Blue Jays Power Past Orioles

Carlos Delgado drove in four runs -- three with his league-leading 29th homer -- to lead the Toronto Blue Jays past the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, Friday night at Toronto.

Delgado’s three-run shot off Jason Johnson in the fifth inning was his first homer in 72 at-bats since July 2 -- his longest drought this season. The All-Star first baseman leads the majors with 103 runs batted in and is the first Toronto player to have 100 RBIs in six consecutive seasons.

Cory Lidle (11-8) won for the first time in more than a month -- he was 0-4 with a 10.86 earned-run average in his previous five starts. He gave up three runs and nine hits, struck out four and walked three for his first win since June 20.

Baltimore center fielder Luis Matos’ throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score in the seventh inning. With one out, Reed Johnson ran for Frank Catalanotto, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

One batter later, Vernon Wells hit a shallow fly ball to Matos, whose off-target throw to the plate eluded catcher Brook Fordyce, allowing Johnson to score. Delgado followed with an RBI single, giving Toronto a 5-3 lead.

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Chicago 7, Tampa Bay 2 -- Frank Thomas hit his 400th career home run, becoming the 36th player in major league history to reach the mark, helping the White Sox extend their winning streak to eight games.

Esteban Loaiza (13-5) gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings at Chicago.

Kansas City 8, Detroit 3 -- At Detroit, Runelvys Hernandez (5-3) won for the first time since April 22. He gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings, walking two.

The Tigers, who have lost seven of eight, are 1-9 against the Royals this season.

Minnesota 6, Cleveland 5 -- Doug Mientkiewicz hit a tiebreaking double with two out in the top of the ninth inning, giving the Twins a 7-2 record since the All-Star break after they lost 22 of 28.

Danys Baez (0-7) gave up a single to Cristian Guzman leading off the ninth. Guzman stole second and scored on Mientkiewicz’s double.

Seattle 11, Texas 5 -- Mike Cameron, Ichiro Suzuki and Bret Boone homered during a six-run fourth inning at Seattle. Boone drove in four runs with two two-run homers.

Texas’ Rafael Palmeiro hit his 512th home run to move past Mel Ott into a tie for 14th place on the all-time list with Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews.

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Frank Thomas hit his 400th career home run during Chicago’s 7-2 victory over Tampa Bay Friday, extending his White Sox team record. The all-time leader in home runs for each American League team:

*--* Team Player HR Angels Tim Salmon 283 Baltimore Cal Ripken 431 Boston Ted Williams 521 Chicago Frank Thomas 400 Cleveland Jim Thome 334 Detroit Al Kaline 399 Kansas City George Brett 317 Minnesota Harmon Killebrew 475 New York Babe Ruth 659 Oakland Mark McGwire 363 Seattle Ken Griffey Jr 398 Tampa Bay Fred McGriff 97 Texas Juan Gonzalez 372 Toronto Carlos Delgado 291

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