Jeter, Yankees Slam the Cubs

When Derek Jeter walked to home plate with the bases loaded in the sixth inning Saturday at New York, he had gone 5,770 at-bats over 11 major league seasons without a grand slam.

Jeter finally filled one of the few gaps in his resume, connecting off Chicago Cub reliever Joe Borowski for a home run to left-center that broke the game open. Jeter added a solo shot in the eighth, backing a stellar start by rookie Chien-Ming Wang in an 8-1 victory that extended New York’s winning streak to five.

It was Jeter’s first home run in 155 plate appearances with the bases loaded. The Yankee captain had the most at-bats with the bases loaded without a slam among current major leaguers, and his 156 homers coming in were the most without a slam by active big leaguers.

His teammates wouldn’t let him forget that.

“It’s usually after I get out. I’d come back and they’d say, ‘Well, we thought you were going to hit one,’ ” Jeter said.

Philadelphia’s David Bell, who hasn’t homered in 118 at-bats with the bases loaded, now has the longest drought. Tampa Bay’s Alex Gonzalez has the most homers without a slam, 132.

Pittsburgh 2, Boston 0 -- Humberto Cota doubled off the Green Monster to score the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning at Boston and the Pirates ended a five-game losing streak.

Dave Williams and two relievers combined to end Boston’s five-game winning streak and hand the Red Sox their first shutout.

Seattle 4, New York Mets 1 -- The Mariners beat Pedro Martinez for the first time in 14 starts, scoring all of their runs in the fourth inning at Seattle.

Martinez (7-2) gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings, falling to 13-1 all-time against the Mariners. He had been 6-0 with an 0.77 earned-run average at Safeco Field.

San Diego 7, Minnesota 2 -- Ryan Klesko had four hits and three runs batted in in support of Brian Lawrence at Minneapolis and the Padres ended their five-game losing streak.

Klesko got San Diego started with a solo homer, his 12th, in the first inning. The Padres, only 4-12 in June, finished with 16 hits.

Houston 6, Kansas City 2 -- Roy Oswalt pitched eight innings in his second consecutive strong start, and Willy Taveras reached base five times and scored three runs at Kansas City, Mo.

Oswalt, who pitched a two-hit shutout against Toronto in his previous start, held the Royals to one run and seven hits. Oswalt (8-7) earned his first road victory since April 15 at Cincinnati and lowered his ERA to 2.72.

Detroit 8, San Francisco 2 -- Brandon Inge hit a leadoff homer and a two-run double, and Jason Johnson recovered from a rough start to pitch eight strong innings at Detroit.

Inge, Omar Infante and Ivan Rodriguez had three hits apiece for the Tigers, who got their fourth victory in five games.

Cleveland 3, Arizona 1 -- Scott Elarton pitched well in his first start in 10 days and Travis Hafner homered at Cleveland as the Indians extended their winning streak to eight games. Elarton (4-2) improved to 4-0 with a 2.47 ERA in six starts since May 17.

St. Louis 5, Tampa Bay 2 -- Albert Pujols homered at St. Petersburg, Fla., in support of Matt Morris, helping the St. Louis right-hander remain unbeaten.

Morris (8-0) gave up two runs and five hits in eight innings and retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced. The Devil Rays had one hit after the third.

The victory hiked the Cardinals’ lead in the National League Central to a season-high 8 1/2 games over the Cubs. It also moved Tony La Russa into a tie with Bucky Harris for fourth place on the managerial career wins list with 2,157.

Milwaukee 5, Toronto 2 -- Ben Sheets outpitched Roy Halladay in a matchup of two-time All-Stars at Toronto.

Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins homered for the Brewers, who have won only two of their last nine games. Jenkins ended a career-worst 0-for-29 slump with a homer off Miguel Batista in the ninth.

Oakland 2, Philadelphia 1 -- Kirk Saarloos recovered from Jimmy Rollins’ leadoff homer to shut down the Phillies at Oakland.

Scott Hatteberg and Dan Johnson each drove in a run for the A’s.

Saarloos (3-4) threw a season-high 6 1/3 innings, scattering nine hits and walking four to win his second consecutive decision. He did not strike out a batter.

Texas 7, Washington 4 -- Mark Teixeira hit two of the Rangers’ four home runs at Arlington, Texas.

Alfonso Soriano and Gary Matthews Jr. also connected for Texas.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Atlanta 6, Cincinnati 1 -- Age-defying Julio Franco had his first two-homer game since 1996 to lead the Braves at Cincinnati.

The 46-year-old Franco had a solo homer and a two-run shot off left-hander Eric Milton (3-9).