NEW YORK, 12 August 2003 — The Seattle Mariners staged a late rally and then survived a fightback to outlast the New York Yankees 8-6 in American League play on Sunday.
The game was billed as a duel between 40-somethings Jamie Moyer and Roger Clemens, but neither player made it to the end of the contest.
Seattle put up five runs in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead and chase 41-year-old Clemens off the mound.
Both Bret Boone and Randy Winn had two-run singles that inning.
After the Yanks squared the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Seattle went ahead for good when John Olerud drew a bases-loaded walk from Antonio Osuna (2-4) in the eighth.
Olerud took four straight balls, Osuna’s inaccuracy drawing the ire of fans.
Rafael Soriano (2-0) earned the win with 1 1/3 innings in relief of 40-year-old Moyer, who sat down after six frames.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa finished up for his 10th save in 10 outings.
White Sox 5 Athletics 1
In Chicago, veteran Esteban Loaiza overcame promising rookie Rich Harden as the White Sox pounded the Oakland Athletics 5-1. The surging Sox are 17-5 their past 22 games. Loaiza (15-5) allowed just four hits while striking out six in eight innings, his AL-best ERA dropping from 2.30 to 2.24.
Orioles 5 Red Sox 3
In Boston, Jack Cust homered and doubled off recently acquired Jeff Suppan (0-1) to plate three runs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Red Sox 5-3.
Boston was hoping to make up ground on the Yankees over the weekend, but instead remains three games behind New York in the AL East.
Jason Johnson (10-5) tossed six innings of six-hit ball for the victory, with Jorge Julio earning his 29th save despite a shaky ninth.
Indians 3 Angels 1
In Cleveland, rookie Jody Gerut drove in the winning runs with a third-inning bloop single off John Lackey as the Indians edged the reeling Anaheim Angels 3-1. The unlucky Lackey (7-11) surrendered just four hits in seven innings. C.C. Sabathia (10-7) also allowed four hits while fanning seven in his 5 2/3 innings.
Rangers 5 Blue Jays 4
In Toronto, Alex Rodriguez and Todd Greene homered to carry the Texas Rangers to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was “A-Rod’s” seventh homer in 10 games, this one served up by loser Josh Towers (1-1). Despite languishing at the bottom of the AL West, Texas leads the majors with 179 round-trippers. Colby Lewis (5-7) tossed five innings of seven-hit ball for the victory, his first since late May.
Twins 4 Tigers 3
In Detroit, the Minnesota Twins picked up from where they left off on Saturday, scoring four first-inning runs and hanging on to edge the Tigers 4-3. The Twins scored four times in the 10th inning to defeat Detroit on Saturday.
Royals 7 Devil Rays 3
In St. Petersburg, the Royals put up five first-inning runs, all charged to loser Jorge Sosa (4-9), in a 7-3 rout of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Julius Matos singled to score the fourth and fifth runs, sending Sosa to an early shower, before belting his second home run of the season.
