Yankees Sharper Against St. Louis

The old Randy Johnson responded to Joe Torre’s new motivational tactic.

A day after the New York Yankees got a tongue-lashing from their manager, Johnson outpitched Mark Mulder in a matchup of two of the game’s best left-handers and beat the Cardinals, 5-0, on Saturday at St. Louis.

“I thought we played with a lot more intensity today,” shortstop Derek Jeter said. “It doesn’t hurt that Randy pitched well too.”

Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each had two runs batted in for the Yankees in their third victory in 11 games on a season-high 12-game trip. New York’s sloppy three-error performance in an 8-1 loss Friday night prompted the usually even-keeled Torre to call a closed-door meeting.

“Certainly, we’re closer to the team you saw today than last night,” Torre said. “Last night was just a horrible experience for all us. We just have to build on something.”

Johnson (6-5) gave up four hits in seven innings to bounce back from losses in consecutive starts. He earned his 252nd win to pull ahead of Cardinal Hall of Famer Bob Gibson for 41st place on the career list. Johnson struck out seven and walked none.

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Pittsburgh 18, Tampa Bay 2 -- Jose Castillo homered and drove in five runs to support Oliver Perez’s seven effective innings at Pittsburgh, and the Pirates reached .500 after June 1 for the first time since 1999.

The Pirates won their ninth in 12 games on a homestand that wraps up today and are 30-30. They are 22-14 since falling a season-worst eight games under .500 at 8-16 on May 2.

San Diego 2, Chicago White Sox 1 -- Ramon Hernandez homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie it, and Damian Jackson had a bases-loaded single to win the game.

The National League West-leading Padres won for only the third time in 10 games, a span in which they have scored only 21 runs.

Houston 6, Toronto 3 -- Morgan Ensberg hit a three-run homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Astros their fourth victory in a row.

The Houston bullpen wasted another strong start by Roger Clemens, but Ensberg’s 14th homer gave the Astros 10 wins in 15 games, as well as their first four-game winning streak since the first week of the season.

Clemens gave up three hits in seven innings, and the Astros took a 3-1 lead to the ninth. But closer Brad Lidge blew a save for the first time since May 24.

Cincinnati 10, Baltimore 1 -- Felipe Lopez hit the second grand slam of his career and singled home two more runs for a six-RBI night at Cincinnati.

The game started with a touch of nostalgia. Pitcher Jose Rijo and center fielder Eric Davis, the cornerstones of Cincinnati’s 1990 World Series championship team, were inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.

Florida 6, Texas 5 -- Alex Gonzalez led off the seventh with a go-ahead home run at Miami, and Kenny Rogers failed to win for the first time in nine starts.

Gonzalez homered to left on a 2-and-1 pitch off reliever Juan Dominguez, capping the Marlins’ comeback from a 5-0 deficit.

Atlanta 5, Oakland 3 -- John Smoltz pitched his first complete game in six years, and Andruw Jones hit a pair of two-run homers at Atlanta.

Smoltz (5-5) gave up five hits in his 48th complete game and first since April 30, 1999, against Cincinnati.

Chicago Cubs 7, Boston 6 -- Todd Walker had three hits against his former team, and Henry Blanco delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly at Chicago.

Cleveland 7, San Francisco 6 -- Ronnie Belliard had three hits and a homer, and drove in two runs at San Francisco, helping the Indians become the latest team to beat up on Giant ace Jason Schmidt.

Kansas City 8, Arizona 5 -- Emil Brown had three doubles among his career-high four hits, John Buck hit a two-run homer and J.P. Howell won at Phoenix in his major league debut.

Detroit 6, Colorado 4 -- Brandon Inge hit a tiebreaking single in the sixth inning, and Rondell White had three hits and drove in two runs for the Tigers at Denver.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia 7, Milwaukee 5 -- Pat Burrell’s three-run homer in the seventh inning at Philadelphia led the Phillies, who have won 14 of 16 and are a season-best seven games over .500 (35-28).