After Failures, Cameron Delivers

After failing to get a bunt down twice, Mike Cameron just wanted to put the ball in play. Instead, he hit it over the fence.

Cameron’s three-run homer off Jose Mesa in the ninth inning led the Seattle Mariners to their ninth consecutive victory, 5-4, over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night at Philadelphia.

The Mariners escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth when Kazuhiro Sasaki struck out Jim Thome and retired Bobby Abreu on a fly ball.

The victory was a team-record 13th in a row on the road for Seattle. Overall, the Mariners are on their longest winning streak since taking 10 straight from April 8-17, 2002.

The Mariners trailed 4-2 when Bret Boone hit a single to start the ninth and John Olerud walked. Cameron then popped up two bunt attempts before hitting an 0-2 pitch into the left-field bullpen.

“I was looking for his hardest fastball and I got a curve,” said Cameron, who played with Mesa in Seattle three years ago.

Julio Mateo (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for Seattle, and Sasaki worked the ninth for his 10th save in 14 chances.

New York Yankees 10, Cincinnati 2 -- Hideki Matsui responded to a batting-order demotion with a two-run homer and three doubles as the Yankees earned a long-awaited win at Cincinnati.

The Yankees won the 1961 World Series against the Reds, but got swept when they returned in 1976 against the Big Red Machine. They also dropped the first two games of their interleague series, and some of the 42,282 fans that showed up for the final game waved brooms with ’76 inscribed in red.

Matsui’s long homer completed a five-run third inning off Danny Graves (3-5) that set the tone and ended his two-for-23 slump. He doubled each of his next three times up, finishing four for five with three runs batted in.

New York’s 10 doubles tied the club record.

Minnesota 5, San Francisco 2 -- Kyle Lohse shut down the Giants for eight innings and Eddie Guardado closed out the Twin victory at San Francisco.

Guardado had his 17th save in 17 chances. He set a team record with his 24th straight save, one more than LaTroy Hawkins had in 2001.

J.T. Snow became only the third Giant to record a splash hit into McCovey Cove, the body of water just beyond right field. Of the 26 such hits, Barry Bonds has 23 of them and Felipe Crespo has two.

Chicago Cubs 8, Tampa Bay 1 -- Sammy Sosa hit an RBI single in the first inning and also reached on an error during the Cubs’ seven-run third as they routed the Devil Rays behind the strong pitching of Matt Clement at Chicago.

Sosa, in a batting tailspin since coming off the disabled list Friday, finished one for four and is four for 24 in his last six games. He hasn’t homered since May 1.

Clement (3-6), who had lost his previous five decisions, got his first win since April 18, losing a shutout bid when Aubrey Huff hit a run-scoring double in the sixth. He gave up seven hits in seven innings with two walks and a strikeout.

Florida 2, Oakland 0 -- Rookie Dontrelle Willis pitched seven impressive innings, outdueling Ted Lilly and leading the Marlins to a victory over the Athletics at Miami.

Willis (4-1), an Oakland native who grew up an A’s fan, gave up five hits. He struck out four and walked three. The left-hander has given up one run or fewer in each of his last three outings.

Oakland had not been shut out since a 1-0, 10-inning loss to the Angels last Sept. 17.

Houston 11, Baltimore 1 -- Roy Oswalt struck out a season-high 11 and Brian Hunter drove in four runs with four hits to lead the Astros to a three-game sweep of the Orioles at Houston.

Plate umpire Mike DiMuro left with a bloody face after being hit by a throw from Oriole pitcher Travis Driskill on a squeeze play in the third inning.

DiMuro was taken to a hospital, where he got stitches for a split in his nose and had X-rays. The game was delayed 11 minutes and first base umpire Andy Fletcher took over behind the plate.

Atlanta 8, Texas 4 -- Javy Lopez returned to the lineup by hitting a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the Braves completed a sweep of the Rangers at Atlanta.

Lopez, who had missed five straight games because of a sore hamstring, led off the seventh by knocking a 0-1 pitch from Aaron Fultz (1-1) into the left-field stands.

Atlanta starter Mike Hampton left the game in the second because of a strained groin, but six relievers limited the Rangers to only one run over the final 7 1/3 innings.

Colorado 7, Cleveland 4 -- Bobby Estalella homered and drove in three runs and Larry Walker had three RBIs to lead the Rockies to a three-game sweep at Denver.

Colorado swept an AL opponent for only the third time in its history and extended its home winning streak to eight games.

Pittsburgh 5, Boston 4 -- Kenny Lofton homered and hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lead the Pirates at Pittsburgh as they ended a three-game losing streak.

Pirate starter Jeff Suppan retired the first 10 batters he faced before Todd Walker hit a bloop single to right-center field to extend his career-high hitting streak to 20 games, the majors’ longest active streak.

Chicago White Sox 3, Arizona 2 -- Frank Thomas homered and doubled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning at Phoenix, and the White Sox ended a five-game losing streak.

Tony Graffanino had a one-out, broken-bat single through the infield in the White Sox 10th. Thomas followed with a drive down the left-field line off Scott Service (0-2), and Graffanino scored from first.

San Diego 5, Detroit 1 -- Keith Lockhart, making a rare start, hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning and the Padres avoided a three-game sweep at San Diego.

The Padres also ended a losing streak at five to the Tigers dating to the last three games of the 1984 World Series.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Milwaukee 8-5, New York 7-3 -- Ben Sheets pitched seven sharp innings, and the Brewers scored four times in the first off Tom Glavine before he left because of an injured elbow in the second game at New York.

Glavine will be re-evaluated today and could sit out a start, Manager Art Howe said.

In the opener, Richie Sexson, Eric Young, Geoff Jenkins and Royce Clayton homered for Milwaukee.