Yankees power past Padres

Posted June 17, 2008 11:00 pm

Associated Press

Jason Giambi homered twice, and Andy Pettitte looked particularly sharp in an easy outing as the host New York Yankees beat the sloppy San Diego Padres 8-0 Tuesday night to match a season high with their fifth straight victory.

Alex Rodriguez also connected off an ineffective Randy Wolf for the surging Yankees (38-33), who have won 10 of 13 to move a season-best 5 games above .500. New York has outscored its opponents 35-6 during the five-game winning streak.

Pettitte (7-5) tied a season high with 9 strikeouts in 7 innings, improving to 4-0 in his past 6 starts.

Brewers 7, Blue Jays 0: Manny Parra scattered 4 hits in 7 scoreless innings, and Ryan Braun hit 2 of Milwaukee's 5 homers, lifting the host Brewers past Toronto.

Royals 2, Cardinals 1: Mike Aviles homered to snap an eighth-inning tie, and Kyle Davies worked 7 sharp innings as Kansas City beat host St. Louis.

Red Sox 3, Phillies 0: Jon Lester struck out five over 7 shutout innings, and Coco Crisp homered to lead Boston past host Philadelphia.

Twins 2, Nationals 1: Livan Hernandez finally found a way to keep opposing hitters off base, earning his first victory in over a month as host Minnesota beat Washington.

Orioles 6, Astros 5: Melvin Mora hit a 2-run double in the eighth inning to cap yet another improbable rally by host Baltimore Orioles and doom sinking Houston.

Rangers 7, Braves 5: Josh Hamilton put Texas ahead to stay with his American League-best 19th homer, and Milton Bradley added a 2-run single on which he got hurt in the host Rangers' victory over Atlanta.

National League

Dodgers 3, Reds 1: Right-hander Chad Billingsley took a shutout into the seventh inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a victory over host Cincinnati that ended a five-game losing streak.

Prior to the game, the Reds honored Ken Griffey Jr.'s 600th home run. The 38-year-old outfielder became the sixth to reach the mark last week in Florida. Griffey, out of the lineup because of illness, stood on the field with his family and briefly thanked the fans for coming. He pinch hit in the ninth and struck out.