Jim Thome passed Mickey Mantle at the perfect time. Thome homered in the 15th inning to move ahead of Mantle on the career list and give the Chicago White Sox a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels that extended their AL Central lead Saturday night. Thome's 537th home run came off Justin Speier (1-8) and put him in sole possession of 14th place.

Tim Wakefield's knuckeball was fluttering out of the strike zone during the short time he pitched, an unmemorable performance in a milestone appearance. The Boston right-hander allowed seven runs in a span of nine batters in his 500th game for the Red Sox, a 15-8 loss at Texas on Saturday night that kept them from gaining ground in the AL East race.

Tim Wakefield's milestone appearance for Boston ended with his shortest outing of the season and kept the Red Sox from getting closer to the AL East leader. The knuckleballer, pitching his 500th game for Boston, allowed seven runs in a span of nine batters in the second inning, and the Texas Rangers went on to a 15-8 victory Saturday night that ended Boston's four-game winning streak.

Something about September gets Alfonso Soriano going. Soriano homered three times at the top of Chicago's retooled batting order, and the first-place Cubs emerged from their longest losing streak of the season by keeping their composure and beating the Cincinnati Reds 14-9 on Saturday night to end a six-game slide.

Roy Oswalt threw a one-hitter and Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run to help the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 2-0 on Saturday night. Roy Oswalt (14-9) struck out six, walked two and hit two batters. He threw 102 pitches and gave up only a leadoff single to Brad Hawpe in the fifth inning. It was the third time in Coors Field history that a pitcher threw a one-hitter or better.

Ben Sheets' at-bat in the second inning left him numb and could have been disastrous for Milwaukee. Fortunately for the Brewers, the feeling returned to his hand. Sheets pitched a five-hitter for his career-high 13th win and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 1-0 on Saturday night. But it came very close to turning out much differently.

Jack Cust hit two solo home runs, Greg Smith pitched seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics handed the Baltimore Orioles their eighth straight loss, 5-1 Saturday night. Jack Hannahan also homered for the A's, who have won two in a row for only the second time since the All-Star break. The game was supposed to be the latter part of a split doubleheader, but the afternoon contest was wiped...

Asked about the secret behind this year's surprising success, the young Minnesota Twins have often praised their short memories following disappointing defeats. With 20 games left in the season, the bad stuff is becoming harder to block out. Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez each hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers battered Minnesota's struggling bullpen to rally for...

Manny Ramirez had three chances to hurt the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday. He came through twice, and that was more than enough for the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers. After striking out on three pitches with the bases loaded in the third inning, Ramirez hit a three-run homer and a two-run double in his next two at-bats, leading the Dodgers to a 7-2 victory over Brandon Webb that gave them sole...

The Tampa Bay Rays' first meaningful September isn't going so well. As for Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun, he's just happy his miserable August is behind him. Zaun hit a game-ending grand slam in the 13th inning and Toronto beat the Rays 7-4 on Saturday to extend their season-high winning streak to seven.

Joe Torre witnessed a lot during memorable stretch runs managing the New York Yankees. The Dodgers are providing him with some fresh memories. "It was a heckuva night," a smiling Torre said after Los Angeles began its crucial three-game set against Arizona with a 7-0 romp on Friday night. "Our guys are playing with intensity.

After 100 relief appearances, Brandon Morrow came within four outs of joining Bobo Holloman as the only pitchers since 1900 to throw no-hitters in their first major league starts. Throwing a nasty curveball that had Yankees hitters flailing all night, Morrow pitched 7 2-3 hitless innings before pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat...

Ubaldo Jimenez's poor start last week evoked an angry reaction from Chris Iannetta. The catcher's stern words paid off Friday night. Clint Barmes homered, Jimenez won for just the second time in a month and the Colorado Rockies ended the Astros' eight-game winning streak, beating Houston 5-3. Jimenez (10-12) allowed three runs and five hits, struck out six, hit two batters and walked one in six-plus...