Giambi Steals the Spotlight From Boggs

Jason Giambi tries to keep the game simple--see the ball, hit the ball.

Giambi followed his own advice Sunday and went four for four with a three-run homer as the Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with a 10-6 victory at Oakland.

“There’s no magic to it,” Giambi said. “In fact, it’s kind of boring. I don’t try to do too much, just hit the ball hard. It’s one of those waves you try to ride out as long as possible.”

Giambi was eight for 11 with four RBIs in the series against the Devil Rays.

Tampa Bay’s Wade Boggs went two for four, tying San Diego’s Tony Gwynn with 2,994 hits. Gwynn had three hits Sunday against Houston.

Gil Heredia (8-5) gave up six runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings to win his fifth consecutive decision. The A’s won their sixth in a row at home.

“The key for me is to give myself a chance by throwing strikes,” Heredia said. “I always think about just getting one more out and to keep going.”

T.J. Mathews pitched the last 2 1/3 innings for his second save.

Oakland snapped a 2-2 tie with six runs in the fourth inning, including Giambi’s 22nd homer.

Giambi has a season-best nine-game hitting streak and is batting .472 during that span.

Boston 5, New York 4--Bret Saberhagen stopped his three-game winless streak at Boston and Orlando Hernandez suffered his first loss in 46 days.

Saberhagen (7-4) retired the last 14 batters he faced before reliever Tim Wakefield nearly blew the game.

Wakefield gave up a run-scoring single by Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams’s second RBI triple in the eighth before retiring Tino Martinez on a flyout to end the inning.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the ninth on Chili Davis’ leadoff double, a walk to Scott Brosius and an infield hit by Chuck Knoblauch. But Wakefield retired Derek Jeter on a fielder’s choice groundout for his 14th save.

Hernandez (12-7) was 5-0 in seven starts since losing June 16 to Texas and was 3-0 in his career against Boston.

Seattle 3, Baltimore 1--Mike Mussina allowed no hits in the first five innings before the Mariners broke through with one run in the sixth and two in the eighth at Seattle.

Russ Davis doubled to lead off the sixth inning--the first hit off Mussina--and later scored on a sacrifice fly by David Bell to tie the score at 1.

The Mariners added two more in the eighth, thanks to some shoddy defense by the Orioles. John Mabry doubled to lead off the inning on a ball that diving center fielder Rich Amaral could not quite get to.

Dan Wilson attempted to sacrifice Mabry to third. Third baseman Jeff Conine threw it past Delino DeShields allowing Mabry to score from second and Wilson to go to second. Wilson was credited with a single.

Toronto 8, Detroit 5--Shawn Green’s 28-game hitting streak came to an end, but he hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in a seven-run seventh inning at Toronto.

Green, who went 0 for 4, almost extended his streak in the eighth after lining a ball to the warning track. Center fielder Gabe Kapler made a great over-the-shoulder catch to rob him of extra bases. Green’s streak was a club record and the longest in the AL this season.

Chicago 6, Cleveland 3--Magglio Ordonez homered and drove in three runs at Cleveland.

James Baldwin (5-11) earned his first win since July 1. He gave up only an infield single by Omar Vizquel over the first five innings before giving up a two-run homer to Roberto Alomar in the sixth.