Johnson Shuts Down Mariners

Randy Johnson outpitched 19-year-old rookie Felix Hernandez with a performance the New York Yankees desperately needed.

The five-time Cy Young Award winner limited his former team to three hits in seven innings, leading the Yankees to a 2-0 victory over Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night at Seattle.

The Yankees split the first two games of the series, but Mike Mussina lasted only three innings in a win Monday night and Shawn Chacon gave up eight runs in a loss Tuesday night.

Johnson (13-8) won his second consecutive start as the Yankees remained 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the East Division.

He struck out seven and walked two, lowering his earned-run average to 4.04 before being replaced by Tom Gordon at the start of the eighth.

Hernandez (2-2) was nearly as good but yielded home runs to rookie Robinson Cano and Gary Sheffield. He pitched eight innings, giving up two runs and four hits.

Texas 9, Chicago 2 -- Michael Young and Alfonso Soriano hit two-run homers in the bottom of the sixth inning against Orlando Hernandez. Young’s homer, which came after leadoff hitter David Dellucci was hit by a pitch, gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Mark Teixeira then walked and scored on Hank Blalock’s single, and Soriano homered to chase Hernandez (8-7), who lost his fourth consecutive decision.

Kansas City 1, Minnesota 0 -- Emil Brown singled home Denny Hocking with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Royals over the Twins, who set a team record by getting 13 hits in a shutout loss.

The Twins grounded into four double plays and had runners thrown out at third and home. Their previous record for hits in a shutout was 12 in a 1-0 loss to the Angels in 1975.

Baltimore 7, Toronto 0 -- Bruce Chen and Chris Ray combined on a two-hitter at Toronto, and the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak. Chen (11-8) yielded Aaron Hill’s infield single in the second inning and Corey Koskie’s single in the eighth.

Detroit 4, Cleveland 3 -- Ivan Rodriguez homered on the first pitch from Rafael Betancourt (2-3) in the top of the ninth inning, and the Tigers won for the second time in seven games. Mike Maroth (12-12), who improved to 4-1 in six starts in August, gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings.

Boston 7, Tampa Bay 6 -- Kevin Millar hit two home runs and David Ortiz hit his fifth in five games, helping the Red Sox rally at Fenway Park. Millar, who had hit only one home run since a two-homer game on June 4, led off the second with a homer to tie the score at 1-1, then broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh with a two-run shot.