Red Sox Beat Up Yankees

The Boston Red Sox routed the New York Yankees for the second consecutive day, hitting three more home runs and getting five shutout innings from Ramiro Mendoza in a 10-2 victory Saturday at Yankee Stadium that moved them to within two games of the American League East Division leaders.

“Everybody knows we swing the bat,” said David Ortiz, who homered twice for the second straight day. “We’re not afraid.”

Twenty-five years ago, the Yankees went to Fenway Park four games behind in early September and swept four games by a combined score of 42-9, going on to win the division and the World Series.

Boston came to Yankee Stadium four games back on Friday and has outscored the Yankees, 20-5, cutting its deficit in half, hitting 10 homers off a staff that had given up a league-low 70 in its first 83 games.

Andy Pettitte tries to stop New York’s skid today going against John Burkett. The Red Sox then have Pedro Martinez going in the series finale Monday against Mike Mussina.

Roger Clemens fared no better than David Wells a day earlier, and it was Mendoza, not the six-time Cy Young Award winner, who defeated his former team.

Clemens (8-6) became the second straight Yankees starter to give up eight runs against the major leagues’ leading offense, which has a .298 team batting average.

Eight of the nine batters in Boston’s starting lineup, all but leadoff man Johnny Damon, came in with batting averages of .300 or higher.

Tampa Bay 3, Chicago 2 -- At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jorge Sosa (2-6) pitched 5 1/3 innings to win for the first time since beating Baltimore on April 19, giving the Devil Rays their first three-game winning streak under Manager Lou Piniella.

The win didn’t come easy. Lance Carter nearly blew a three-run lead in the ninth, giving up a solo homer to pinch-hitter Magglio Ordonez and a one-out RBI double to Frank Thomas. Carter recovered to strike out Brian Daubach and retire Carl Everett on a flyout for his 14th save in 20 opportunities.

Baltimore 9, Toronto 2 -- Jeff Conine hit two homers and drove in five runs, and Sidney Ponson pitched eight strong innings at Baltimore to earn his 11th victory.

Brook Fordyce also homered, and AL batting leader Melvin Mora (.360) had four hits to help the Orioles extend their winning streak to four -- tying a season high.

Today, the Orioles will go after their first four-game sweep of Toronto since 1979. They are 5-4 against Toronto after going 4-15 against the Blue Jays last season.

Cleveland 13, Minnesota 2 -- Casey Blake went five for five with two homers and seven RBIs against his former team at Minneapolis.

Matt Lawton -- another former Twin -- and Milton Bradley homered for the Indians, who got seven solid innings from starter Brian Anderson (6-6). The left-hander won his third straight decision, giving up two runs and six hits, four for extra bases.

Detroit 9, Kansas City 5 -- Dmitri Young and Kevin Witt hit home runs and Alex Sanchez drove in three runs with his first homer in 307 at-bats to power the Tigers at Kansas City.

The Tigers, whose 21-64 record is the worst in the major leagues, have hit seven home runs in their last two games and 12 in their last seven.

Mike Maroth (4-12) went 7 2/3 innings and won for the third time in four decisions. He avoided joining teammate Jeremy Bonderman as the only 13-game losers in the majors.

*

The Twins put left fielder Jacque Jones on the 15-day disabled list and activated infielder Chris Gomez. Jones strained his groin on Monday and hasn’t played since.