White Sox’s Win Streak Is at Nine

Joe Crede provided a painful flashback for the Houston Astros and helped rally the surging Chicago White Sox to their ninth straight victory.

Crede hit reliever Chad Qualls’ first pitch for a game-tying grand slam in the seventh, and Alex Cintron delivered a game-winning bases-loaded single in the 10th Saturday as the White Sox beat the Astros, 6-5, at Chicago.

Eight months ago on the same field, Paul Konerko drove Qualls’ first pitch for a grand slam in Game 2 of the World Series, and the White Sox went on to a sweep and their first championship in 88 years.

Rob Mackowiak led off the bottom of the 10th with a double against Dan Wheeler (1-5), pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski was walked intentionally, Juan Uribe sacrificed and Scott Podsednik got another intentional walk to load the bases.

Cintron then lined a 1-0 pitch to right to give the White Sox their 10th win in 11 interleague games this season and second straight over the Astros, who built a 5-1 lead behind rookie Taylor Buchholz.

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Seattle 9, San Diego 5 -- Kenji Johjima and Raul Ibanez each hit a pair of solo home runs and Jamie Moyer (5-6) threw seven solid innings as the Mariners beat the Padres at San Diego.

The teams combined for eight home runs -- four by each team -- to set a Petco Park record.

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Detroit 7, St. Louis 6 -- Placido Polanco’s two-out double in the 10th inning scored Curtis Granderson from first base and lifted the Tigers over the Cardinals at Detroit.

In the ninth, the Tigers’ Marcus Thames tied the game at 6-6 with a two-run homer against Jason Isringhausen.

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Colorado 11, Texas 6 -- Choo Freeman homered during a six-run first inning, and Todd Helton also homered and had two singles to keep up his strong hitting in June, leading the Rockies over the Rangers at Denver.

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Cleveland 4, Cincinnati 0 -- Paul Byrd (6-5) pitched eight shutout innings, and Todd Hollandsworth and Grady Sizemore homered to lead the Indians over the Reds at Cleveland.

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Toronto 7, New York Mets 4 -- Vernon Wells homered twice at Toronto, and the Blue Jays ended the Mets’ franchise record nine-game road winning streak.

Wells hit a three-run homer in the second against Orlando Hernandez (4-7) and a solo shot against Heath Bell in the seventh for his fifth multihomer game of the season.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay (9-2) has won eight of his last nine decisions.

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Minnesota 3, Chicago Cubs 0 -- Boof Bonser threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings to overshadow Mark Prior’s second start of the season in the Twins’ victory over the Cubs at Minneapolis.

Bonser (2-1) bounced back from two lackluster starts to outshine Prior, giving up six hits and striking out one with no walks. The Twins won for the 13th time in 15 games.

Prior (0-2) looked sharp early after sitting out the first 2 1/2 months because of shoulder problems, but he faded in his final 1 2/3 innings.

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Baltimore 3, Washington 2 -- Ramon Hernandez singled in the winning run with two out in the ninth, giving the host Orioles a victory over the Nationals after two rain delays totaling nearly three hours.

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Kansas City 6, Milwaukee 5 -- David DeJesus doubled in a five-run fourth inning that was keyed by consecutive Milwaukee fielding errors as the Royals rallied for a victory over the Brewers at Kansas City, Mo.

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Tampa Bay 3, Atlanta 2 -- Tim Corcoran (1-0) threw five solid innings in his first start of the season, and Rocco Baldelli had a run-scoring triple as the Devil Rays beat the Braves at St. Petersburg, Fla.

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Florida at New York Yankees, ppd., rain -- The game between the Marlins and Yankees will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader today.