Sports > Athletics and Angels Keep Pace in AL West

Athletics, Angels Finish Big Three-Game Matchup With Impressive Wins, Tie for AL West Lead

Oakland Athletics' Scott Hatteberg, right, is congratulated after hitting a three-run home run off New York Yankees' Jorge DePaula in the second inning by teammates Bobby Lielty (23) and Jay Payton (16) Friday, Sept. 2, 2005, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/

Scott Hatteberg hit a three-run homer, and Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton also connected for Oakland in a 12-0 victory Friday night over the visiting New York Yankees, who were shut out for just the second time this year.

Oakland chased Al Leiter (4-4) in the first inning of his first loss since Aug. 2. The A's, who lost two of three at Anaheim, took a 10-0 lead in the second.

"It was good to see us bounce back," said Hatteberg, who homered off Jorge DePaula in the second. "You look at them, a bunch of Hall of Famers and All-Stars, and they're phenomenal. We've been hearing about that all year, but you get into September, and we've got the same record as them."

Vladimir Guerrero hit his 300th career homer, his first since Aug. 14, and Darin Erstad homered for the first time since July 4 in a 4-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

"It means a lot to do it at home. I really wanted to do it here for the fans," Guerrero said through a translator. "I never had a doubt that eventually it was going to come. Now I don't have to think about it anymore."

Los Angeles and Oakland are tied for the division lead at 76-58, one game ahead of the Yankees and Cleveland (both 75-59) in the wild-card race

In other games it was Baltimore 7, Boston 3; Cleveland 6, Minnesota 1; Chicago 9, Detroit 1; Texas 8, Kansas City 7 in 10 innings; and Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 3.

At Oakland, Leiter got only two outs in the shortest start of his career not caused by injury.

"I stunk. What went wrong? Everything," Leiter said. "I was terrible. It was embarrassing."

Dan Haren (12-10) allowed four hits and four walks in six innings for the A's, who have an AL-best 11 shutouts.

At Anaheim, Paul Byrd (10-9) won for the first time in eight starts since July 15, allowing one run and five hits in eight innings. Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 33rd save.

Jamie Moyer (11-6) allowed four runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Orioles 7, Red Sox 3

John Maine (2-1) and five relievers combined on a four-hitter, ending Boston's streak of 14 games at Fenway Park with seven runs or more. The Red Sox lost for just the second time in 21 home games but maintained a 3 1/2-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East.

Boston, which had won five straight, got a single by Manny Ramirez and a two-run double by Jason Varitek in the first, then didn't get another hit until Kevin Millar singled leading off the ninth.

Baltimore went ahead 3-2 in the second on an RBI single by Chris Gomez and a two-run double by Luis Matos.

Lenny DiNardo (0-1) started in place of David Wells, serving a six-game suspension stemming for a July 2 argument with umpires. DiNardo allowed one earned run and seven hits in six innings.

Indians 6, Twins 1

C.C. Sabathia (12-9) allowed three hits in 7 1-3 innings at the Metrodome and won his sixth straight start.

Ronnie Belliard had three hits, Grady Sizemore homered and drove in two runs and Ben Broussard homered and drove in three runs for Cleveland, which won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Brad Radke (8-11) gave up four runs three earned and nine hits in seven innings as the Twins dropped six games behind the wild-card leaders.

White Sox 9, Tigers 1

Carl Everett and Juan Uribe hit three-run homers, and Freddy Garcia (12-7) allowed one run and two hits in seven innings to win for the first time since July 31. David Sanders, making his first appearance in the major leagues since July 2003, and Bobby Jenks finished the three-hitter.

Sean Douglass (5-3) gave up eight runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings for visiting Detroit, which has lost seven of nine.

Rangers 8, Royals 7

Rod Barajas hit two homers for the second straight game, including a 10th-inning drive of Mike MacDougal (3-5). Michael Young had three hits to raise his league-leading batting average to .326.

Mark Teahen had a career-high four hits, including a three-run double in the ninth off Francisco Cordero (3-1). John Wasdin pitched the 10th for his third save.

Visiting Kansas City has lost 27 of 32, reaching 90 losses for the fourth time in five seasons.

Blue Jays 4, Devil Rays 3

Gregg Zaun was batting and tried to call time out with two outs in the eighth, but plate umpire Larry Vanover didn't allow it. Joe Borowski (1-2) then threw a wild pitch, allowing Shea Hillenbrand to score from third with the go-ahead run.

Scott Schoeneweis (3-3) got the last out of the eighth, and Miguel Batista finished for his 25th save, sending visiting Tampa Bay to its fifth straight loss.

2005-09-03