Derek Jeter homered in the first inning for his 1,000th career run, then stole a pair of bases in the ninth inning and scored on Hideki Matsui's two-out single to lead the New York Yankees over Cleveland 5-4 Tuesday night in Cleveland, the Indians' ninth straight loss.
New York, which rallied from a 4-1 deficit, has won two straight after losing six of seven and remained 6 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston in the AL East. It was the Yankees' 48th come-from-behind win, the most in the major leagues.
Cleveland, which had been one game behind AL Central-leading Minnesota on Aug. 15, began the night eight games behind the Twins. The Indians are on their longest skid since losing 10 straight in 1979.
Jeter, hit on the left elbow by a pitch from Bob Wickman (0-2) on Monday, showed no signs of lingering problems. He hit his 16th homer in the first inning, then walked against Wickman with the score 4-all in the ninth and stole his 19th and 20th bases.
After Matsui's hit, Enrique Wilson singled off David Riske, but left fielder Jody Gerut threw out Matsui with a one-hop throw to the plate.
Tom Gordon (6-3) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Mariano Rivera got three outs for his 43rd save in 46 chances. New York starters haven't won since Jon Lieber at Seattle on Aug. 13.
Coco Crisp hit his 11th home run and made a dazzling catch in left field, taking an RBI double from Kenny Lofton in the fourth inning. Crisp broke to his right, ran full out and dived at full extension to make the backhanded grab just above the ground.
Cleveland scored four runs in the third off Javier Vazquez, who walked Jody Gerut, got two quick outs and then gave up Crisp's line-drive homer, which landed in the front row a few inside the right-field foul pole. Vazquez has allowed 27 home runs, fifth in the AL Victor Martinez, who had been hitless in 15 at-bats, hit a two-run double to the warning track in left-center that ticked off Lofton's glove.
New York got a run on John Olerud's sacrifice fly in the fourth, then tied it in the sixth on Jorge Posada's homer and Lofton's sacrifice fly.
RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 4: At Toronto, Doug Mirabelli hit a three-run homer off Miguel Batista (9-10) in the sixth inning, and Mike Timlin pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half for Boston. Manny Ramirez drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who have won seven of eight and remained 6 1/2 games behind New York in the AL East.
WHITE SOX 9, TIGERS 5: At Detroit, Juan Uribe homered, scored the go-ahead run and drove in three runs, helping Chicago end its five-game losing streak. Jon Garland (9-9) won for just the second time in nine starts since defeating Seattle on July 9, giving up four runs and eight hits in seven innings. Carlos Pena hit a third-inning grand slam for Detroit.
RANGERS 5, TWINS 4: At Arlington, Texas, Michael Young hit a tying double in the ninth off Joe Nathan (1-2) and Mark Teixeira singled home the winning run with two outs, stopping Minnesota's four-game winning streak.
Pinch-hitter Justin Morneau had put Minnesota ahead in the top half with an RBI double off Francisco Cordero (3-0).
Texas remained one game behind Boston in the AL wild-card race, while AL Central-leading Minnesota retained its eight-game lead over second-place Cleveland.
ATHLETICS 6, ORIOLES 2: At Oakland, Calif., Mark Mulder became the majors' first 17-game winner, and the Oakland Athletics moved a season-best 19 games over .500 with a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.
Eric Chavez and Jermaine Dye both homered for the A's, who won for the eighth time in 10 games to maintain their narrow lead over Anaheim in the AL West race.
Mulder (17-4) didn't have his best stuff, and he had to labor through innings more than usual, but was staked to a four-run lead in the first by the A's offense.
DEVIL RAYS 6, MARINERS 5: At Seattle, Tino Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first inning to back Rob Bell, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays hung on to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 Tuesday night.
Seattle (46-78) dropped 32 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 1983 season 60-102. The Mariners have been in last place in the AL West since the second day of the season.
ANGELS 7, ROYALS 5: At Anaheim, Calif., Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer and the Anaheim Angels converted a throwing error by Kansas City Royals second baseman Desi Relaford into the tying and go-ahead runs in a 7-5 victory Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to seven games.
Adam Kennedy was 4-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single for the Angels, who won for the 15th time in 19 games.