TORONTO, 28 May 2005 — Alex Rodriguez clubbed his league leading 17th homer in the fifth inning as the surging New York Yankees tamed the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in American League play on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, notching their 15th win in 17 games.
With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Rodriguez took an offering from Jeremy Bonderman and crushed a two-run shot over the center field wall bringing across Hideki Matsui to make a winner of Kevin Brown. Rodriguez’s home run was the 398th of his career, taking him to 42nd on the all-time list with Dale Murphy.
Brown (4-4) took credit for the win, surrendering three runs on 10 hits over seven innings to register his fourth straight victory. Tom Gordon pitched a scoreless inning of relief before Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth to get the final three outs and earn his 11th save of the season.
In Toronto, Eric Hinske homered to key a sixrun first inning and Gustavo Chacin delivered six strong innings as the Blue Jays completed a threegame sweep of the Boston Red Sox with an 8-1 drubbing of the World Series champions.
Benefiting from the early support, Chacin (5-3) allowed just one run on seven hits while striking out two and walking a pair as Blue Jays won for the fifth time in six games.
Pete Walker tossed three innings of scoreless relief to earn his second save of the season. In Baltimore, Melvin Mora, Rafael Palmeiro and Miguel Tejada each had a home run and Daniel Cabrera provided seven solid innings as Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 5-2 victory.
Mora, who had a two-run blast to open the scoring, finished 3-for-4 at the plate, finishing a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
Cabrera (4-3) made the early lead stand up with a dominating performance, retiring 14 of the first 15 batters he faced, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking two.
In St. Petersburg, Carl Crawford and Julio Lugo had sixth inning RBI singles and Hideo Nomo tossed 7 1/3 strong innings guiding the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.
Nomo (3-4) allowed one run on five hits, striking out seven and walking two to record his 199th career win in the United States and Japan.
In Cleveland, Shannon Stewart homered with two out in the 11th inning, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Indians.
In Arlington, Alfonso Soriano, Richard Hidalgo and Mark Teixeira all homered as the Texas Rangers blasted their way to a sixth straight win with an 8-1 rout of the Kansas City Royals.
In Anaheim, Dallas McPherson clubbed a two-run go ahead seventh inning homer and John Lackey tossed seven strong innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Mets Rout Marlins to End Four Game Skid
In Washington, Jose Reyes tripled twice driving in three runs and Mike Cameron also had three RBIs as the New York Mets broke out of a four game losing skid with a 12-4 demolition of the Florida Marlins in the National League on Thursday.
Reyes also scored twice while Cameron had two doubles and also scored twice for the Mets, who pounded out 14 hits after being shutout in consecutive games by the Atlanta Braves.
Kris Benson (3-1) picked up his third straight win surrendering three runs on five hits over six innings, striking out four and walking one.
In Chicago, Preston Wilson and Todd Greene belted solo homeruns and Jason Jennings delivered seven-plus solid innings helping the Colorado Rockies down the Cubs 5-2 to end a three game skid.
Jennings (2-6) allowed one run on seven hits, struck out two and walked two to claim his first win five decisions.
In Cincinnati, Matt Lawton and Daryle Ward had homeruns and Rob Mackowiak had three hits and drove in three runs helping the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 win over the Reds. Pittsburgh scored twice in the first inning giving starter Oliver Perez (3-4) an early cushion.
In Phoenix, Jake Peavy pitched his first career shutout, allowing just two hits, and Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko homered as the San Diego Padres blanked the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-0.
Dave Roberts went 4-for-5 at the plate matching his career high driving in four runs while Damian Jackson scored three runs.
In San Francisco, Antonio Perez belted a two-run homer and Ricky Ledee slapped a game winning ninth inning two-run single sparking the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 victory over the Giants.
Yhency Brazoban (2-0) worked 2/3 of an inning in relief for the win while Eric Gagne, who has spent most of the season on the injured list with a sprained ligament in his elbow, came on in the ninth to get the final three outs and register his first save of the season.
