Mondesi Helps Blue Jays Steal a Victory

Raul Mondesi inspired his teammates with the first straight steal of home in Toronto history.

Mondesi made a score-tying steal and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer as the Blue Jays handed the New York Yankees their third straight loss, 6-5, Tuesday night at Toronto.

“Everybody is always looking for something to get motivated by, and Mondesi sure did it,” Jose Cruz Jr. said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I was hitting, and I couldn’t help but laugh, but it worked out. It tied the game up, and off to the races we went.”

Mondesi broke toward home plate just before New York left-hander Randy Keisler (0-1) started his wind up. Keisler’s pitch was high, and there was no tag as Mondesi stole home for the second time in his career, tying the score, 3-3, in the third.

Mondesi said he got the sign from bench coach Cookie Rojas.

“We were down by one run with two outs so it was the perfect time,” Mondesi said. “The pitcher was taking too long to throw to home plate so I went.”

Toronto starter Esteban Loaiza (3-0) pitched six strong innings for his second victory over the Yankees.

Seattle 6, Texas 4--Alex Rodriguez made two errors and went one for three at the plate as his Rangers lost to the Mariners for the second straight day at Seattle.

John Olerud and Carlos Guillen hit two-run homers for the Mariners, who at 11-3 are off to the best start in their history.

Ichiro Suzuki went four for four with a triple and an RBI, raising his batting average to .377. The right fielder robbed Rafael Palmeiro of a possible home run in the second, catching a drive at the top of the fence.

Rodriguez, a four-time All-Star, threw low to first on Edgar Martinez’s first-inning grounder and misplayed Mike Cameron’s grounder in the seventh.

Rodriguez has three errors in 15 games; last year, he had 10 in 148.

Boston 10, Tampa Bay 0--Tomo Ohka pitched seven shutout innings and Manny Ramirez homered twice at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Ramirez hit a 451-foot, two-run homer off Travis Harper (0-2) in the first inning.

Brian Daubach hit a two-run shot, his fifth, and Carl Everett finished the early barrage against Tampa Bay’s rookie right-hander with a three-run homer that made the score 7-0.

Minnesota 6, Kansas City 5--Corey Koskie hit a game-winning, two-run single in the ninth inning for his fourth hit of the game at Minneapolis.

Jason Grimsley (0-1) gave up his first two runs of the year. Kansas City has three blown saves this year and 59 since the start of the 1999 season.

Koskie had his second four-hit game of the week.

Detroit 7, Chicago 4--Tony Clark hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning at Detroit as the White Sox lost their fourth in a row.

Chicago had taken a 4-3 lead in the eighth off Matt Anderson on RBI singles by Paul Konerko and Carlos Lee.

Cleveland 8, Baltimore 1--Russell Branyan hit a grand slam at Baltimore and Dave Burba pitched six solid innings to earn his first win.

Branyan’s second career slam highlighted a five-run sixth inning.

A 16-game winner a year ago, Burba was winless with a 7.84 ERA in two starts before limiting the Orioles to a run and four hits.