Kile Is in League of His Own

An interleague game didn’t get to Darryl Kile for a change.

Kile (8-3) had been 0-6 with a 5.97 earned-run average in nine starts against American League teams before giving up three hits in eight innings Friday night at St. Louis in the Cardinals’ 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

He walked the first two batters of the game but escaped by retiring the heart of the Indian order and gave up only one hit--Jim Thome’s 15th homer in the fourth--in the first five innings.

Kile was all-too-aware of his interleague record. “I know what it is, and it’s not important,” Kile said. “It’s the first game back home, playing a good team, and my job is to give us a chance.”

Kile said unfamiliarity with American League teams might have something to do with his trouble in previous interleague games. Then again, the Indians didn’t know that much about him.

“Really, there’s two ways to look at it,” said Thome, who also singled in the sixth. “He had to make his adjustments and he did well. He made all the adjustments he had to.”

Kile struck out nine and walked three to tie Garrett Stephenson, scheduled to pitch tonight against Bartolo Colon, for the team lead in victories. He also raised his career record to 100-98.

Oakland 5, San Francisco 4--Miguel Tejada hit a three-run homer and Olmedo Saenz had a solo shot among three hits for the A’s.

A sellout crowd of 51,678 turned out for the game, the second-largest baseball crowd ever at the Oakland Coliseum.

Arizona 5, Texas 4--Jay Bell had four hits, including a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning at Arlington, Texas.

Ranger outfielder Ruben Mateo, one of the AL’s top rookies, is probably sidelined for the season after breaking his right leg while trying to beat out a grounder. Mateo broke his leg while tripping over first base in the seventh.

Seattle 7, San Diego 4--Jamie Moyer returned from a seven weeks on the disabled list and pitched five innings for the win at Seattle.

Edgar Martinez, who hit .441 with 10 homers, 32 RBIs and 24 runs scored in May, picked up where he left off in the new month by going two for five with a two-run homer.

Philadelphia 2, Boston 1--Slumping Alex Arias doubled home the winning run with one out in the 11th inning at Philadelphia as the Phillies ended their three-game losing streak.

Brian Hunter drew a one-out walk off reliever John Wasdin (0-2) and went to second when Desi Relaford was hit by a pitch. Arias, who began the game in a six-for-49 slump, then hit a 3-and-2 pitch to deep left-center field.

Cincinnati 4, Minnesota 3--Michael Tucker and Dante Bichette each homered and had three hits at Cincinnati.

Rob Bell (4-3) gave up Jacque Jones’ game-opening homer, then only three more hits in seven innings.

Chicago White Sox 7, Houston 4--Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer over the cozy left-field wall to provide the difference at Houston.

The game drew 39,028 to put the Astros over 1 million in attendance this season, the earliest they’ve reached the mark.

New York Mets 5, Tampa Bay 3--Todd Zeile hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning at New York as the Mets overcame Fred McGriff’s 400th home run.

McGriff hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Glendon Rusch (3-4), becoming the 31st player to reach 400 and giving the Devil Rays a 3-2 lead. He drove in Tampa Bay’s other run with an RBI single in the fourth.

Florida 11, Toronto 10--Preston Wilson homered, doubled and drove in four runs at Miami as the Marlins kept up their interleague success.

The Marlins improved to a major-league best 32-18 since the start of interleague play in 1997.

Chicago Cubs 2, Detroit 0--Rookie Scott Downs combined with two relievers to shut out the Tigers on eight hits at Chicago.

Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect ninth for his 300th save.

Montreal 5, Baltimore 3--The Orioles lost their 18th consecutive game in Canada as Lee Stevens homered twice at Montreal.

Montreal swept a three-game interleague series from the Orioles at Olympic Stadium on June 26-28, 1998. Baltimore has lost its last 14 games to the Toronto Blue Jays at SkyDome.

The Expos wore a black No. 9 on the right sleeve of their jerseys in memory of late Montreal hockey great Maurice “Rocket” Richard.

The tribute, which will continue for the rest of the season, marked the first time in major league history that an individual from another sport has been so honored.

Pittsburgh 9, Kansas City 3--Pat Meares and Warren Morris homered at Pittsburgh as the Pirates extended their winning streak to four games.