The New York Yankees avoided a three-game sweep by the cross-town rival Mets with a 6-2 victory in interleague baseball action Sunday.
Yankee pitcher Tyler Clippard made a successful major league debut, giving up just three hits in six innings of work. He was the seventh rookie pitcher to start for the injury-plagued Yankees this year.
Alex Rodriguez led the Yankees' offense with his major league-leading 17th home run.
In other interleague play, the Chicago White Sox scored seven runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by A. J. Pierzynski's grand slam, to beat the cross-town rival Cubs, 10-6. The Detroit Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, completing a three-game sweep in a rematch of last year's World Series, won by St. Louis.
The American League-leading Boston Red Sox scored four runs in the first inning on the way to beating the Atlanta Braves, 6-3. The Cleveland Indians got by the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3. The Florida Marlins rallied from three runs down to edge the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 4-3. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3. The Washington Nationals came from behind to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3.
The Milwaukee Brewers rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5. The Texas Rangers slugged six home runs to vanquish the Houston Astros, 14-1. The Angels beat the Dodgers, 4-1, in a battle of Los Angeles area teams. San Francisco pitcher Matt Morris allowed just two hits in the Giants' 4-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The San Diego Padres tripped up the Seattle Mariners, 2-1. The Kansas City Royals scored five runs in the 12th inning to beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-5.
In a National League matchup, Arizona pitcher Randy Johnson struck out 10 batters in nearly six innings of work, leading the Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
