Diamondbacks Rally to Win in Ninth, 4-3

Rod Barajas drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded grounder in the bottom of the ninth inning, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night at Phoenix.

Quinton McCracken had three hits, including an opposite-field single off Toronto closer Kelvim Escobar (3-4) to lead off the ninth.

After two walks and a groundout, McCracken scored on Barajas’ grounder to third when Eric Hinske’s throw hit him in the back as he neared home plate.

Byung-Hyun Kim (3-0) picked up the victory with a perfect ninth inning, baffling Darrin Fletcher and Felipe Lopez with called third strikes after handling a hard shot to the mound by Raul Mondesi for the first out.

San Diego 9, New York Yankees 1--Rookie Oliver Perez, at 20 the youngest player in the major leagues, won again in only his second big league start as the Padres defeated David Wells and the Yankees in a rematch of the 1998 World Series at San Diego.

Wells (7-5), who won the opener of the Yankees’ sweep in ‘98, gave up the first three runs. Ramiro Mendoza gave up four in the seventh, including a three-run double by Wiki Gonzalez.

Perez (2-0), who beat Seattle on Sunday in his major league debut, gave up one run and six hits, struck out three and walked five.

San Francisco 4, Baltimore 3--David Bell hit a tiebreaking home run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning at San Francisco and the Giants won their third in a row.

Bell hit his 10th home run of the season on a 2-0 pitch from reliever Rick Bower (3-3).

Montreal 3, Cleveland 1--Brad Wilkerson scored the go-ahead run from second on Wil Cordero’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning at Montreal as the Expos won their eighth in a row. Montreal is on its longest winning streak since tying a franchise record with a 10-game winning streak in 1997. The Expos are 7-0 on their current homestand and have won eight consecutive home games.

Atlanta 3, Chicago White Sox 2--Rafael Furcal drove in the winning run with a bunt single in the eighth inning and the streaking Braves pulled off another unlikely victory, defeating the White Sox at Atlanta. Todd Ritchie (4-9) was charged with all three Atlanta runs, despite giving up only two hits in 7 1/3 innings.

New York Mets 4, Kansas City 3--Tony Tarasco hustled home from second base when the Royals misplayed Mo Vaughn’s two-out infield single in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Mets won at New York. The Royals lost their eighth in a row.

Oakland 5, Cincinnati 3--John Mabry hit a two-run homer and an RBI single at Cincinnati, leading the Athletics over the Reds. Miguel Tejada also homered as Oakland earned its fifth consecutive victory and its 13th in 14 games.

Philadelphia 3, Minnesota 0--Brandon Duckworth and two relievers combined on a four-hitter at Philadelphia to lead the Phillies over the Twins. Tomas Perez, playing for the injured Scott Rolen, had an RBI single and pinch-hitter Jason Michaels had a sacrifice fly.

Seattle 8, Houston 0--Jamie Moyer gave up three hits and struck out 11 in seven innings at Houston, and Ruben Sierra hit a grand slam to lead the Mariners past the Astros. The Mariners won their fourth in a row.

Texas 2, Pittsburgh 0--Kenny Rogers limited the Pirates to four singles in seven innings and Ivan Rodriguez hit his first homer of the season, leading the Rangers at Pittsburgh. Rodriguez, sidelined by a herniated disc for seven weeks before returning June 7, drove in both Texas runs with a solo homer in the fourth and an RBI double in the eighth.

Colorado 8, Tampa Bay 7--Larry Walker hit an RBI double during a four-run rally in the ninth inning at Denver, then singled home the winning run for the Rockies with two out in the 10th.