Ross Gload hit a grand slam in the ninth inning off Chris Ray, ruining Erik Bedard's bid to win his eighth consecutive start and giving the Chicago White Sox a 6-4 comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night in Baltimore.
Gload entered in the sixth inning as a replacement for Paul Konerko, who bruised his left shin when he fouled a pitch off of it in the fifth. The seldom-used Gload came in with six RBIs in 43 games.
But he became a surprise star in the ninth, which started with Baltimore up 4-2.
The White Sox used two singles and an intentional walk to load the bases with one out against Ray (1-3), who had 26 saves in 27 chances. Then, with the count full, Gload lifted a fly ball to left that landed about four rows into the seats.
The victory ended a three-game skid for the White Sox, who came in with seven losses in their last eight games.
Matt Thornton (4-1) got the last out in the eighth and Bobby Jenks worked the ninth for his 27th save. Chicago's comeback ruined another fine performance by Bedard, who had won seven straight starts since June 11.
American League
YANKEES 6, DEVIL RAYS 0: At New York, Chien-Ming Wang shut down Tampa Bay for the second time this month, pitching a two-hitter for his first career shutout to lead the New York Yankees over the Devil Rays. Wang (12-4) struck out one and walked two to win his fourth straight start and earn his second career complete game. The sinkerball pitcher recorded 18 outs on grounders.
INDIANS 1, MARINERS 0: At Cleveland, Jeremy Sowers pitched his second consecutive shutout and Shin-Soo Choo hit his first career homer in his Cleveland debut. Choo, acquired Wednesday from Seattle for first baseman Ben Broussard, hit a 2-1 pitch from Felix Hernandez (9-9) over the wall in left-center with two outs in the sixth to put Cleveland up 1-0.
TIGERS 3, TWINS 2, 10 INNINGS: At Minneapolis, Craig Monroe's sharp single down the third-base line in the 10th inning lifted the Detroit Tigers to a victory over the Minnesota Twins.
The Metrodome looked and sounded like the postseason, but the Twins lost for only the ninth time in their last 43 games and fell 9 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.
ROYALS 11, RANGERS 3: At Arlington, Texas, Carlos Lee went 2-for-4 in his Texas debut, not nearly enough to keep the Rangers from extending their losing streak to five games. Lee was traded to the Rangers from the Milwaukee Brewers in a six-player deal Friday, and arrived at the stadium only about 35 minutes before the game. He hit fourth as the designated hitter, and had singles up the middle in his first two at-bats.
ANGELS 8, RED SOX 3: At Boston, Kelvim Escobar pitched six solid innings to win for only the second time in 12 starts, and Garret Anderson went 3-for-4 with two hits in the Angels' six-run seventh to help Los Angeles beat the Boston Red Sox.
BLUE JAYS 4, ATLETICS 3: At Oakland, Alex Rios came off the disabled list and drove and two runs to lead Toronto past Oakland.
National League
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ASTROS 7, 11 INNINGS: Luis Gonzalez doubled in the 11th inning off reliever Andy Pettitte and scored on Johnny Estrada's sacrifice fly to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a win Friday night over the Houston Astros and Luke Scott, who hit for the cycle.
METS 6, BRAVES 4: At Atlanta, Pedro Martinez surrendered four runs in the first inning but didn't give up any more in his return from the disabled list, and the New York Mets stretched their already commanding lead in the NL East with a victory over the Atlanta Braves.
MARLINS 4, PHILLIES 1: At Philadelphia, Ricky Nolasco didn't allow a hit through 6 2/3 innings and combined with two relievers for a three-hitter. Chase Utley singled off reliever Tyler Tankersley in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 28 games, the longest in the major leagues this season.
CUBS 6, CARDINALS 5: At Chicago, Juan Pierre's bases-loaded triple highlighted a six-run fourth inning and Chicago capitalized on a key error by St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen.
PIRATES 3, GIANTS 0: At Pittsburgh, Kip Wells won for the first time in 10 months, pitching his best game of the season. Wells tossed seven-plus shutout innings, allowing five hits while walking three and striking out three.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 1: At Denver, Byung-Hyun Kim allowed five hits in 7 2/3 innings, leading the Colorado Rockies over the NL West-leading San Diego Padres. Kim baffled the Padres with his stop-and-go delivery, striking out seven in the longest outing of his career.
REDS 4, BREWERS 3: At Milwaukee, Ryan Freel doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Eric Milton bounced back from a shaky first with six scoreless innings.