Giambi’s Gamble Pays Off for A’s

Jason Giambi had no game-winning home runs in his first 999 career hits.

The first one was more than a milestone--it was the perfect ending to the Oakland Athletics’ perfect homestand.

Giambi hit a two-run, two-out home run in the ninth inning at Oakland to give the Athletics their 11th consecutive victory, 4-2 over the New York Yankees Sunday.

Giambi’s 1,000th career hit was a product of an educated guess--and these days, every gamble seems to be paying off for baseball’s hottest team. Oakland is on its longest winning streak in more than 13 years.

“I bet the whole bank that I’d see a 3-2 breaking ball,� Giambi said. “It’s a gutsy pitch to throw, but I knew I had it. It’s incredible to make something like that into No. 1,000. Maybe it was all meant to be this way.�

All-Star reliever Mike Stanton (7-3) walked Johnny Damon with one out in the ninth. After Olmedo Saenz struck out, Giambi ran the count full before guessing Stanton would throw him a curveball--even though Stanton hadn’t yet thrown him an off-speed pitch.

Giambi connected for a towering home run into the right-field stands that brought raucous cheers from Oakland’s seventh sellout crowd of the season.

“When he sort of stands there with that bat up in the air, you know he caught it really hard,� winning pitcher Mark Mulder (15-6) said.

“But we thought something was going to happen in the ninth, just because of the way we’ve been playing. Everyone in the dugout was saying it: ‘Watch him hit a curveball for a homer.’ �

“It might not have been the perfect location, but it had a good break on it,� Stanton said. “He’s hot, and when he gets the pitch he’s looking for, he’s not missing it.�

Oakland rallied to win after Clay Bellinger tied it for New York with a two-run home run in the eighth.

It was the 29th homer of the season for Giambi, who homered in each of the series’ three games. He was mobbed at home plate by his teammates, and he returned to the field for a curtain call.

“I’m just trying to put the team on my back and carry them to the postseason,� Giambi said. “It’s just like last year in that respect, but this year, the supporting cast is a lot better.�

Giambi, eligible for free agency at the end of the season, has been rumored as a replacement for Tino Martinez at first base for the Yankees next season.

Mulder struck out seven to win his seventh consecutive decision, and Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning.

Oakland extended its longest winning streak since a team-record 14-game streak in 1988. The A’s maintained their two-game lead over Boston in the wild-card race, and the Yankees’ AL East lead was cut to three games over the Red Sox.

It was the first game-ending home run given up by the Yankees since June 3, 1997, when Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro connected against Jim Mecir, now pitching for Oakland.

“It’s terrible. It makes for a lousy day off,� New York Manager Joe Torre said. “They certainly outplayed us this weekend. We were frustrated.�

It was a maddening day for Mike Mussina, who retired Oakland’s first 14 hitters and gave up only two hits. Mussina struck out nine in eight innings after losing his last two starts, but it wasn’t enough.

“That’s about as good as I can throw,� Mussina said. “Two solo home runs, only two guys cross the plate. I’ll take that 30 times a year.�

Mulder, the A’s left-handed ace who has been unbeatable for six weeks, was dominant in the early innings. He then hung on to finish his fifth complete game of the season--tied with Minnesota’s Brad Radke for the AL lead.

Seattle 2, Chicago 1--Carlos Guillen, who hit a pinch-hit double, scored the go-ahead run on John Olerud’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning at Seattle to help the Mariners move 52 games over .500.

Seattle starter Joel Pineiro had another impressive outing. He had held right-handed batters hitless in 51 consecutive at-bats before giving up a line-drive single to Magglio Ordonez in the fourth inning.

That was the longest streak since San Francisco’s Al Holland had an 0-for-49 stretch in 1982.

Boston 12, Baltimore 10--Mike Lansing homered to cap a six-run first inning fueled by three Oriole errors, and Boston added four more home runs at Baltimore to end their six-game road losing streak.

Cal Ripken drove in four runs and Tony Batista homered twice for Baltimore. Ripken’s two-run double in the third made it 7-5, but reliever Tim Wakefield (8-7) stemmed the comeback.

Tampa Bay 4, Minnesota 3--John Flaherty hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 12th inning for the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

David Ortiz homered for the fourth consecutive game, hitting a ninth-inning leadoff shot against Tampa Bay closer Esteban Yan that tied the score at 3- The Twins have lost six of seven and are 9-21 since the All-Star break.

Cleveland 13, Texas 2--Omar Vizquel hit two triples and Roberto Alomar drove in four runs at Arlington, Texas, and C.C. Sabathia (12-4) gave up two runs and three hits over six innings to win for the fifth time in his last six decisions.

Alomar tripled, doubled and singled, and Juan Gonzalez drove in three runs as the Indians halted the Rangers’ three-game winning streak.

Kansas City 6, Detroit 4--Neifi Perez hit a bases-loaded triple in a six-run second inning as the Royals completed a three-game sweep at Kansas City, Mo.

The Royals scored all their runs in the second after Adam Pettyjohn (0-5) retired the first two batters.