Yankees Stumble Again

The Oakland Athletics scored three times in the 10th inning without hitting a ball out of the infield, beating Mariano Rivera and the bumbling Yankees, 6-3, Friday at New York.

Barry Zito pitched effectively into the eighth, and Oakland got home runs from Eric Byrnes and Bobby Kielty to end a three-game skid and leave New York with its worst 30-game start (11-19) in 39 years.

The Yankees have lost four in a row and eight of 10, leaving them nine games behind first-place Baltimore.

New York made three errors in the 10th -- two on one play by first baseman Tino Martinez.

Rivera issued a leadoff walk to Marco Scutaro and, one out later, hit Jason Kendall with an 0-and-2 pitch.

Eric Chavez’s infield single loaded the bases, and Scott Hatteberg hit a one-hopper that Martinez knocked down. But he failed to step on the bag, which earned him his first error, and then made an ill-advised throw to the plate. Martinez had little chance to get Scutaro, and his throw was wide for a second error, allowing another run to score.

“I’ve got to make that play.” Martinez said. “That play, in my mind, cost us the game.”

Cleveland 8, Texas 6 -- Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in Cleveland’s seven-run first inning at Arlington, Texas.

Hafner’s homer, which made it 2-0, was hit so far that right fielder Richard Hidalgo just turned and watched. The homer by Peralta was the sixth hit in a row by Cleveland and chased Pedro Astacio (1-4).

Chicago 5, Toronto 3 -- A.J. Pierzynski hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning at Toronto to lead the White Sox to their sixth straight victory.

Orlando Hernandez (4-1) pitched seven strong innings to help the White Sox improve to 22-7.

Chicago’s starters are 17-3 with a 2.79 ERA.

Boston 7, Seattle 2 -- Matt Clement won a matchup of unbeaten pitchers, giving up only an unearned run in seven innings, and the Mariners’ Jamie Moyer faltered at Boston. Bill Mueller drove in four runs for the Red Sox.

Baltimore 3, Kansas City 1 -- Sidney Ponson pitched eight innings of five-hit ball for his third consecutive victory, and B.J. Surhoff had three hits and two runs batted in at Baltimore.

Minnesota 7, Tampa Bay 1 -- The Twins’ Johan Santana rebounded from his first loss in nearly a year, giving up six hits at St. Petersburg, Fla., for the second complete game of his career.