Athletics Spoil Pettitte’s Game With 2-1 Win

Miguel Tejada hit a two-run double off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning, ruining Andy Pettitte’s one-hit performance with his second game-ending hit in three days and giving the Oakland Athletics a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday at Oakland.

Mark Mulder (15-7) pitched a five-hitter but seemed headed for defeat until Pettitte was removed after walking Mark Ellis to start the ninth.

Eric Chavez moved Ellis to third with a one-out single off Rivera (5-1), then Tejada hit a drive off the elevated wall in deep left field, driving home Ellis and Chavez.

Left fielder Hideki Matsui got too close and let the carom bounce over his head, taking away any chance the Yankees had to get Chavez.

On Friday night, Tejada hit a solo homer in the 10th to give the Athletics a 3-2 win.

The Yankee bullpen wasted an excellent start by Pettitte, who was headed to his ninth straight victory.

He yielded only Jose Guillen’s first-inning infield single while striking out six.

In becoming the league’s second 15-game winner, Mulder retired the first 14 hitters before Aaron Boone’s double and Alfonso Soriano’s RBI single in the fifth.

Seattle 8, Chicago 2 -- Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez each hit a two-run single during a six-run fifth inning at Seattle and the Mariners ended the seven-game winning streak of Mark Buehrle (9-11).

Gil Meche (12-7) won despite throwing 116 pitches in only five innings, helping the Mariners win two of three in a series between playoff contenders. Meche gave up one run, four hits and three walks.

Seattle remained four games ahead of second-place Oakland in the West Division, while the White Sox fell two games behind first-place Kansas City in the Central Division.

Kansas City 2, Tampa Bay 0 -- Jimmy Gobble pitched into the seventh inning in his major league debut, and Aaron Guiel hit an inside-the-park homer at Kansas City.

Gobble (1-0), called up from double-A Wichita on Saturday to replace the injured Jose Lima in the rotation, gave up six hits in six-plus innings with three strikeouts and one walk.

Texas 8, Cleveland 5 -- Einar Diaz hit a three-run homer, and Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro also homered at Arlington, Texas, to lead the Rangers to their fifth consecutive victory.

Diaz’s fourth homer of the season broke a 4-4 tie in the third inning and sent the Indians to their fourth straight loss and 13th in 17 games.

The Rangers, who have won seven of eight, homered 13 times in sweeping the three-game series. They lead the league with 171 home runs.

Boston 7, Baltimore 5 -- David Ortiz hit two of Boston’s six home runs at Baltimore to help the Red Sox end a four-game losing streak.

The Red Sox rank second in the league in homers behind Texas. All seven Boston runs scored via the home run, and 14 of the last 15 runs the Red Sox have scored have come on homers.

Minnesota 7, Detroit 2 -- One day after the Tigers ended a 16-game losing streak to Minnesota, the Twins scored two quick runs to extend the Tigers’ first-inning problems.

They went 1-5 on their trip to Seattle and Minnesota and gave up 22 first-inning runs.

Johan Santana (5-3) pitched six solid innings for his first win since replacing Joe Mays in the starting rotation on July 11.