Baseball Roundup: Wednesday's Action on the Diamonds

Jun 21, 03:05 AM

Current Headlines: (CP) - Sammy Sosa is taking in the rarefied air of the 600-homer plateau, and hitting the milestone shot against his former team made the accomplishment sweeter.

Meanwhile, Frank Thomas hit a grand slam and climbed closer to the 500 mark after rebounding from his most sour moment as a Toronto Blue Jay. Playing for the Rangers after a year out of baseball, Sosa became the fifth member of the 600-homer club Wednesday night when he drove a 1-2 pitch to right-centre in Texas' 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

After the solo shot in the fifth inning, Slammin' Sammy bounced out of the batter's box with his trademark hop and thrust his right fist into the air before reaching first base. He was mobbed at home plate by his teammates while the scoreboard showed pictures of all five members of the elite club: Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sosa.

"It was something that cannot be explained," Sosa said. "Getting my 600th against the Chicago Cubs, and my first team (was) the Texas Rangers. It's like everything clicked. My emotions, I don't know what they are."

Thomas certainly knew which emotions he felt when he hit his grand slam - and his 497th career homer - in Toronto's 12-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The night before, the designated hitter was jeered by Toronto fans after popping out in his final at-bat in a 10-1 defeat to Los Angeles.

"(Tuesday) was rock bottom," Thomas said. "To get booed by the home crowd like that, I took that personally. That really hurt. It's one of those things where I wanted to bring an attitude into the game today. It worked out well for me."

Elsewhere in interleague play it was: Detroit 8 Washington 4, Boston 11 Atlanta 0, Cleveland 10 Philadelphia 6, Minnesota 6 New York Mets 2, Oakland 5 Cincinnati 3, Florida 5 Chicago White Sox 4, Arizona 7 Tampa Bay 4, Colorado 6 New York Yankees 1, Baltimore 7 San Diego 1, Seattle 7 Pittsburgh 0, Los Angeles Angels 8 Houston 4 and St. Louis 7 Kansas City 6 (14 innings). In the National League, Milwaukee beat San Francisco 7-5.

At Arlington, Texas, Sosa's landmark homer came off Jason Marquis (5-4), the 364th pitcher the 38-year-old has homered off in his 18 major league seasons.

"It was a cutter I left up in the zone," Marquis said. "I went away from my strength and he made me pay for it. Other than the fact that it cost us the game, it doesn't really matter."

It was Sosa's 12th homer in 62 games this season since signing a minor league deal and making the roster in spring training with Texas, the franchise that gave him his start. He hit his first big league homer with the Rangers in 1989.

Sosa also has 52 RBIs, which ranks seventh in the American League. He has homered against every major league team in his career.

After going into the dugout with his teammates, Sosa came out for a curtain call. He blew kisses to the crowd and acknowledged the Cubs' dugout by pounding his chest with his fist, and Chicago manager Lou Piniella pointed back toward the slugger. Sosa had never faced the Cubs before the series opener Tuesday night.

A countdown banner that has hung in right field for about a month was flipped from 599 to 600 - and a new banner was unfurled in centre field congratulating Sosa for joining the 600-homer club.

Chants of "Sam-my! Sam-my!" prompted a second curtain call from Sosa.

While Sosa has had an impressive comeback this season, his pursuit of 600 homers was overshadowed by the Rangers (27-44) having the worst record in baseball and Bonds' chase to catch Aaron atop the career home run list.

Bonds has 748 homers - seven shy of Aaron's mark - with only three in his last 97 at-bats. Ruth is third on the home run list with 714 and Mays is fourth with 660.

At Toronto, the Big Hurt's slam wasn't the only problem for the Dodgers, who learned after the game that right-hander Jason Schmidt will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery on his right shoulder. Schmidt won't be ready to return until spring training 2008. He had an inflamed bursa, torn labrum and a frayed biceps tendon repaired.

"We knew he hadn't been throwing well," general manager Ned Colletti said. "It's been a concern for a few starts. Obviously it's a disappointment. We'll just have to figure out how to make it better."

Roy Halladay (8-2) pitched eight innings to win his third consecutive start and drop the Dodgers to 3-8 in interleague games this season. They've lost 21 of their past 23 games in AL parks.

Gregg Zaun and Fredericton's Matt Stairs also homered for the Blue Jays, who scored a season-high eight runs in the second inning.

Thomas chased Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo (1-2) after just 1 2-3 innings. It was Thomas' second slam of the season and 10th of his career.

"An at-bat like that can turn your season around," Thomas said.

Tigers 8 Nationals 4

At Washington, Detroit completed a sweep of a three-game series during which they scored 32 runs.

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Red Sox 11 Braves 0

At Atlanta, 10 of Boston's 15 hits were for extra bases. Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer, David Ortiz slapped a two-run homer, and J.D. Drew, Manny Ramirez and Eric Hinske also homered for the Red Sox.

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Indians 10 Phillies 6

At Cleveland, Casey Blake put the Indians ahead with a two-run single in an eight-run sixth. Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Trot Nixon and Josh Barfield also drove in two runs each.

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Twins 6 Mets 2

At New York, Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer, Joe Mauer also drove in two runs, and Scott Baker (2-2) pitched five effective innings for Minnesota, which won two of three in its first visit to Shea Stadium since 2003.

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Athletics 5 Reds 3

At Oakland, Nick Swisher drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it 3-3 in the seventh inning, Eric Chavez followed with a sacrifice fly, and Shannon Stewart added a solo homer in the eighth. Dan Haren (9-2) won his ninth straight decision.

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Marlins 5 White Sox 4

At Chicago, pinch-hitter Jason Wood hit a three-run homer off closer Bobby Jenks in the eighth to win it for Florida.

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Diamondbacks 7 Devil Rays 4

At Phoenix, three-run homers by Chad Tracy and Eric Byrnes lifted Arizona to the home win. Byrnes went 4-for-5 with a double and two singles. Micah Owings (5-1) won his fourth straight decision.

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Rockies 6 Yankees 1

At Denver, Jeff Francis of North Delta, B.C., struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, and Matt Holliday homered and drove in three runs to lead Colorado.

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Orioles 7 Padres 1

At San Diego, Rookie Jeremy Guthrie allowed four hits over eight innings and Baltimore snapped a nine-game losing streak.

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Mariners 7 Pirates 0

At Seattle, Jeff Weaver threw a four-hitter as the Mariners ended a six-game losing streak.

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Angels 8 Astros 4

At Anaheim, Calif., Vladimir Guerrero's three-run homer was the only hit in Los Angeles' six-run seventh inning.

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Cardinals 7 Royals 6 (14 innings)

At St. Louis, Ryan Ludwick homered off Jorge de la Rosa leading off the 14th inning, giving the Cardinals a victory over Kansas City.

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Brewers 7 Giants 5

At Milwaukee, Bill Hall hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs, and the Brewers swept the struggling Giants to extend San Francisco's losing streak to seven.