TORONTO, 27 August 2004 — David Ortiz thumped two homers and drove in four runs to fire the Boston Red Sox to an 11-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wednesday.
Manny Ramirez and Orlando Cabrera also homered as the Red Sox pounded out 17 hits to move within 5 1/2 games of the first-place New York Yankees in the East Division.
Curt Schilling (16-6) pitched 6 1/3 solid innings to claim his 16th victory of the season, allowing one run on seven hits while striking out nine batters and walking none.
Three relievers finished up, with former Toronto reliever Terry Adams charged for four runs in the eighth inning.
Schilling’s final strikeout in the seventh was the 2,700th of his career, making him the 18th player to reach that milestone.
The Red Sox completed a six-game road trip with a 5-1 record as they won for the eighth time in nine outings. Boston has made up five games on the Yankees in the past 10 days.
In Detroit, Marcus Thames drove in three runs as the Tigers edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4. Carlos Guillen homered and had three hits for the Tigers while Nate Robertson pitched eight strong innings for the win. Robertson (11-7) gave up one run on eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
In Cleveland, Coco Crisp drove in the winning run with an eighth-inning bunt single to help the Indians defeat the New York Yankees 4-3. David Riske (7-2) picked up four outs in relief for the victory and Rafael Betancourt tossed a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.
In Arlington, Justin Morneau and Luis Rivas homered as the Minnesota Twins overcame the Texas Rangers 8-5.
Lew Ford added three hits and two RBI to their attack as the Twins pounded out 17 hits off four Texas pitchers. Kyle Lohse (7-10) allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings for the win.
In Oakland, a three-run homer by Marco Scutaro broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth inning and steered the Athletics to a 3-0 blanking of the Baltimore Orioles. Rich Harden tossed eight shutout innings for the A’s but Octavio Dotel (3-5) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory. Oakland had only five hits, two by Scutaro.
In Anaheim, Jeff DaVanon hit for the cycle while Garret Anderson homered and drove in five runs as the Angels handed out a 21-6 pasting of the Kansas City Royals to complete a three-game series sweep.
In Seattle, Aubrey Huff’s run-scoring groundout in the top of the ninth inning carried the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 6-5 victory over the Mariners which earned a sweep of the three-game series. Travis Harper (5-2) picked up five outs in relief for the win.
Patterson Homer Keeps Cubs in Wildcard Lead
Corey Patterson clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Wednesday.
The victory at Wrigley Field was the fourth straight and eighth in 11 outings for the Cubs, who held on to the NL wildcard lead and completed a three-game series sweep of the Brewers. Luis Vizcaino surrendered the game-winning homer on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth. He also gave up Moises Alou’s solo homer in the bottom of the eighth which handed the Cubs a 2-1 advantage.
The Brewers tied the game on a two-out RBI double by Chris Magruder in the top of the ninth.
In Houston, Jeff Kent cracked a tie-breaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning, his second homer of the game, to lead the Astros to a 7-4 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies.
In Pittsburgh, Jack Wilson and Jason Bay stroked back-to-back home runs off Randy Johnson in the seventh inning as the Pirates edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1. Josh Fogg (8-9) allowed one run on six hits over eight innings, striking out four batters and walking one.
In Atlanta, Chipper Jones homered twice and drove in five runs to help the Braves hammer the Colorado Rockies 8-1. Eli Marrero also homered for the Braves while JD Drew added three hits.
In New York, Brian Lawrence pitched a complete-game six-hitter as the San Diego Padres blanked the Mets 4-0. Lawrence (13-10) struck out four batters and walked one for his second straight complete game.
In Montreal, Brian Schneider belted a three-run homer as the Expos took four home runs off Jose Lima to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3. Frank Robinson notched his 900th career victory as a manager.
In Miami, AJ Pierzynski walked with the bases loaded to grab the winning run after Barry Bonds was intentionally walked in the 10th inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 6-5 triumph over the Florida Marlins. Deivi Cruz and Pedro Felix homered for the Giants.
In Cincinnati, Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds whacked two-run homers as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Reds 6-5. Reggie Sanders scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning.
