Rodriguez Is Back in Routine

The slumping Oakland Athletics helped Alex Rodriguez get his groove back Saturday.

Rodriguez homered and had six runs batted in, including the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, to lead the Texas Rangers to a 9-8 victory over the A’s at Oakland.

With the score tied at 8-8, Rodriguez singled up the middle off Jim Mecir (0-3) to drive in Chad Curtis.

“For some reason, I didn’t have a good first week,� Rodriguez said. “. . . Now we’re in the regular season and we’re finally into a routine.�

The A’s, who have lost six in a row to fall to 2-9, erased an 8-2 deficit and tied the score with a three-run eighth inning. Johnny Damon’s two-run double off Mike Venafro got Oakland within one, before Miguel Tejada’s single off Jeff Zimmerman scored Damon.

New York 3, Boston 2--Rookie Alfonso Soriano stole the spotlight from Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens with a ninth-inning solo homer to lead the Yankees at Boston. The marquee pitching matchup lost its luster when Clemens left after the sixth inning trailing 2-0 and Martinez departed after the seventh with the score tied at 2-2.

Minnesota 9, Chicago 4--Doug Mientkiewicz drove in a career-high five runs and Brad Radke became the majors’ first three-game winner at Minneapolis.

Mientkiewicz’s two-run homer off Chicago starter David Wells (1-2) in the fourth inning broke a 3-3 tie. Cristian Guzman also homered for Minnesota, which improved to 8-2, its best start in 31 seasons.

Detroit 1, Cleveland 0--Steve Sparks (2-1) pitched a four-hitter at Detroit to outduel Chuck Finley (1-2), who pitched a three-hitter. The Tigers’ Roger Cedeno scored the game’s only run on Bobby Higginson’s sacrifice fly in the first inning.

Toronto 5, Kansas City 4--Carlos Delgado’s RBI single at Toronto helped the Blue Jays rally from a 4-1, ninth-inning deficit against Roberto Hernandez (0-2), who blew his second save opportunity.

Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 5--John Bale (1-0) allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings for his first major league victory as the Orioles scored a season-high six runs against the Devil Rays at Baltimore.