Hideki Matsui

NEW YORK -- With the bases loaded in the first inning, and the Yankee Stadium crowd already sensing another win over their crosstown rivals, Al Leiter quieted the fans and the Bronx Bombers' bats. After falling behind Jason Giambi, 2-and-0, Leiter came back to throw a called third strike on a pitch the lefthander called a "backup cement mixer. " Leiter then retired Jorge Posada on a slow roller to get out of the inning, and the Mets went on to beat up rookie Brad Halsey in a six-run fourth that propelled them to a 9-3 victory yesterday.

A day after trading A.J. Burnett, the New York Yankees used some of the salary they saved to add Raul Ibanez as their left-handed designated hitter. Ibanez and the Yankees agreed to a $1.1 million, one-year contract, a person familiar the negotiations said Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. It includes $2.9 million in performance bonuses. "He's a guy that's hit right-handers very well over his career, can still play the outfield," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, without confirming the agreement.

Jemile Weeks had two hits and drove in three runs, and Hideki Matsui homered to lead the Oakland Athletics to an 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday. Matsui’s solo blast gives him a combined 499 homers in Japan and the U.S. and helped Oakland win a second straight game for the first time since a four-game streak May 26-29. Melky Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals, who lost their second straight. Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit and Brayan Pena each added an RBI. Daric Barton drove in two runs, and Coco Crisp and Kurt Suzuki each had an RBI in...

FORT MYERS Fla. - General manager Ben Cherington said yesterday that the Red Sox have offered Jason Varitek a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. But that is as far as they will go. With pitchers and catchers reporting tomorrow, there is no indication that Varitek will accept the offer. Friends are saying they believe he will follow the lead of longtime teammate Tim Wakefield and retire rather than come to camp without any guarantees. "Because I don't expect any additions, I guess I don't expect that [Varitek]

Albert Pujols won his first National League MVP award yesterday, beating Andruw Jones in a close vote. The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman ended Barry Bonds's four-year winning streak, receiving 18 first-place votes and 14 seconds for 378 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Jones, the Atlanta Braves center fielder, got 13 first-place votes, 17 seconds, and two thirds for 351 points. Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee got the other first-place vote and was third with 263 points.

With regard to the ongoing saga of the Boston Red Sox and their futile pursuit of one lousy little World Series triumph, I have always been of the opinion that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. This time, I'm not so sure. Who among us needed this ? I speak not as an embittered scribe who boldly predicted the Red Sox over the Yankees in five (while hinting that a sweep would not be inconceivable), but as a baseball-loving citizen of Greater Boston who is tired of the nonsense.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Mussina pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and the New York Yankees got home runs from Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter in a 6-2 victory over the Angels last night. Mussina (5-4) won his fourth consecutive start, holding the AL West-leading Angels to one run and seven hits through 7 2/3 innings. He kept them off balance with a nasty breaking ball. The righthander struck out six and walked none. He's walked only three batters during his winning streak, spanning 28 2/3 innings.

NEW YORK -- Ah, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Just what a struggling club full of stars needs to get back into contention for a playoff berth. The Yankees collected 25 hits, reaching 20 in consecutive games for the first time in team history in a 21-4 rout of the Devil Rays yesterday. On Saturday, the Yankees had 20 in a 17-5 win that finished off a doubleheader sweep. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees never previously had 20-hit games back-to-back. Shelley Duncan homered twice, including a three-run drive that capped a 10-run fourth inning, and Alex Rodriguez hit his major...

Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui were among a handful of New York Yankees players randomly selected for steroid tests by Major League Baseball, the New York Post reported yesterday. Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield , who testified in the BALCO grand jury hearings, were not among those tested by members of baseball's drug testing program Thursday at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, the newspaper reported. In addition to Jeter and Matsui, second baseman Tony Womack , outfielder Bubba Crosby and relievers Paul Quantrill , Bret Prinz , and ...

BALTIMORE -- The list of big-name players unavailable to New York Yankees manager Joe Torre was staggering. Alex Rodriguez. Hideki Matsui. Gary Sheffield. Mariano Rivera. None of them was healthy enough to face the Baltimore Orioles last night. Derek Jeter was in the lineup, though, and he provided two clutch hits to lift New York to a 6-5 victory. Returning from a two-day absence because of a hand injury, Jeter put New York ahead with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning, then drove in the tiebreaking run in the ninth to cap a 3-for-4 night.

NEW YORK — Robinson Cano didn't get a home run the first time he tried, the ball bouncing off the top of the wall in left field. Upon the umpires' review, he remained at second with an RBI double. In his next at-bat, Cano left absolutely no doubt. He blasted a pitch from just-entered reliever Al Alburquerque into the second deck in right field for a grand slam that took the game into blowout territory, the first postseason slam for New York since 1999. The Yankees led by seven runs, and there was little the Tigers could do in an eventual 9-3 outcome.

For the second straight outing, Guillermo Moscoso pitched well enough to win and didn't because his teammates couldn't supply much offense. The Oakland Athletics lost 4-2 to journeyman Jerome Williams and the desperate Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night after Moscoso allowed just one hit over the first five innings. Last Sunday, the 27-year-old right-hander held Detroit to just one hit over six innings — a solo homer by Austin Jackson in a 3-0 loss at Oakland. "It's definitely frustrating because you want to help out your pitcher,...

Mariano Rivera stunned a raucous crowd still buzzing after Robinson Cano's grand slam. Mr. Automatic faltered for the third straight game, the rarest of slumps for the dominant closer. Russell Branyan's three-run homer on the first pitch Rivera threw in the ninth inning was not enough to wipe out the lead, though, and the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5, yesterday in New York, giving Rivera his 30th save for the 14th season. "As much as we want to think that he's about as close to the perfect closer as we have seen, he's not perfect," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Brad Mills had trouble with his pitches. The Oakland Athletics had no problem with them. Hideki Matsui had four hits, Conor Jackson drove in three runs and the Athletics beat Mills and the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3 on Thursday. Making his third start of the season, Mills (1-2) allowed six runs and five hits in three innings. The left-hander walked two and struck out five. All six runs against Mills came in the third, when Oakland batted around and collected three extra-bases hits on pitches up in the zone.

The All-Star break turned out to be the perfect remedy for Oakland's ailing offense. Now the Athletics are the hottest hitting team in baseball and not even Tampa Bay's top three pitchers could slow them down. Hideki Matsui and Ryan Sweeney both homered as part of a nine-run fourth inning and the suddenly resurgent A's beat the Rays 13-4 on Wednesday night. "It's about believing and starting over in the second half and trying to put the first half behind you," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

James Shields' first pitch put Tampa Bay into the record books. The rest of his night was as forgettable as it gets. The Rays right-hander suffered his most lopsided loss of the season and became the third straight Tampa Bay starter to get knocked around by the suddenly resurgent Oakland Athletics, who had a season-high 17 hits on the way to a 13-4 win Wednesday night. "It was an all-around terrible job," Shields said. "The ball was up and they were hitting it. I wasn't sharp all night right from the gates.

Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui each hit two-run doubles, and Jon Lieber struck out a season-high nine to lead the Yankees past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 11-2, last night in New York. Gary Sheffield had four hits and Bernie Williams homered for the Yankees, who won their third in a row. New York maintained its 2 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox in the East Division. Rocco Baldelli hit a two-run homer in the first inning for Tampa Bay, which lost its ninth straight. New York's new 1-2 punch sparked the offense again.

A day after trading A.J. Burnett, the New York Yankees used some of the salary they saved to add Raul Ibanez as their left-handed designated hitter. Ibanez and the Yankees agreed to a $1.1 million, one-year contract, a person familiar the negotiations said Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. It includes $2.9 million in performance bonuses. "He's a guy that's hit right-handers very well over his career, can still play the outfield," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, without confirming the agreement.

Another sweltering day at Yankee Stadium. Only this time, the Oakland Athletics finally sweated out a win against New York on a 93-degree afternoon. Hideki Matsui homered against his former team, Rich Harden earned his second win of the season, and Oakland snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Yankees with a 4-3 victory yesterday. "Obviously, you don't want to let something like that linger on too long," said A's reliever Grant Balfour, who got four big outs. "Sounds like it had already gone far enough.