Mitre gets 1st win since '07, Yanks take 1st place

[July 22, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Sergio Mitre is back in the majors and determined to make the most of his opportunity with the surging New York Yankees.

Mitre earned his first win in two years, Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer and the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory.

"I know I can pitch here," Mitre said. "It's just a matter of staying healthy. That's been my biggest problem throughout my career."

The Yankees (56-37) moved a season-best 19 games over .500 and took a one-game lead in the AL East over Boston, which lost to Texas. New York hasn't been alone in first this late in the season since it won the division in 2006, according to STATS LLC.

"Yeah it feels great that there's nobody in front of us but it doesn't mean anything at this point in the year," shortstop Derek Jeter said.

Alex Rodriguez had a key two-run single for New York, which made the most of just six hits. The Yankees are a major league-best 43-22 since Rodriguez came off the disabled list May 8 following hip surgery.

Mitre, called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game, allowed four runs, three earned, and eight hits over 5 2-3 innings in his first major league start since Sept. 15, 2007. It was his first win since July 29, 2007, for Florida at San Francisco.

The 28-year-old right-hander is serving as the Yankees' fifth starter with Chien-Ming Wang sidelined by a strained right shoulder.

"I thought he did a nice job," said manager Joe Girardi, who came away with a good impression of Mitre when he skippered the Marlins in 2006. "He threw a lot of strikes. He worked quickly. He almost got through six so I was happy with his performance."

Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save in 28 opportunities.

Brian Roberts had three hits for Baltimore, which has lost nine straight in the Bronx and fell to 1-13 in road games against the AL East this season.

Mitre (1-0) missed the 2008 season and had elbow-ligament replacement surgery on July 15 last year. He agreed to a minor league contract with the Yankees during the offseason, then was suspended for the first 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance under the major league drug program.

Twins 3, Athletics 2, 10 innings

At Oakland, Calif., Michael Cuddyer hit a go-ahead triple in the 10th inning a night after he was called out in a game-ending play at home trying to score the tying run.

Cuddyer's two-out triple off All-Star closer Andrew Bailey (4-3) scored Joe Mauer, who singled with one out.

Matt Guerrier (5-0) worked two scoreless innings for the win in this pitcher's duel, a far cry from the slugfest a night earlier in Oakland's 14-13 comeback victory.

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

At Arlington, Texas, rookie Tommy Hunter (2-1) pitched six solid innings to beat Josh Beckett and knock Boston out of first place in the AL East.

The Red Sox have lost four straight for the first time since last July, scoring only eight runs in the stretch.

Hank Blalock hit a two-run single in the first, and Beckett (11-4) retired 13 in a row after that before Michael Young's one-out single in the sixth. It was his third complete game in six starts.

Tigers 9, Mariners 7

At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning.

Seattle's Jack Hannahan hit two of the seven home runs in the game. Miguel Cabrera and Placido Polanco also homered for Detroit while Wladimir Balentien and Ryan Langerhans connected for Seattle.

Indians 2, Blue Jays 1

At Toronto, Victor Martinez hit a two-run double in the ninth inning and Cliff Lee (6-9) pitched his second straight complete game as Cleveland snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Indians trailed heading into the ninth against closer Scott Downs (1-1) but took the lead thanks to a rare Toronto error -- their major league-low 33rd.

Rays 3, White Sox 2

At Chicago, Carlos Pena's sacrifice fly off Bobby Jenks capped Tampa Bay's two-run ninth.

The Rays had the bases loaded with no outs against Jenks (2-3) when Pat Burrell walked to force in Jason Bartlett with the tying run. Pena drove in Evan Longoria with a sacrifice fly to right, making it 3-2 and sending the Rays to their fourth win in five games.

The late rally made a winner of Jeff Niemann (9-4) and spoiled an outstanding start by Chicago's Clayton Richard, who allowed four hits over a career-high eight innings.

Angels 10, Royals 2, 2nd game

Angels 8, Royals 5, 1st game

At Kansas City, Mo., Erick Aybar broke open a close second game with a three-run triple and had seven hits in the doubleheader sweep.

Aybar had three hits, three runs and an RBI in the opener. In the nightcap, he finished a homer shy of the cycle after his bases-loaded triple off Juan Cruz started the Angels' seven-run seventh inning.

The AL West-leading Angels had 25 combined hits, winning for the eighth and ninth time in 10 games.

[Associated Press; By JAY COHEN]

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