to the Chicago attack. Michael Wuertz (1-0) struck out two batters in an inning of relief for his first major league win and Ryan Dempster finished the game with two innings of relief for his first save.

In Cincinnati, Jason Michaels was 4-for-5 with a double and drove in a pair of runs to assist the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-1 win over the Reds. Pat Burrell homered and Doug Glanville added a two-run single. Brett Myers (9-9) allowed one run on four hits in six innings. Brad Wilkerson, Ryan Church and Juan Rivera homered to pace the Montreal Expos to a 6-2 win over the Florida Marlins in the first half of a doubleheader in Miami. John Patterson (4-5) struck out seven batters and allowed a pair of runs and six hits in eight inning.

In New York, John Thomson tossed seven scoreless innings to back the Atlanta Braves to a 2-0 win over the Mets. Thomson (12-8) allowed five hits and John Smoltz finished the game with a scoreless ninth inning for his 38th save.

In Milwaukee, J.T. Snow and Deivi Cruz homered to power the San Francisco Giants to an 8-1 win over the Brewers. Snow added a two-run double in the ninth inning and Brett Tomko (10-6) went the distance for the Giants, striking out seven batters and allowing one run and four hits.

Barry Bonds again failed to hit a home run and remains stuck on 699.

In St Louis, Jim Edmonds slugged his 42nd home run to help the Cardinals double the Houston Astros 4-2. Kiko Calero (2-1) struck out two batters in a scoreless inning of relief and Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth inning for his 42nd save.

Jeff Kent gave the Astros an early lead with a two-run homer in the second inning.

Randy Johnson broke Steve Carlton’s record for most strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2. Johnson (14-13) went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out 11 to finish the game with 4,139, three more than Carlton.

Shawn Estes (14-7) allowed three runs on nine hits over four innings for the loss.