Liriano Leads Streaking Twins

The Minnesota Twins are winning so much these days that even ultra-talkative center fielder Torii Hunter is speechless.

He grew more incredulous by the second as the list was read to him -- 10 wins in a row, 18 of 19, 20 of 22.

“What! I don’t.... “ Hunter stammered. “I didn’t even think about that. We’re playing great ball.”

Francisco Liriano struck out a career-high 12 in eight innings and Justin Morneau homered in the Twins’ 8-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday at Minneapolis.

Liriano (9-1) gave up three hits and won his fifth straight start for the Twins, who have won 13 in a row at the Metrodome to improve to a major league-best 30-10 at home.

The Twins improved to 16-2 in interleague play, matching the 2002 Oakland Athletics and 2006 Boston Red Sox for most interleague wins in a season, yet remain 10 games behind Detroit in the American League Central.

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Chicago Cubs 15, Chicago White Sox 11 -- Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano homered against Mark Buehrle during a seven-run first inning, and the Cubs hung on to avoid a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.

Barrett hit a solo homer and Zambrano hit a two-run shot in the first inning as the Cubs took a 7-2 lead. Neifi Perez hit a three-run drive against Buehrle in the fifth that made it 11-5, and Angel Pagan homered against Cliff Politte leading off the seventh to make it 12-7.

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New York Yankees 16, New York Mets 7 -- Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam and a three-run homer, sending the Yankees to a blowout win of the Subway Series finale at Yankee Stadium.

Long after the matter was decided, Carlos Beltran homered twice for the Mets, who have lost five of six. Beltran finished with four hits.

The Yankees broke out for the most runs scored by either team in a Subway Series game since interleague play began in 1997, emphatically capping a season of dominance by the AL.

The junior circuit went 154-98 for a .611 winning percentage against the NL -- obliterating the previous high of .547 by the NL in ’97.

The Mets and Yankees split six games.

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Colorado 4, Seattle 3 -- Brad Hawpe doubled with two out in the top of the 11th inning to score Matt Holliday at Seattle.

The Rockies took two of three from the Mariners and finished interleague play 11-4, the best record in the National League.

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St. Louis 9, Kansas City 7 -- Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and Jason Marquis pitched seven innings to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds also homered for the second straight game for the Cardinals, who had lost nine of their last 10.

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Detroit 9, Pittsburgh 8 -- Chris Shelton, Carlos Guillen and Craig Monroe drove in two runs each to help the Tigers win at Pittsburgh.

The Tigers finished 15-3 against the NL, easily their best record since interleague play began.

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Philadelphia 11, Toronto 6 -- Ryan Howard and Chase Utley homered, and Bobby Abreu had four runs batted in at Toronto to help the Phillies end the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak.

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Cleveland 6, Cincinnati 3 -- Aaron Boone’s two-run homer broke an eighth-inning tie at Cincinnati.

David Ross hit a pair of solo homers for the Reds.

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Boston 4, Florida 3 -- Mark Loretta’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly brought Alex Cora home with the go-ahead run, and David Ortiz hit his third homer in two days at Miami.

Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek all hit solo homers for the Red Sox.

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Atlanta 10, Baltimore 3 -- Wilson Betemit had three hits, including a homer, and Horacio Ramirez delivered another strong start at Atlanta.

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Washington 6, Tampa Bay 2 -- Ryan Zimmerman homered and Ramon Ortiz pitched seven strong innings at Washington.

Jae Seo gave up four runs and seven hits over five innings to lose his first start with the Devil Rays, who acquired him from the Dodgers last week.

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Arizona 3, Oakland 1 -- Brandon Webb pitched a four-hitter to win for the first time in a month and the Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep at Oakland.

Webb hadn’t won since May 26 at Cincinnati -- a span of six starts.

Frank Thomas hit a solo homer in the second for Oakland. It was the 466th of his career, breaking a tie with Dave Winfield for 25th place on the all-time list.

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Houston 9, Texas 5 -- Eric Munson was three for five with five RBIs at Arlington, Texas, and Craig Biggio passed Babe Ruth on the all-time hits list. Kevin Millwood, the Rangers’ No. 1 starter, left in the fourth inning because of a strained right biceps. The last batter Millwood faced was Biggio, whose run-scoring single pushed him past Ruth for 36th on the hits list with 2,874.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Francisco 6, San Diego 2 -- Omar Vizquel hit a two-run single and Pedro Feliz followed with a three-run homer as the Giants rallied with two out in the seventh inning at San Diego.

Barry Bonds sat out Sunday after playing the first three games of the series, including both games of Saturday’s split doubleheader.