Athletics Overcome Bonds, Giants

Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer and the Oakland Athletics opened the Bay Bridge Series with their season-best seventh consecutive victory, 5-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum.

Barry Bonds hit his 633rd home run and 20th of the season for the Giants. He went one for four in the 2,500th game of his career.

Aaron Harang pitched 5 2/3 solid innings for his first victory of the season and may have shown the A’s enough to earn himself another shot in his ongoing audition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Oakland improved to 8-2 on its 12-game home stand and sent the defending National League champions to their fifth loss in seven games before a sellout crowd of 47,074. The Giants fell back into a first-place tie in the NL West with the Dodgers.

Tejada connected off Damian Moss (7-5) in the fifth for his 13th homer of the year, a night after the reigning American League MVP had a career-high five hits, including a homer. He also hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Bonds homered in the eighth off Chad Bradford. Keith Foulke worked the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances.

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San Diego 5, Seattle 3 -- Rondell White hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Padres a victory over the Mariners at San Diego.

White was mobbed at home plate by his teammates after hitting his third career slam, on a 2-2 slider from Jeff Nelson (3-1). The home run, to left field, was White’s 12th this season.

Pinch-hitter Gary Matthews Jr. started San Diego’s five-run rally by beating out an infield single. Nelson struck out the next two batters, but walked Mark Kotsay and allowed Mark Loretta’s single to load the bases.

Ryan Klesko walked to force in San Diego’s first run, bringing up White.

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Atlanta 6, Baltimore 3 -- Robert Fick hit a grand slam and Greg Maddux pitched no-hit ball into the sixth inning, lifting the Braves over the Orioles at Atlanta.

Fick drove in five runs, matching his career high. His second grand slam of the season came in the fourth against Sidney Ponson (9-4).

Baltimore’s Melvin Mora, the leading hitter in the American League at .361, left the game after being hit on the right hand with a pitch in the first.

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Chicago White Sox 12, Chicago Cubs 3 -- Miguel Olivo’s grand slam capped a six-run first inning as the White Sox routed the Cubs in the most lopsided game since the Chicago rivals began interleague play in 1997.

The White Sox, struggling as the third-place team the AL Central, made the most of wild Cub pitching -- 10 walks -- and some shaky defense to pull away early.

Sammy Sosa, in his first home game since serving a seven-game suspension for using a corked bat, was mostly cheered when introduced although some fans mixed in a very noticeable share of boos.

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Houston 12, Texas 3 -- Craig Biggio had four hits and Adam Everett homered for the Astros at Arlington, Texas, to send the Rangers to their fifth straight loss.

Alex Rodriguez homered for the Rangers, who have dropped 17 of 19 -- their worst stretch since also going 2-17 from Aug. 5-25, 1973.

Rodriguez, playing a day after being hit in the face by a throw in Oakland, hit his 18th homer in the eighth, a solo shot that made it 5-3.

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Toronto 8, Montreal 4 -- Vernon Wells, Frank Catalanotto, Orlando Hudson and Greg Myers homered at Montreal and the Blue Jays extended their winning streak to four with a victory over the Expos.

Cory Lidle (10-4) gave up three hits in seven innings, joining teammate Roy Halladay to give the Blue Jays the majors’ first pair of 10-game winners.

Endy Chavez hit an inside-the-park home run for Montreal, which played its first game at Olympic Stadium since May 25 before a crowd of 11,355.

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Florida 3, Tampa Bay 1 -- Miguel Cabrera, playing in his first major league game, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Marlins over the Devil Rays at Miami.

Alex Gonzalez doubled with one out in the 11th. The 20-year-old Cabrera sent the next pitch from Al Levine over the center-field wall for his first big league hit.

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New York Yankees 5, New York Mets 0 -- Andy Pettitte shut down the Mets for seven innings at Shea Stadium and the Yankees got consecutive home runs from Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter to win the opener of the Subway Series.

Jason Giambi also homered as the Yankees again got the better of the intracity rivalry, beating the Mets for the 19th time in 31 regular-season meetings.

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Pittsburgh 5, Cleveland 4 -- Randall Simon homered over the center-field fence leading off the 15th inning and the Pirates shook off two rain delays to beat the Indians at Pittsburgh.

The game ended at 1:37 a.m. EDT, more than six hours after it started, thanks to two rain delays totaling exactly two hours.

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Milwaukee 3, Minnesota 2 -- Royce Clayton scored on a wild pitch by reliever Juan Rincon with one out in the 10th inning to lift the Brewers over the Twins at Milwaukee.

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Detroit 7, Colorado 5 -- Eric Munson, Bobby Higginson and Kevin Witt homered to lead the Tigers over the Rockies at Denver, ending their four-game losing streak.

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Boston at Philadelphia, ppd. -- The game involving the Red Sox and Phillies was postponed because of rain. It will be made up on Sept. 1, previously an off day for both teams.