Intro4u2u

DEVIL RAYS 5, RED SOX 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka has been as good as advertised. If Boston would just score some runs for him, he’d have the record to prove it. Dioner Navarro, B.J. Upton and Carlos Peña homered during a five-run seventh inning as host Tampa Bay ended an eight-game losing streak. Matsuzaka (12-8) took a six-hit shutout into the seventh before being lifted after allowing Navarro’s solo homer and a one-out single to Josh Wilson. Dice-K was charged with two runs and eight hits.

BLUE JAYS 4, WHITE SOX 1: Shaun Marcum gave up two hits in eight innings for visiting Toronto. Marcum (7-4) struck out eight and walked one to outpitch Javier Vazquez. Vazquez (8-6) retired seven in a row before Curtis Thigpen walked with one out in the eighth. John McDonald and Reed Johnson singled to load the bases, and Lyle Overbay followed with a sacrfice fly to put Toronto ahead. The run broke 21-inning scoreless steak for the Blue Jays.

TWINS 4, INDIANS 1: Josh Barfield made two errors on one play to help visiting Minnesota score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Twins rallied to beat C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia (13-6) tied a career high with 11 strikeouts, but lost for the fourth time in five starts in July.

ROYALS 10, RANGERS 0: Leo Nuñez pitched six scoreless innings in his second major-league start as host Kansas City completed a three-game sweep. Nunez (1-0), who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, gave up three singles with a walk and a strikeout before departing after 85 pitches.

MARINERS 14, ATHLETICS 10: Ben Broussard, playing for the ejected Richie Sexson, hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the score, and Jason Ellison scored the go-ahead run on an errant throw an inning later for host Seattle. The Mariners’ improbable win came after Oakland erased a 6-0 deficit, scoring four runs in the sixth inning off reliever Chris Reitsma. But the combination of Kenji Johjima, Adrian Beltre, Broussard and Ellison helped get Reitsma off the hook.

ANGELS 13, TIGERS 4: Gary Matthews Jr. drove in three runs and Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman each had two RBIs as host Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep. Jeremy Bonderman (10-3) lost his second straight start after winning 10 of his previous 11 decisions. It was his shortest outing of the season, surrendering 11 runs - 10 earned - and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

NL

BRAVES 14, DIAMONDBACKS 0: Chipper Jones drove in five runs and Tim Hudson allowed three hits in seven innings as host Arizona’s eight-game winning streak ended.

Andruw Jones and Scott Thorman also homered for the Braves, who pounded out 19 hits and snapped a four-game losing streak. Jeff Francoeur went 3-for-5 and scored two runs. “This was much needed, to say the least,” Chipper Jones said.

“It puts a nice tidy bow on a bad couple of days.” Atlanta matched a season high for runs and handed Arizona its worst loss of the season.

Hudson struck out five and walked one to win his fifth straight decision.

CUBS 6, REDS 0: Carlos Zambrano became the majors’ first 14-game winner and had three hits, and Derrek Lee homered for the third time in four days for Chicago, which finished off a 4-2 road trip. Alfonso Soriano also had two hits and scored a run. Brandon Phillips’ first-inning single up the middle and Javier Valentin’s seventh-inning bloop single to center were the only hits allowed by Zambrano (14-7) in 7 1/3 innings. The righthander struck out six and walked three, and has won seven of his last eight.

PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 1: Jimmy Rollins had three hits and Kyle Kendrick tossed seven strong innings as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep. Philadelphia, winner of eight of its last nine, improved to a season-high six games over .500 (55-49) and swept the Pirates for the first time since 2001. Nate McLouth homered for Pittsburgh, which fell to 2-13 since the All-Star break.

CARDINALS 9, BREWERS 5: Ryan Ludwick’s bases-loaded walk broke an eighth-inning tie, Albert Pujols followed with a three-run double and host St. Louis rallied from a five-run deficit. Milwaukee, which led the NL Central by 8 1/2 games before play on June 24, is just a half-game ahead of the Cubs, the Brewers’ smallest margin since before play on April 22. The Cardinals are six games back after trailing by 10 1/2 at the end of June.

ROCKIES 9, DODGERS 6: Matt Holliday homered and drove in three runs, and Ubaldo Jimenez went six innings for his first major-league victory for host Colorado. Jimenez, who got no-decisions in his first two starts this season, allowed two runs and four hits. Losing pitcher Chad Billingsley allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

EXTRA BASES

Butler hospitalized

Former Mets outfielder Brett Butler was recovering from a mild stroke yesterday, two days after he became ill. Butler who is managing the Mobile BayBears, the Double-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks, was resting comfortably in a Montgomery, Ala., hospital, the Diamondbacks said in a statement.

Butler played 17 seasons with five major-league teams, retiring in 1997 at the age of 40. He batted .290 with 2,375 hits and 558 stolen bases. He came up with Atlanta in 1981 and also played for Cleveland, San Francisco, the Mets and the Dodgers.

Butler is in his first season managing the BayBears of the Southern League. TV analyst Matt Williams, a former Diamondbacks infielder, replaced Butler as interim manager.

Attendance mark set

Major League Baseball set its attendance record for a single day, drawing 717,478 fans for 17 games Saturday. Boosted by a pair of day-night doubleheaders, baseball broke the previous mark of 640,412, set when 17 games were played on July 3, 1999. Baseball was averaging 32,258 per game through Saturday, up 4.4 percent from last year, and is on track to break the record average of 31,632 set in 1994.

Ichiro reaches milestone

Ichiro Suzuki became the third-fastest player in major-league history to reach 1,500 hits when he singled in the second inning yesterday against Oakland’s Lenny DiNardo. Suzuki got his 1,500th hit in his 1,060th game. Only Al Simmons (1,040) and George Sisler (1,048) reached the mark quicker, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rogers returns to DL

The Tigers placed lefthander Kenny Rogers on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his elbow. The move was made retroactive to Thursday. Rogers is 3-2 with a 5.23 ERA in just six starts this season. The four-time All-Star missed the Tigers’ first 71 games after undergoing surgery March 30 to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder and repair arteries . . . Phillies reliever Ryan Madson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder. Reliever Geoff Geary was recalled from Triple-A Ottawa and will join the team for today’s game in Chicago against the Cubs.