Chicago’s Garland Almost Perfect

Jon Garland retired his first 19 batters and gave up only two hits in seven innings to lead the Chicago White Sox past the Seattle Mariners, 6-4, Friday night at Chicago.

Garland, Chicago’s No. 5 starter, lost his bid for a perfect game when he walked Jeremy Reed on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the seventh. Adrian Beltre followed with a single up the middle on a 1-2 pitch for the Mariners’ first hit.

After Garland (2-0) walked Raul Ibanez, loading the bases, Bret Boone singled to right to drive in two runs.

Garland, who struck out three, got through the seventh before he was lifted for Luis Vizcaino.

Boone’s two-run single off Shingo Takatsu cut it to 6-4 in the ninth, but Dustin Hermanson finished for his second save. The White Sox used four relievers in the ninth -- Hermanson struck out Scott Spiezio and retired pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs on a grounder with the bases loaded to end it.

Chicago’s Juan Uribe, batting ninth, drove in four runs with a two-run homer, a single and a sacrifice fly.

Seattle’s Joel Pineiro started for the first time since July 25, 2004, and gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.

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Boston 10, Tampa Bay 0 -- David Wells pitched seven sharp innings in his first Fenway Park start for the Red Sox, and David Ortiz hit a grand slam.

The Red Sox scored seven runs in the second on Mark Bellhorn’s two-run double, Manny Ramirez’s bases-loaded walk and Ortiz’s line drive into the right-field seats.

Wells (1-2) gave up six hits and struck out three for his first win in six starts dating to Sept. 18 with San Diego.

Former Dodger Hideo Nomo yielded eight runs and five hits and walked five in two innings. Nomo (1-1), who gave up one hit in his previous start, saw his earned-run average go from 1.50 to 10.12.

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Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2 -- Johan Santana kept his personal winning streak going and added another victory to the Twins’ run.

Santana won his 16th consecutive decision, pitching six strong innings at Cleveland, as the Twins won their fifth in a row.

The 2004 Cy Young Award winner, Santana (3-0) remained unbeaten since July 11 of last season, a stretch of 20 starts that included two postseason outings against New York. He gave up two runs and six hits.

In improving to 5-0 in his career against Cleveland, Santana became the first pitcher to win 16 consecutive decisions since Roger Clemens, who did it for the Yankees in 2001.

Santana settled down after giving up two runs -- on homers to Victor Martinez and Ryan Ludwick -- in the second inning. The left-hander walked none and struck out 10 before turning it over to the bullpen in the seventh.

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Baltimore 8, New York 1 -- Bruce Chen pitched a four-hitter, and Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa hit successive home runs to spark a seven-run sixth inning that carried the Orioles past the Yankees at Baltimore.

Sosa’s home run was the 576th of his career and second this season. It also was his first at Camden Yards since he joined the Orioles as a free agent in February. He has now homered in 42 ballparks.

The Orioles are 3-1 against New York this season; last year they started 0-7 against the Yankees and finished 5-14.

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Kansas City 6, Detroit 5 -- Angel Berroa hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap the Royals’ comeback from an early five-run deficit. Berroa, who also singled and doubled, hit an 0-1 pitch from Ugueth Urbina (1-1) after Eli Marrero drew a two-out walk.

Craig Monroe’s three-run homer capped a five-run first inning for the Tigers, who have lost five in a row.

The Tigers had two singles, a walk, a triple and Monroe’s homer to take a 5-0 lead off former Dodger Jose Lima, who hadn’t made it out of the fourth inning in his first two starts and began the game with a 10.80 ERA.

But after Nook Logan’s single and third baseman Tony Graffanino’s throwing error on Ivan Rodriguez’s grounder in the second, only three of the next 19 batters were able to reach base against Lima.

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Texas 4, Toronto 2 -- Ryan Drese (1-1) pitched eight strong innings for the Rangers at Arlington, Texas. He yielded six hits and both runs to earn the second victory by a Ranger starter.

Drese, who struck out one and didn’t issue a walk, had his sinker working, getting 14 ground-ball outs and retiring 13 in a row from the third through the seventh.