New York Masters of the late comeback last year, the New York Yankees were poised to make Toronto their first victim this season.
Because of Dan Plesac and Eric Hinske, the Blue Jays didn't let it happen.
Hinske hit his first career home run in the 10th inning and the Blue Jays survived a stunning collapse to beat New York, 5-4, Saturday.
Down to their last strike with no one on base, the Yankees rallied for three runs in the ninth off closer Kelvim Escobar to tie it at 4. Plesac struck out Jason Giambi with the bases loaded to force extra innings.
"There are a handful of guys I don't look forward to facing in that situation, and he's at the top of that list," Plesac said.
Hinske, who singled as a pinch-hitter in a three-run eighth, lined an opposite-field shot to left off Ramiro Mendoza (0-2) with one out in the 10th.
"It felt good to get my first one out of the way," Hinske said.
In last year's World Series, the Yankees twice beat Arizona after being down to their final out in the ninth inning. This season, New York is 0-8 when trailing after eight innings.
"We came back, we never gave up. I was proud of that," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We just dug ourselves too deep a hole."
On a long afternoon, the Blue Jays stopped their four-game losing streak and ended New York's three-game winning string. The start of the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Mariners 3, Rangers 2 (11)
Seattle Dan Miceli walked Jeff Cirillo with the bases loaded and two outs in the 11th inning as Seattle defeated Texas. It was Seattle's ninth comeback victory of the season, and it came a night after the Mariners lost 9-0 to end a 10-game winning streak. Carlos Guillen scored the winning run after Miceli walked Cirillo on a 3-1 pitch.
Twins 6, Indians 2
Minneapolis Matt Kinney pitched into the seventh inning in his first appearance in 112 years, and Minnesota sent Cleveland to its fifth straight loss. Torii Hunter and Doug Mientkiewicz hit solo homers for the Twins, who have won the first two games of the three-game series. Minnesota, which had lost 18 of 23 to the Indians coming into this series, moved into the AL Central lead, a half-game ahead of Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox.
Athletics 8, Angels 7
Oakland, Calif. Scott Hatteberg hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning as Oakland squandered a six-run lead, then rallied to beat Anaheim. Miguel Tejada drove in three runs for the A's, who took a 6-0 lead in the third inning against Kevin Appier. Anaheim went ahead 7-6 with two runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and one in the sixth. Chad Bradford (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings.
Orioles 6, Devil Rays 3
St. Petersburg, Fla. Jason Johnson allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings in snapping a major league-long nine-game losing streak as Baltimore beat Tampa Bay. Johnson (1-3) faced the minimum over his final 323 innings and earned his first win since Aug. 6. A solo homer by Jay Gibbons and Jerry Hairston's RBI double gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Baltimore added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth.
White Sox 12, Tigers 5
Chicago Paul Konerko hit a grand slam and for the second time this week matched his career high with five RBIs to lead Chicago over Detroit. Frank Thomas hit a two-run homer and reached base five times for the White Sox, who have won nine of 11. Magglio Ordonez had three hits, including a solo shot, and Jose Valentin also homered. Konerko had three hits and leads the AL with 21 RBIs.



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