Vernon Wells

Travis Snider hit two of an American League record-tying six doubles in a seven-run fifth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays prolonged Alex Rodriguez’s search for his 600th homer in an 8-6 victory over the Yankees last night in New York. Snider began the barrage of doubles with a leadoff hit against A.J. Burnett and finished it with a drive off Sergio Mitre. In between, Fred Lewis, Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells, and Aaron Hill all doubled off Burnett (9-9). The Yankees rallied from an 8-2 deficit but fell into a tie for first place in the AL East with Tampa Bay, which beat the Twins, 4-2. Rodriguez...

Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, J.P. Arencibia added a two-run drive and the Blue Jays routed the New York Yankees, 8-1, Wednesday night in Toronto. Jose Bautista and Kelly Johnson added solo home runs as the Blue Jays tagged Yankees righthander Hiroki Kuroda for seven runs, matching a career-high. Blue Jays righthander Kyle Drabek (3-4) snapped a four-start losing streak, scattering three hits over seven innings to win for the first time since April 15 against Baltimore.

■The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera received a nice ovation from the sellout crowd at Comerica Park after career hit No. 1,500. ■The Orioles' Nick Markakis got his 1,000th career hit, a third-inning single. ■The Nationals committed five errors, two by first baseman Michael Morse (one fielding, one throwing). ■Tigers manager Jim Leyland started Don Kelly at third base in place of the struggling Brandon Inge , who entered the game with a .184 average.

Albert Pujols welcomed his new hitting coach to town with a go-ahead three-run homer and Vernon Wells added a two-run shot to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. Jim Eppard was with the Angels for the first time as hitting coach after replacing Mickey Hatcher, who was unceremoniously dumped Tuesday night by new general manager Jerry DiPoto 1 ½ months into Hatcher's 13th season on the job. The team's offensive struggles led to the firing, including Pujols' slow start after signing a 10-year, $240 million contract as a free agent.

The Toronto Blue Jays have offered All-Star center fielder Vernon Wells a contract extension worth more $120 million. "We like him a lot and we're going to try to keep him," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said yesterday. Ricciardi declined to give specifics. Wells told The Globe and Mail that it would be worth between $126 million and $136 million and extend for seven or eight years. "The guy is a Gold Glover. He's a .300 hitter, a home run hitter, and an RBI hitter who bats third in our lineup," Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey said.

The Red Sox rookies departed Fenway Park yesterday dressed in "High School Musical" costumes (lots of dresses, skirts, and lipstick) as part of the ageless rookie hazing ritual after the Sox had choreographed a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox are hoping to be more pit bull than lipstick tonight as they attempt to pull even with Tampa Bay, which holds a one-game lead in the American League East as the teams open a three-game set in St. Petersburg, Fla. Last week, the Sox dropped two out of three to the Rays at Fenway and now the Sox must prove they can win at The Trop,...

TORONTO -- They were advertised as economical upgrades, Filene's quality at Filene's Basement prices. David Wells ($2.5 million base pay), Matt Mantei ($750,000), John Halama ($750,000), and Blaine Neal ($321,000), the newest men to the Boston pitching staff. They worked yesterday's game against the Blue Jays in that order, marking the first time this season that an entire Sox game was pitched by people new to the team. The result: four Blue Jay home runs (including back-to-back-to-back blasts off Wells)

Roy Halladay cruised to an easy win, Chris Woodward had a career-high four hits, and the Toronto Blue Jays routed the Orioles, 15-3, yesterday in Baltimore. Carlos Delgado and Eric Hinske each had three RBIs, and Vernon Wells and Woodward drove in two runs apiece for the Blue Jays, who roughed up Sidney Ponson and won a second straight game for the first time this season. Halladay (2-3) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits in seven innings, improving to 10-2 lifetime against Baltimore.

Albert Pujols welcomed his new hitting coach to town with a go-ahead three-run homer and Vernon Wells added a two-run shot to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. Jim Eppard was with the Angels for the first time as hitting coach after replacing Mickey Hatcher, who was unceremoniously dumped Tuesday night by new general manager Jerry DiPoto 1 ½ months into Hatcher's 13th season on the job. The team's offensive struggles led to the firing, including Pujols' slow start after signing a 10-year, $240...

Jorge Posada hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, Gary Sheffield connected for his 400th career home run, and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Blue Jays, 7-4, last night in Toronto. Orlando Hernandez became the latest Yankees starter with an injury, leaving after the second inning with tightness in his left hamstring. Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown are both on the disabled list, and Tanyon Sturtze injured his right pinky in the brawl with the Red Sox last Saturday.

Brandon Morrow wasn't quite as stingy as Jered Weaver was the night before on the Angel Stadium mound. The Toronto Blue Jays' right-hander gave up three more hits than Weaver — while matching his nine scoreless innings. Morrow earned his second career shutout with 102 pitches, facing one batter over the minimum, and batterymate J.P. Arencibia hit a three-run homer in the third inning to lead the Blue Jays to a 5-0 win on Thursday night in the opener of an 11-game road trip. "It was just really fastball command the whole time," said Morrow, who didn't throw a changeup all night...

Edwin Encarnacion channeled his inner Carlton Fisk and crushed a game-winning homer for the Toronto Blue Jays. Encarnacion homered in the 12th inning and the Blue Jays beat Los Angeles 4-3 on Thursday night, dealing the Angels another blow in their chase for a playoff berth. Encarnacion led off the 12th with a drive down the left field line off Garrett Richards (0-2), his 17th homer of the season. He watched his shot as he moved sideways to first, and with his right arm kept trying to wave it fair.

The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a big loss before Wednesday night's game even started. Dan Haren pitched eight innings, Peter Bourjos and Vernon Wells homered, and Los Angeles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Wednesday night, closing within 2 ½ games of Boston in the AL wild-card race. That was secondary to the Blue Jays, who saw rookie third baseman Brett Lawrie fracture the middle finger on his right hand when he was struck by a ball during batting practice, putting a premature end to his promising season.

The Blue Jays racked up the errors and baserunning blunders on Friday night. Against a red-hot Ervin Santana, it was too much to overcome. Toronto was held to seven hits and Vernon Wells homered against his former club to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-1 victory. The Blue Jays made three errors and slow-footed catcher Jose Molina was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. "Are they gonna happen? Yeah they are, but when they come in bunches it starts to look glaring," manager John Farrell said.

Vernon Wells returned to Toronto and thought he caught a glimpse of Roy Halladay on the mound. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Ervin Santana. Santana won his fifth straight start, Wells homered against his former club and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Blue Jays 5-1 on Friday night. "Unreal," Wells said of the streaking Santana. "He's been the best pitcher in the game his last few starts. He reminds me of someone else I got to play behind for quite a few years. " Santana (9-8)

Pitching against former college teammate Jered Weaver seems to bring out the best in Jason Vargas. The Seattle Mariners' left-hander pitched six scoreless innings and stranded six runners in scoring position, but didn't get any run support. Weaver had the same problem, pitching nine shutout innings before Vernon Wells' RBI single in the 10th off rookie Dan Cortes gave the Los Angeles Angels a 1-0 victory over the Mariners on Friday night. It was the fourth time in Vargas' last five starts that the Mariners didn't score while he was in the game.

A new center fielder and the Jason Giambi of old helped the New York Yankees extend their winning streak to five. Giambi homered for the third straight game and 20-year-old Melky Cabrera singled in his major league debut as Mike Mussina and the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-2, last night in New York. Alex Rodriguez homered for the second straight game, tying Boston's Manny Ramirez and Texas's Mark Teixeira for the AL lead with 22, and Derek Jeter also connected for New York.

TORONTO -- Johnny Damon is due back in Boston in eight days, and the folks planning the actual Second Coming can only wish they'll get the same advance buzz. The congregation of believers in Coco Crisp, meanwhile, awaits its hero's return from a fractured knuckle, already convinced by Crisp's early showing that Theo Epstein's bloodless, bottom-line decision to let Damon walk is a boon for the Red Sox, even if sales of Coolatas at Dunkin' Donuts have taken a hit. But for anyone paying attention in these first three weeks, there is mounting evidence that the best center fielder in the...

Angels outfielder Vernon Wells is ill and has been scratched from the lineup against the Oakland Athletics. Wells was penciled in as the cleanup hitter for Los Angeles in its first game after the All-Star break but was removed from the lineup 30 minutes before the first pitch Friday night. Bobby Abreu, who was slated to be the designated hitter, replaced Wells in left field and dropped from third to fourth in the batting order. Russell Branyan replaced Abreu as the DH.

■The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera received a nice ovation from the sellout crowd at Comerica Park after career hit No. 1,500. ■The Orioles' Nick Markakis got his 1,000th career hit, a third-inning single. ■The Nationals committed five errors, two by first baseman Michael Morse (one fielding, one throwing). ■Tigers manager Jim Leyland started Don Kelly at third base in place of the struggling Brandon Inge , who entered the game with a .184 average.