| Gary Sheffield (r) is greeted at the plate by teammate Derek Jeter after hitting a three-run home run |
Veteran slugger Gary Sheffield crushed a three-run home run to the upper deck of Yankee Stadium to cap a five-run, sixth inning for the Bronx Bombers. Rookie Robinson Cano started the rally with a two-run homer off Boston knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. Yankee star pitcher Randy Johnson earned the win, despite a below-average performance.
Red-hot New York moved to within 3.5 games of the American League East division leaders, the Baltimore Orioles, who dropped a 4-3 decision to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
The AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels added to the lowly Kansas City Royals' woes, coming back from an 8-3 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, then winning the contest, 9-8, with a 10th inning homer.
Other American League winners were the Twins, Devil Rays, Indians and Rangers.
The Minnesota Twins downed the Blue Jays in Toronto, 7-2. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays edged the visiting Seattle Mariners, 5-4. The Cleveland Indians eclipsed the Oakland Athletics, 4-1, in Cleveland. The Texas Rangers used two homers by Alfonso Soriano to get by the visiting Chicago White Sox, 6-2.
In the National League, the Chicago Cubs' Mark Prior suffered a slight fracture to his pitching elbow when he was hit with a line drive in the fourth inning of a home game against the Colorado Rockies. The injury-plagued Cubs offense then took over, winning the game, 10-3.
Other National League winners were the Mets, Reds, Brewers, Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers and Padres.
New York Mets' ace Pedro Martinez struck out 10 Marlins and allowed just five hits in eight innings, as the Mets won in Florida, 1-0. The Cincinnati Reds scored a run on an infield chopper in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5. The Milwaukee Brewers shut down the visiting Houston Astros, 3-0; pitcher Doug Davis gave up just two hits over seven innings.
The Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs off John Smoltz in the top of the first inning and beat the Braves, 5-1. The St. Louis Cardinals doubled the visiting Washington Nationals, 6-3. The Los Angeles Dodgers used Jeff Kent's 12th career grand slam to thump the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-4, in Phoenix. The San Diego Padres tripped up the Giants in San Francisco, 9-3.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
