NEW YORK, 2 May 2005 — Tony Womack drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth as the New York Yankees edged the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in American League play at a rainy Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

Alex Rodriguez hit his major league leading ninth homer of the season for the Yankees — and his fifth of the week — as New York snapped a three-game losing streak.

Despite taking the second contest in a three-game series, the Yankees ended the month with a 10-14 record for their first losing April since 1991.

Chien-Ming Wang pitched seven strong innings in his major league debut for the Yankees. The 25-year-old Taiwan native allowed two runs on six hits with two walks.

In other games, Ken Harvey hit his first career grand slam as the Kansas City Royals pounded the Indians 8-1 in Cleveland. Eli Marrero hit a pair of homers for the Royals, who snapped a nine-game losing streak.

In Baltimore, Brian Roberts hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, leading the Orioles past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-5. Miguel Tejada homered for the third straight game and drove in three runs for the Orioles, who have won seven in a row. B.J. Surhoff also homered for the Orioles.

In Oakland, Mark Kotsay drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Athletics squeaked past the Seattle Mariners 6-5. Kotsay had five hits in the game for Oakland, while Bobby Kielty had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs.

In Minneapolis, Brad Radke pitched 7 1/3 strong innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Radke (2-3) only allowed two runs on seven hits, striking out five.

In Chicago, Orlando Hernandez pitched seven solid innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits, as the White Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3. Hernandez (3-1) struck out six while Dustin Hermanson pitched one inning for the save.

In Arlington, Johnny Damon homered and drove in four runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 9-2. Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek also homered for Boston.

Miller Completes Brewers Rally Against Reds

Damian Miller singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers eked out a 6-5 home win over the Cincinnati Reds in National League play on Saturday.

The Brewers rallied from a four-run deficit to improve their winning streak to three games, tying their longest of the season, after trailing 5-1 heading to the seventh inning.

Junior Spivey and Russell Branyan both drove in two runs during the four-run seventh to set the stage for Miller’s game-winning hit a couple of innings later. Bill Hall and Spivey each had two of Milwaukee’s nine hits.

In other games, Jeff Bagwell had three hits as the Houston Astros ended a six-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Brandon Backe (2-1) allowed four runs on six hits over seven innings for the win, striking out eight and walking two.

In Atlanta, Raul Mondesi homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Braves to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Dan Kolb (1-2) worked a perfect ninth for the win and Andruw Jones had three hits for Atlanta.

In Pittsburgh, Deivi Cruz homered in the first inning as the San Francisco Giants beat the Pirates 7-6. Tyler Walker (2-0) got two outs in relief for the win.

In Washington, the Nationals beat the New York Mets 5-3 in a game called in the bottom of the eighth inning due to rain. Tomo Ohka (2-3) pitched six shutout innings allowing only two hits.

In Philadelphia, Dontrelle Willis allowed one unearned run over five innings for his fifth win of the season as the Florida Marlins edged the Phillies 2-1 in a game shortened to 5 1/2 innings by rain.

In San Diego, Brian Lawrence pitched a two-hitter over eight shutout innings as the Padres stopped the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. Lawrence (2-3) struck out seven and walked two.

In Los Angeles, Jason Repko hit a three-run homer to power the Dodgers past the Colorado Rockies 6-2. Cesar Izturis had two hits and drove in two runs for the Dodgers. Brad Penny (1-0) allowed four hits over six shutout innings for the win.