Homecoming happy for Yankees

Curtis Granderson hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and Brett Gardner made a terrific play in the outfield to lead the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs yesterday.

Granderson, who was born in nearby Blue Island, also had two hits and a walk as the Yankees won for the seventh time in nine games, bouncing back from a 3-1 loss in the opener of their first series at Wrigley Field in eight years.

Granderson's fly ball to deep right put New York ahead 3-2, but the Yankees almost blew it with shoddy fielding behind A.J. Burnett (7-5), who struck out eight in 5⅓ innings.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (5-6) was in trouble throughout the game, setting season highs with six walks and 119 pitches. The right-hander allowed three runs and eight hits in 5⅓ innings.

Twins 1, Padres 0

Scott Baker struck out 10 over eight dominant innings and Danny Valencia homered to lift surging Minnesota.

Baker (5-4) allowed four hits and walked one as the Twins won for the sixth time in a row and 13th time in 15 games. Matt Capps pitched the ninth for his 11th save.

Tim Stauffer (2-5) was nearly as good, allowing one run on six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings. But the punchless Padres offense was no match for Baker, and San Diego lost its fourth straight and eighth in 10 games.

Nationals 4, Orioles 2

Michael Morse put Washington ahead with a sixth-inning homer, Ryan Zimmerman also connected, and Washington won its eighth straight.

Playing in his fifth game since being activated from the disabled list, Zimmerman had two hits, including a double that ignited a three-run uprising in the sixth. Washington is averaging 7.4 runs since his return.

The Nationals' winning streak is their longest since an eight-game run from Aug. 2-9, 2009.

Jordan Zimmermann (5-6) gave up two runs and eight hits in 6⅓ innings to win a third consecutive decision.

Indians 5, Pirates 1

Carlos Carrasco took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and won his third straight start for Cleveland.

Carrasco (7-3) extended his scoreless streak to 21⅓ innings before finishing up allowing one run and four hits in 6⅓ innings. Rookie Michael McKenry broke up his no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the sixth off second baseman Orlando Cabrera's glove.

Cardinals 5, Royals 4

Matt Holliday hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning that helped St. Louis snap a season-high seven-game skid.

Holliday hit an 0-1 pitch from reliever Greg Holland and is 5-for-9 with two homers and four RBI since coming back from a quadriceps injury June 16.

Blue Jays 4, Reds 0

Jose Molina doubled and homered, and Brandon Morrow bounced back from one of his worst starts to help Toronto keep Cincinnati winless in interleague play.

Morrow (3-4) gave up five hits in 6⅔ innings, two of them by Jay Bruce. Jose Bautista also had a pair of hits, including an RBI single off Edinson Volquez (5-7).

Rangers 5, Braves 4, 10 Inn.

Adrian Beltre drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the 10th inning and Texas got a rare one-run road win.

The Rangers were previously 1-11 in one-run road games before winning after blowing an early 4-0 lead.

There was a rain delay of 2 hours, 16 minutes in the fifth inning.

Rays 7, Marlins 4

Alex Cobb pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Johnny Damon hit his 500th double and Tampa Bay beat sliding Florida.

Cobb (2-0) gave up two runs, scattered three hits, walked two and struck out two in 6⅓ innings. The rookie right-hander has been filling for the injured Jeff Niemann, who is scheduled to be reinstated from the 15-day disabled list to start tomorrow night's game at Milwaukee. (next page »)