Paul Byrd

CLEVELAND - They were pesky, annoying and timely. They buzzed around the basepaths and bothered the New York Yankees. And Cleveland's famous flying midges were nowhere to be found. Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer off Andy Pettitte in the fifth inning and the Indians won their fourth straight last, beating New York, 6-4, in the Yankees' first visit since last year's AL playoffs when they were bombarded by swarming bugs. Peralta's big shot off Pettitte (3-2) put the Indians ahead, 4-3, and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a homer off the lefty.

CLEVELAND - They were pesky, annoying and timely. They buzzed around the basepaths and bothered the New York Yankees. And Cleveland's famous flying midges were nowhere to be found. Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer off Andy Pettitte in the fifth inning and the Indians won their fourth straight last, beating New York, 6-4, in the Yankees' first visit since last year's AL playoffs when they were bombarded by swarming bugs. Peralta's big shot off Pettitte (3-2) put the Indians ahead, 4-3, and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a homer off the lefty.

Can't win 'em all. Well, you can't. The Red Sox lost to the Indians, 8-4, last night. But they still won the series, and now they've won seven of their last eight series. Teams that keep winning series after series after series are still playing in October. You can look it up. Hey, if you're going to lose, why not lose to Paul Byrd? The man comes in here with his 1936 windup (it's like seeing Rick Barry come back to shoot underhanded free throws), not having walked a man since April 26, and throws first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 27 batters he faces.

CLEVELAND -- Kenny Lofton's homecoming ended with strawberry pie smeared across his smiling face. His return couldn't have been any sweeter. "It tasted pretty good," he said. "I might have to get some more of those. " Jhonny Peralta homered twice and Lofton began his third go-round with Cleveland by getting three hits and playing left field for the first time as the Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-4, last night. Lofton's return to Jacobs Field -- his baseball home for nine seasons -- was all the 40-year-old could have asked for. He received several loud ovations and got...

Barry Zito took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Jay Payton hit a two-run homer on his first swing for the surging Athletics in a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers last night in Oakland, Calif. After Rich Harden took a perfect game into the eighth of an 81-pitch, two-hitter Thursday, Zito (7-8) was nearly flawless until Kevin Mench homered with one out in the eighth -- the same spot where Harden's perfection ended. Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and Nick Swisher also connected to back eight innings of two-hit ball by Zito.

CLEVELAND -- Kenny Lofton's homecoming ended with strawberry pie smeared across his smiling face. His return couldn't have been any sweeter. "It tasted pretty good," he said. "I might have to get some more of those. " Jhonny Peralta homered twice and Lofton began his third go-round with Cleveland by getting three hits and playing left field for the first time as the Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-4, last night. Lofton's return to Jacobs Field -- his baseball home for nine seasons -- was all the 40-year-old could have asked for. He received several loud...

Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer, Kelvim Escobar stifled most of New York's big hitters, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Yankees, 4-1, last night in their home opener in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels kept up their mastery of the Yankees, who were eliminated from the postseason by Los Angeles in 2002 and again last year. New York lost its third in a row and fell to 1-3 on its season-opening road trip. Escobar (1-0) gave up one run on six hits in six innings, struck out two, and walked none.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. met with baseball officials yesterday to discuss allegations that he received human growth hormone. Matthews was sent HGH in 2004 from a pharmacy being investigated for illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, The Times Union of Albany, N.Y., reported last winter. Matthews denied using HGH, which was not banned by baseball for players with major league contracts until 2005. Several other players implicated in receiving performance-enhancing drugs also have met with baseball officials.

Sammy Sosa homered for the first time in more than two weeks and Derrek Lee drove in three runs to lead the Cubs to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates last night in Chicago. Moises Alou and Neifi Perez also homered for the Cubs, who pulled within a half-game of idle San Francisco in the wild-card race. Marlins 6, Expos 3 -- Florida rallied with six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, taking advantage of four Montreal errors to beat the Expos at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

CLEVELAND -- They didn't become the New York Yankees because of epic, embarrassing losses. So one day after suffering one of the most lopsided defeats in their famed existence, the Yankees returned to their winning ways. Rookie Melky Cabrera's first career grand slam highlighted an eight-run fourth inning, helping New York bounce back from an historic loss with an 11-3 win over the Cleveland Indians last night. On the Fourth of July, which also happens to be Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's birthday, New York was pummeled, 19-1, by Cleveland, matching the second-worst...

Can't win 'em all. Well, you can't. The Red Sox lost to the Indians, 8-4, last night. But they still won the series, and now they've won seven of their last eight series. Teams that keep winning series after series after series are still playing in October. You can look it up. Hey, if you're going to lose, why not lose to Paul Byrd? The man comes in here with his 1936 windup (it's like seeing Rick Barry come back to shoot underhanded free throws), not having walked a man since April 26, and throws first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 27 batters he faces.

Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer, Kelvim Escobar stifled most of New York's big hitters, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Yankees, 4-1, last night in their home opener in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels kept up their mastery of the Yankees, who were eliminated from the postseason by Los Angeles in 2002 and again last year. New York lost its third in a row and fell to 1-3 on its season-opening road trip. Escobar (1-0) gave up one run on six hits in six innings, struck out two, and walked none.

Barry Zito took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Jay Payton hit a two-run homer on his first swing for the surging Athletics in a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers last night in Oakland, Calif. After Rich Harden took a perfect game into the eighth of an 81-pitch, two-hitter Thursday, Zito (7-8) was nearly flawless until Kevin Mench homered with one out in the eighth -- the same spot where Harden's perfection ended. Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and Nick Swisher also connected to back eight innings of two-hit ball by Zito.

Bernie Williams rallied New York with his 11th career grand slam, and the Yankees beat the Mariners, 6-3, last night in Seattle to extend their winning streak to nine. With New York trailing, 2-1, in the seventh, Williams drove the first pitch from reliever J.J. Putz just out of reach of center fielder Jeremy Reed, whose glove went over the wall as he crashed into it. Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang (2-1) allowed three runs and six hits in 6{sbquo} innings, striking out four and walking none.

The Yankees responded quickly following George Steinbrenner's criticism. Alex Rodriguez, Tino Martinez, and the Yankees broke out for 13 runs in a record-setting second inning on the way to a 19-8 rout of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night in New York. One day after Steinbrenner lashed out at his $200 million team for its 4-8 start, the Yankees showed how powerful they can be when the offense is clicking. Rodriguez homered twice, doubled twice, and finished with five hits.