Yankees Win 8th Straight

Tino Martinez hit two home runs to give him eight in eight games and Randy Johnson won his 250th game, as the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-4, Sunday in Oakland for their eighth straight win.

Although Johnson (4-2), who pitched six innings, did not strike out a batter for the first time in nearly five years, the Yankees (19-19) roared back to .500 by overcoming an early three-run deficit and rallying in the seventh. Jason Giambi doubled home the go-ahead run.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the longest appearance of Johnson’s career without a strikeout, surpassing his three innings on April 10, 1989, with the Montreal Expos against Philadelphia.

Derek Jeter had three hits and rookie Robinson Cano had a career-high four hits. Tony Womack stole four bases for the second time in five days, tying his career high and the Yankee franchise record.

Yankee Manager Joe Torres became the 13th manager to win 1,800 games.

“We have a lot of confidence now, and it’s from the top to the bottom of the order,” Torres said of the surging Yankees.

The loss was Oakland’s eighth straight.

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Seattle 5, Boston 4 -- Struggling Miguel Olivo had three hits, including his first homer of the season, to overcome Manny Ramirez’s 400th home run in Seattle.

Ramirez became the 39th player in major league history to reach 400 with his three-run blast in the fifth inning.

Olivo had been hitless in his last 27 at-bats, but his infield single in the second inning scored Bret Boone and sparked a four-run inning for Seattle. He also had a double in the eighth.

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Baltimore 6, Chicago 2 -- Sal Fasano and David Newhan hit their first home runs for the visiting Orioles, as the White Sox failed to take a lead in a game for the first time this season.

Chicago set a major league record by having a lead in 37 straight games to begin a season.

The Orioles used seven strong innings from Erik Bedard (4-1) and two runs batted in apiece from Fasano and Newhan to build a 4-0 lead on their way to a split of the four-game series between division leaders.

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Minnesota 5, Texas 2 -- Shannon Stewart’s three-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning broke a tie in Minneapolis.

Kevin Mench homered for the Rangers, whose five-game road winning streak ended with more struggles by their bullpen. Ron Mahay (0-2) surrendered Stewart’s homer. Brad Radke (4-3) won for Minnesota.

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Toronto 5, Cleveland 2 -- Roy Halladay pitched 7 2/3 innings and Vernon Wells hit a three-run homer in Cleveland to help the Blue Jays avoid a series sweep. Halladay (6-2) gave up five singles, walked three and struck out six in improving to 4-0 in eight career starts against Cleveland.

Wells’ shot in the eighth inning off C.C. Sabathia (2-3) broke the game open.

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Kansas 4, Tampa Bay 3 -- Alberto Castillo hit a two-run triple in the seventh inning and then was balked home in Kansas City, Mo.

In nine starts and 47 1/3 innings this season, Devil Ray right-hander Zack Greinke (0-4) has received four runs of support.