Hernandez Can’t Stop His Former Team, 3-2

Orlando Hernandez was always at his best in big games for the New York Yankees, so they knew exactly what type of effort it would take to beat him.

Mike Mussina outpitched his ex-teammate, and Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer off El Duque that sent the Yankees to a 3-2 victory Monday night over the Chicago White Sox at New York.

“You knew Duque is going to bend but not break,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “He didn’t give us much, but he walked a couple of guys. That was vintage Duque.”

Mariano Rivera got his career-best 30th consecutive save, and the Yankees (60-50) moved 10 games over .500 for the first time.

It was New York’s first meeting this season with the AL Central-leading White Sox (72-39), who have the best record in the major leagues.

Hernandez (8-5) was 61-40 for New York in two stints from 1998 to 2004.

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Boston 11, Texas 6 -- Tony Graffanino had three hits and showed rare power with a three-run homer that sparked the Red Sox at Boston.

David Ortiz hit his 26th homer, but Boston got unusual contributions from the bottom four spots in its lineup, which combined for nine of the team’s 12 hits.

Detroit 9, Toronto 8 -- Vance Wilson hit a go-ahead single in the 12th inning at Toronto and the Tigers ended a three-game losing streak.

Seattle 5, Minnesota 4 -- Jesse Crain walked Jeremy Reed with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to push across the tiebreaking run at Seattle.