Sweeney Caps the Royals’ Rally

Down by a run with two out in the bottom of the ninth, Aaron Guiel had the patience to coax a walk out of Tim Worrell after falling behind on the count, 0 and 2.

Mike Sweeney didn’t even try.

Sweeney hit an 0-and-2 fastball into the gap in right-center field, driving in two runs and lifting the Kansas City Royals to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

“Once I got up there I knew the team was relying on me to get the job done and fortunately I got it done,” Sweeney said. “It was one of the best feelings I’ve had all year.”

Worrell (2-3), who had converted 17 of 19 save opportunities, opened the ninth by giving up a bloop double to Angel Berroa. Berroa was bunted to third, bringing up Guiel.

Ironically, Sweeney hit a pitch that probably was out of the strike zone.

“I don’t think it was a strike, but he’s a very aggressive guy,” Giant Manager Felipe Alou said. “I thought we were in trouble when Guiel milked that walk. There are no soft losses in this game.”

Barry Bonds hit the 632nd home run of his career to help stake the Giants to an early 4-2 lead. He hit his 19th homer in the fourth against Jose Lima, signed from Newark of the independent Atlantic League last week.

Bonds has at least one home run in 30 stadiums. He has homered in 16 of the Giants’ 22 series this season.

Lima pitched six innings in his first major league start since Aug. 24, with Detroit. He gave up four runs and six hits, walked one and struck out one.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Lima said. “From where I was last week to being here is big.”

Boston 3, Houston 2 -- Nomar Garciaparra hit three doubles and a triple, then put down his first sacrifice bunt since 1997 to set up Manny Ramirez’s winning single in the bottom of the 14th inning, which capped a three-game sweep at Boston.

Garciaparra got a career-high four extra-base hits, including his career-best 12th triple. He leads the major leagues in triples.

New York Yankees 5, St. Louis 2 -- Mike Mussina (9-4) pitched eight sharp innings and Robin Ventura hit a two-run double at New York that gave the Yankees a three-game sweep.

Mussina gave up four hits and retired the last 13 batters he faced. He struck out five, giving him a league-leading 99 strikeouts.

Oakland 9, Montreal 1 -- Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer at Oakland and Tim Hudson (5-2) won for the first time since May 20 to help the Athletics complete a three-game sweep.

Byrnes, who had a 22-game hitting streak earlier this season, extended his current string to 10 games.

Toronto 5, Chicago Cubs 4 -- Rookie Reed Johnson led off the bottom of the first and 10th innings with home runs, lifting the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Johnson also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to help Toronto win two of three in the series.

Baltimore 5, Milwaukee 4 -- Rodrigo Lopez (1-3) returned from the disabled list, and Tony Batista and Deivi Cruz homered to lift the host Orioles.

Geoff Jenkins drove in two runs and Brooks Kieschnick homered for the Brewers, who dropped two of three to the Orioles in the first meeting between the teams since 1997.

Colorado 5, Detroit 4 -- Mark Sweeney’s three-run double capped a five-run fifth inning and the Rockies won their first road series this season.

The Tigers have not won a series at home this season and have lost nine of their last 10.

Pittsburgh 9, Tampa Bay 5 -- Jason Kendall hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning and Jack Wilson hit two doubles to help the Pirates rally from a four-run deficit at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Wilson had three hits and three runs batted in. He has five doubles in the last two games.

San Diego 1, Chicago White Sox 0 -- Oliver Perez (2-3) pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Chicago and Rod Beck closed for his first save in two seasons.

Beck worked around a leadoff walk to start the ninth inning for his first save since Sept. 20, 2001, when he pitched for Boston and faced Tampa Bay.

Arizona 12, Minnesota 8 -- Tony Womack had four hits for the Diamondbacks, including a bunt single in a four-run eighth inning at Minneapolis.

Seven of the Diamondbacks’ runs were scored with two out. The Twins lost an interleague series for the first time this season.

Florida 10, Texas 4 -- Mike Lowell hit two homers and had four RBIs, and the Marlins scored five runs in the fourth inning at Arlington, Texas.

Lowell hit a two-run home run in the fourth and a solo drive in the ninth.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia at Cincinnati -- The first rainout at Great American Ball Park postponed the game. No makeup date was announced.