"It doesn't get much better than that," Giambi said.

Added Loaiza: "I feel a lot more part of it now."

Gary Sheffield hit his 36th home run and Alex Rodriguez almost homered for the Yankees, too, but was robbed on a spectacular catch by center fielder Vernon Wells.

Mariano Rivera matched his career high with his 50th save as the Yankees held their 4 1/2-game lead over Boston in the American League East and stopped Toronto's three-game winning streak.

Giambi had been 0-for-32, with 11 of those at-bats coming since he returned from the disabled list after being diagnosed with a benign tumor. Yankees manager Joe Torre is still deciding whether Giambi, whose 12th homer of the year was his first since June 20, is swinging the well enough to make the postseason roster.

"Everybody is pulling for him," Torre said.

Loaiza (10-7) outpitched Roy Halladay (7-8), to whom he finished runner-up last year in the AL Cy Young voting. Loaiza, starting for the first time since Aug. 27 after being banished to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness, won No. 100 on his seventh try.

Red Sox 3, Orioles 2

BOSTON - Mark Bellhorn singled in two runs in the ninth as Boston rallied past Baltimore and snapped a three-game losing streak after nearly blowing the game in the top of the inning.

Curt Schilling cruised through eight innings, striking out a season-high 14 as he went for his major league-leading 21st victory.

Given a 1-0 lead on Kevin Millar's sacrifice fly in the eighth, Keith Foulke (4-3) gave up Javy Lopez's two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth.

B.J. Ryan (3-6) walked Kevin Youkilis in the bottom half, and Bill Mueller doubled off the Green Monster for his career-high fourth hit. Pinch-hitter David McCarty popped up to first, then Johnny Damon struck out looking.

Jorge Julio came on to face Bellhorn, who laced a pitch to deep center field.

Mariners 7, Angels 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Ichiro Suzuki went 5-for-5 to pull within 14 hits of George Sisler's major league record of 257, and Seattle beat Anaheim.

The Angels remained 2 1/2 games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West and dropped 5 1/2 games back of Boston in the wild-card race.

Suzuki singled every time up for his fourth five-hit game of the season and his major league career. He raised his batting average to .372, taking over the major league lead from San Francisco's Barry Bonds (.369). Suzuki has 11 games left to break the record Sisler set in 154 games with the 1920 St. Louis Browns.

Winning pitcher Jamie Moyer (7-12) had been 0-10 since beating Pittsburgh on June 18. Scott Spiezio drove in four runs against the team he helped to a World Series title two years ago.

Aaron Sele (9-4) allowed five runs and 10 hits in 2 1-3 innings.

All-Star right fielder Vladimir Guerrero was back in the Angels' lineup, one night after getting beaned on the left side of the head by a pitch. Guerrero was 1-for-4 with a triple.

The Angels will play the rest of the season without second baseman Adam Kennedy, who tore ligaments in his right knee Monday night.

Rangers 9, Athletics 4

ARLINGTON, Texas - Michael Young hit a grand slam, Mark Teixeira had a two-run double and Texas beat All-Star starter Mark Mulder for the second time in a week. The Rangers pulled within four games of the AL West-leading Athletics with 12 to play.

White Sox 8, Twins 6

CHICAGO - Paul Konerko hit his 40th home run of the season and Juan Uribe had his first grand slam, a pinch-hit shot in the seventh inning that sent Chicago to victory.

Indians 8, Tigers 7

DETROIT - Casey Blake's bloop single broke a ninth-inning tie for Cleveland, which trailed 7-2 after five innings before rallying behind five RBI from Ben Broussard. Bobby Howry (3-1) got the win in relief.

Devil Rays 7, Royals 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Jorge Cantu hit a go-ahead, two-run double during Tampa Bay's five-run eighth inning.

Return to Reds front page...