Devil Rays Are Finally Zeroing In on Victory

Two years ago, the Seattle Mariners converted Jorge Sosa from an outfielder to a pitcher. On Thursday night, he showed his former organization that it was probably the correct move.

Sosa pitched a four-hitter, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays again blanked the Mariners, 1-0, at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Combined with Doug Waechter’s two-hitter in his first major league start Wednesday, the Devil Rays posted consecutive complete-game shutouts for the first time in their six-year history.

“Two wonderful games,” Tampa Bay Manager Lou Piniella said. “It shows you, if you make pitches, you focus, you concentrate and trust your stuff, you can do these sort of things. Both excellent ballgames.”

The loss dropped Seattle one-half game behind Boston in the American League wild-card race.

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New York 3, Toronto 2 -- Jose Contreras rebounded from his worst start, and Karim Garcia hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning at Toronto.

Contreras, who gave up seven runs in three innings against Boston last Friday, gave up only two runs -- one earned -- in seven innings.

After the game, the Yankees recalled former Michigan quarterback Drew Henson from triple-A Columbus. Henson is a third baseman.

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Baltimore 7, Oakland 5 -- Brian Roberts and Larry Bigbie had two RBIs apiece, and the Oriole bullpen blunted a comeback bid by the Athletics at Baltimore.

It was Oakland’s second straight loss after a 10-game winning streak.

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Detroit 2, Cleveland 1 -- Gary Knotts pitched effectively into the seventh inning at Detroit, and the Tigers won their third consecutive game for only the fourth time this season.

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INTERLEAGUE

Matt Mantei blew a save in the ninth inning, ending a career-best streak of 14 converted opportunities, then got the win in the 10th inning when Lyle Overbay’s pinch-hit single scored Craig Counsell, lifting Arizona to a 6-5 victory over the Royals at Kansas City, Mo.

Counsell led off with a bunt single against Kris Wilson (5-3) and went to second when second baseman Julius Matos threw the ball away for an error. Overbay followed with a single.

“I was just trying to make a play, and it didn’t work out for us,” Matos said. “There’s really nothing more you can say about it.”