In baseball's major leagues, the Oakland A's enjoyed a 10-3 drubbing of the Los Angeles Angels that was highlighted by a late-game bench-clearing brawl Tuesday.
The hostilities began when Angels pitcher John Lackey narrowly missed hitting Oakland batter Jason Kendall in the sixth inning. Kendall charged the mound, triggering a fight that ended with players from both teams going after each other in the middle of the field. Lackey and Kendall were ejected.
The fight overshadowed Oakland's fifth straight victory, sparked by three-run homers from both Eric Chavez and Bobby Crosby.
The American League's other winners Tuesday were Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Texas and Minnesota. In the National League, San Diego, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Houston and Arizona won their games.
Pitcher C.C. Sabathia returned from the injured list and worked five strong innings to help Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1, and snap Chicago's four-game winning streak. The Detroit Tigers stretched their win streak to five games by downing the hapless Kansas City Royals. 4-1.
Baltimore pitcher Kris Benson allowed just six hits over seven innings to lead the Orioles to a 9-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-5, and the Minnesota Twins easily defeated the Seattle Mariners, 5-1. The New York Yankees' game in Boston against the Red Sox was rained out.
In the National League, the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3, despite Barry Bonds' 712th career home run. The Cincinnati Reds eked out a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Chicago Cubs, 8-0; pitcher Zach Duke allowed five hits in his first career shutout and complete-game victory.
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, 7-5. The Washington Nationals routed the New York Mets, 6-2, led by Alfonso Soriano's two-run homer. Atlanta's Marcus Giles had four hits to lead the Braves to a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. The Houston Astros downed the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-8.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
