Giambi’s Homers Power Athletics

Jason Giambi hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking drive in the seventh inning, and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Texas Rangers, 5-4, Wednesday afternoon at Oakland.

Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada also hit home runs for Oakland, which has won 25 of 29. Chavez and Tejada each have 31 home runs.

Cory Lidle (13-6) gave up six hits and four runs, but got a career-best eight strikeouts for his fifth victory in a row.

Over the last 29 games, Giambi is batting .424 with 10 doubles, nine homers and 24 runs batted in.

New York 2, Chicago 1-Paul O’Neill’s two-run homer in the sixth inning against Jon Garland (6-7) was the difference New York.

Mike Mussina (17-11) gave up one run and five hits in seven innings.

Cleveland 4, Kansas City 1-C. C. Sabathia became the first Cleveland rookie with 16 victories since 1955, and Marty Cordova homered and tripled at Kansas City, Mo.

Sabathia (16-5) gave up two hits, struck out five and walked two in five shutout innings.

Toronto 7, Baltimore 6-Jose Cruz Jr. homered in a Toronto-record fifth consecutive game and teammate Felipe Lopez drove in four runs at Baltimore.

Cal Ripken Jr. went 0 for 3, extending the worst slump of his career to 0 for 32.

Before the game, the Orioles acquired outfielder Tim Raines Sr. from Montreal.

Raines, 42, entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and Tim Raines Jr. started in center field, enabling them to join Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only father-and-son combinations to play at the same time on the same major league team.

Raines Sr. went one for two with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly and Raines Jr. went two for four with a walk, scoring three runs and stealing a base in his second major league start.

Boston 10, Tampa Bay 3-Derek Lowe (5-10) gave up two runs and five hits in six-plus innings at St. Petersburg, Fla., to earn his first victory as a starter in four years.

Calvin Pickering and Shea Hillenbrand hit consecutive homers in the fourth inning for Boston.

Lou Merloni went four for five, including a two-run single that gave Boston an 8-3 lead in the eighth.

Detroit 9, Minnesota 5-Deivi Cruz drove in three runs and Eric Munson hit his first career homer for the Tigers at Detroit.

Seattle Mariner shortstop Carlos Guillen had lung surgery and remained hospitalized under quarantine for treatment of tuberculosis.

Team doctor Mitch Storey did not know when Guillen would be released. Doctors placed a small artificial clot in one of Guillen’s lungs to stop bleeding apparently related to the tuberculosis ....

Mariner designated hitter Edgar Martinez and pitcher Joel Pineiro were suspended and fined by the commissioner’s office.

Martinez was suspended for two games for charging the mound during the sixth inning at Anaheim on Tuesday.

Pineiro was suspended for three games for hitting the Angels’ Troy Glaus with a pitch in the eighth inning after a warning had been issued

Cleveland Manager Charlie Manuel was released from a Cleveland hospital and hopes to rejoin the team this weekend in Toronto.

Manuel, 57, had been hospitalized since Sept. 25 because of an abdominal infection.