Series Preview? Yankees Defeat Braves, 6-4

A new sore neck slowed Greg Maddux. An old pain in the neck stopped Dennis Martinez.

In the opening matchup of what many people predict will be a World Series preview, Tim Raines hit a two-run double in the seventh inning that rallied the New York Yankees past the Atlanta Braves, 6-4, Monday night at New York.

A crowd of 53,316 saw the Yankees come back three times in a meeting of the teams that began the day with the two best records in baseball. They play again tonight at Yankee Stadium, and then move to Turner Field for the next two games.

Maddux, trying to become the first 11-game winner in the majors, was pulled after six innings and only 87 pitches. He left with a 4-3 lead and, it was revealed later, a sore neck that almost forced the Braves to start Kevin Millwood instead.

“I just slept on it bad last night,” Maddux said. “I was aware of it every pitch. It’s why I came out. I said, ‘Enough’s enough.’ ”

“Obviously, I wasn’t as comfortable as I’d like to be. But that’s not why I gave up the hits and runs. Really, they’re smart hitters. They made nice adjustments.”

Martinez (2-4) took over for Maddux and wound up losing his 13th consecutive decision to the Yankees. He fell to 2-19 lifetime against New York.

Toronto 14, Montreal 2--Juan Guzman pitched a seven-hitter for his first victory since May 26 and Jose Canseco homered at Toronto.

Guzman (4-9) walked one and struck out five in his first complete game since Aug. 21, 1996. The right-hander had three losses and a no-decision in his previous four starts.

Carlos Delgado and Juan Samuel also homered as the Blue Jays won the first of four games this week between Canada’s teams.

Chicago White Sox 5, Pittsburgh 4--The White Sox scored four runs in the first inning, then held off a comeback by the Pirates with Ray Durham’s go-ahead homer in the sixth at Pittsburgh.

The White Sox survived an ineffective start by Tom Fordham, who left without retiring a batter, to win their second in seven games and avoid falling 16 games under .500.

Minnesota 5, Houston 3--Eric Milton won for the first time since May 15 and Terry Steinbach homered to lead the Twins past the Astros at Houston.

Milton (4-6) allowed two runs and two hits in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander, who won his major league debut on April 5, had four no-decisions and two losses since defeating the Yankees last month.

Kansas City 3, Cincinnati 0--Jeff King hit his fourth homer on the Royals’ eight-game road trip and Shane Mack added a solo shot leading Kansas City to a victory over the slumping Reds at Cincinnati.

The Reds lost their ninth in a row, their worst slump in more than two years, and had more turmoil before the game when hitting coach Ken Griffey angrily left the stadium. He is expected to rejoin the team today and won’t be fined.

Philadelphia 9, Boston 8--Gregg Jefferies singled home Alex Arias in the 10th inning as the Phillies rallied from a five-run deficit at Boston.

Kevin Jordan singled to open the 10th against Tom Gordon (4-2), Mark Lewis bunted pinch-runner Kevin Sefcik to second and Arias walked. Doug Glanville singled to left, but Troy O’Leary’s throw beat Sefcik home and Scott Hatteberg held onto the ball despite a jarring collision.

Jefferies followed with a single to right, and Darren Lewis’ throw wasn’t in time.

Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2--Antonio Alfonseca pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 12th inning to give the Marlins a victory at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The first regular-season game between the clubs drew only 25,623 to Tropicana Field, and only about half of the crowd remained at the end.

St. Louis 4, Detroit 1--Todd Stottlemyre pitched eight strong innings and Brian Jordan drove in two runs at St. Louis as the Cardinals defeated the Tigers for their season-high fifth consecutive victory.

The Cardinals made it seven victories in eight games despite another quiet game from Mark McGwire, who went one-for-four with two strikeouts. McGwire, who leads the majors with 33 homers, hasn’t hit one in his last 17 at-bats.

Arizona 6, Texas 0--Andy Benes pitched eight shutout innings and Dave Dellucci went three for four to lead the Diamondbacks at Arlington, Texas.

Benes (6-7) gave up six hits, struck out five and allowed just two runners past first. It was Benes’ second quality outing in a row after two bad ones. Before defeating the Reds last week, he had allowed 13 runs and 14 hits in his previous 7 1/3 innings.

San Diego 5, Seattle 3--Jim Leyritz drove in three runs in his San Diego debut and Ruben Rivera hit a two-run double in the eighth inning to give the surging Padres the victory.

The Padres, who have won 13 of their last 14 games, tied Atlanta for the best record in the National League at 50-26.

San Francisco 12, Oakland 8--Brian Johnson had a pair of RBI singles in the fifth and the Giants scored nine runs in the inning at Oakland.

Darryl Hamilton added a two-run double and Chris Jones had a two-run single as the Giants sent 13 batters to the plate in the fifth.

Rey Sanchez added a three-run homer in the seventh for the Giants, who had six doubles in the game, including two by Barry Bonds.