The Associated Press

The American League showed it has pitchers who can hit and teams that can win with a bunt single.

Monday, June 05, 2000

The American League showed it has pitchers who can hit and teams that can win with a bunt single. The National League has Barry Bonds and John Rocker.

On a day when Rocker overshadowed much of everything – teammate Brian Jordan called him a ”cancer” after Rocker’s run-in with a reporter – Barry Bonds extended his major league home run lead.

Bonds moved two homers past a quiet Mark McGwire – who struck out six times without homering in three games against Cleveland – by hitting his 23rd homer in San Francisco’s 18-2 victory in Oakland on Sunday.

While Bonds hit his 468th career homer, Tampa Bay pitcher Esteban Yan went deep on the first pitch of his first professional at-bat as the Devil Rays beat the New York Mets 15-5 at Shea Stadium.

”I hit the ball well and I was hoping it would be two bases, so I was running hard,” Yan said. ”(Coach) Jose Cardenal said it’s going, so then I slowed down. It’s going, I might as well taken my time.”

On another day of big homers in the majors, Detroit used Shane Halter’s bunt single to beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 in 12 innings at Wrigley Field.

With a runner on third and two outs in the 12th, Halter saw third baseman Willie Greene playing back, and dropped a bunt down the third-base line to score the winning run.

”It was an opportune time and it turned out to be a great play,” said Detroit manager Phil Garner, who spent the last two seasons in the NL.

But Rocker, once again, made the biggest news. The embattled Atlanta reliever had a confrontation with the Sports Illustrated reporter who wrote the story in which Rocker made offensive comments about gays, minorities, immigrants and his own teammates.

The reporter, Jeff Pearlman, said Rocker threatened him, though there was no physical contact between the two.

Devil Rays 15, Mets 5

Fred McGriff got his 2,000th career hit and Bubba Trammell had a three-run, pinch-hit homer as Tampa Bay scored five unearned runs in the eighth inning. Gerald Williams had three doubles and four RBIs.

Rookie Felix Martinez hit his first major league homer with two outs in the Tampa Bay second, one pitch before Yan’s (3-3) blast off Bobby J. Jones (1-2).

Tigers 3, Cubs 2, 12 innings

Halter’s bunt single scored the first run off Todd Van Poppel (0-1) in 15 innings of relief.

Matt Anderson (3-0) pitched two hitless innings for the win, and Todd Jones pitched the 12th for his 16 save in 17 chances.

Yankees 7, Braves 6

Pinch-hitter Clay Bellinger’s home run in the seventh inning lifted New York over Atlanta. The Yankees took two of three at Turner Field in the rematch of last year’s World Series.

Mariano Rivera pitched the final two innings for his 14th save. He struck out Andres Galarraga with runners on first and third to end the game.

Indians 3, Cardinals 2

Cleveland hitters struck out a team-record 16 times, but Sandy Alomar Jr.’s infield single in the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis starter Rick Ankiel fanned 11 in five innings.

Angels 8, Dodgers 7

Reliever Antonio Osuna lost his control and lost the game, walking Orlando Palmeiro with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Anaheim.

Eric Karros hit a three-run homer and two doubles for Los Angeles.

White Sox 7, Astros 3

Paul Konerko, taking over for the resting Frank Thomas, hit two doubles and a single as Chicago won at Houston.

Ray Durham homered on the first pitch of the game and Chris Singleton also homered for the White Sox.

Richard Hidalgo hit his 18th home run for the Astros.

Phillies 6, Red Sox 5, 12 innings

Kevin Jordan hit an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning and Philadelphia sent Boston to its season-high fifth straight loss.

The Phillies came back after ace Curt Schilling fell behind 5-0. Philadelphia posted its first three-game sweep of the season.

Royals 7, Pirates 5, 11 innings

Jermaine Dye homered for the third straight game at Three Rivers Stadium and Dave McCarty’s two-run double capped a three-run 11th inning for Kansas City.

Pittsburgh tied it in the ninth on pinch-hitter Wil Cordero’s two-out home run.

Mariners 6, Padres 4

Right fielder Stan Javier made the play of the day at Safeco Field, robbing San Diego’s Phil Nevin of a home run.

Javier jumped, reached over the fence, flipped the ball back into play and caught it while sitting on the ground.

Alex Rodriguez tripled, doubled and drove in two runs for Seattle.

Blue Jays 7, Marlins 2

Kelvim Escobar struck out 10 in his third career complete game, and Carlos Delgado hit his 20th home run as Toronto stopped a three-game skid.

Rockies 7, Brewers 1

Todd Helton had three hits, raising his major league-leading average to .418, and Colorado won at Milwaukee.

Helton hit a two-run double in the fourth inning. Kevin Jarvis made it stand up for his first win since April 21.

Rangers 7, Diamondbacks 6

Ivan Rodriguez homered twice, including a two-run go-ahead shot in the seventh as Texas won for the ninth time in 10 home games.

Matt Perisho (1-0) got the last two outs of the seventh for his first major league victory. John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his 15th save, extending his club record for saves in consecutive appearances to 12.