Ben Grieve's hometown debut was a night to remember.
Relaxed after sleeping in his own bedroom at his parents' home, Grieve put on a show for family and friends Tuesday night, homering in his first two at-bats as the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 9-7."It was neat to do it here," Grieve said. "It was exciting, but I know my parents are 10 times more excited about it than I am. It's just a lot more special because it came at home. I saw some of my friends in the outfield. It's kind of neat to say hi to them."
Grieve grew up following the Rangers, the team for whom his father played six years. Tom Grieve, who was also the former Texas general manager, watched from the broadcast booth where he's a TV analyst. Grieve's mother and sister looked on from the stands.
"Anytime you do something like that with your family watching, it's special," Grieve said.
ORIOLES 2, YANKEES 0: At Baltimore, rookie Sidney Ponson (1-4) and Arthur Rhodes combined on a two-hitter to end New York's major league record streak of non-losing series at 24.
RED SOX 6, WHITE SOX 1: At Chicago, Pedro Martinez struck out 11 in seven innings to take over the AL lead and Reggie Jefferson hit a two-run homer.
INDIANS 9, ROYALS 1: At Cleveland, Manny Ramirez homered and drove in six runs, and Bartolo Colon (6-4) pitched his AL-leading fifth complete game as Cleveland ended a four-game losing streak.
DEVIL RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 3: Toronto's bullpen blew it for the second straight night as Miguel Cairo's RBI double capped Tampa Bay's three-run ninth-inning rally off Randy Myers (2-2).
TWINS 8, TIGERS 5: At Detroit, Pat Meares' two-run single put Minnesota ahead to stay in the sixth inning and Ron Coomer hit a three-run homer as the Twins won for the sixth time in nine games.
ANGELS 3, MARINERS 2: Jason Dickson (7-4) allowed two runs in seven innings to win his sixth straight decision.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 7, MARLINS 0: Denny Neagle pitched a four-hitter to help Bobby Cox become the winningest manager in Braves history as Atlanta beat Florida 7-0 in the first meeting between the clubs since last season's NLCS.
Atlanta scored six runs in the first inning, highlighted by Ryan Klesko's grand slam.
CARDINALS 9, ASTROS 4: At Houston, Gary Gaetti hit a three-run homer and Brian Jordan added a two-run shot for St. Louis.
PHILLIES 8, PIRATES 7: At Philadelphia, Mike Lieberthal's three-run, pinch-hit homer capped Philadelphia's seven-run ninth.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, REDS 1: At Cincinnati, Omar Daal set an Arizona record with nine strikeouts and the Diamondbacks got another franchise first - victory No. 1 on artificial turf.
METS 2, EXPOS 0: At Montreal, Al Leiter pitched a five-hitter for his fifth career shutout and lowered his ERA to an NL-best 1.53.
BREWERS 11, CUBS 2: At Chicago, Brad Woodall (3-2) held the Cubs scoreless into the seventh inning, had three hits, walked once and scored twice.
PADRES 10, DODGERS 6: At San Diego, Ken Caminiti hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning and Carlos Hernandez added a three-run double in the seventh against his former team as San Diego won its eighth straight.
GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 3: At San Francisco, Rey Sanchez's two-run single in the seventh helped the Giants snap a five-game losing streak.