Hatteberg home run lifts A's to historic victory

Reuters Oakland, California

The Oakland Athletics squandered an early 11-0 lead over Kansas City, then got a solo homer from Scott Hatteberg in the bottom of the ninth to edge the Royals 12-11 for an American League record on Wednesday.

The win extended the Athletics' winning streak to 20 games, the third-longest in major league history since 1900.

Oakland is one win away from tying the 1935 Cubs and six away from the 1916 New York Giants, who captured 26 in a row with a tie along the way.

In Baltimore, a night after twice having pitches thrown behind his back by Aaron Myette, Melvin Mora hit Myette for a two-run triple that sent the Orioles on to a 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers.

In Seattle, David Ortiz went deep in the eighth inning to plate the decisive run in Minnesota's 3-2 win over the Mariners, the Twins' first in six outings.

In New York, Jason Giambi crushed his 34th home run in the last of the third to power the Yankees to a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

In Toronto, the Blue Jays scored three times in the eighth inning to pull away in a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, who saw their seven-game win streak snapped.

In Detroit, the Cleveland Indians broke open a close contest with a six-run sixth inning, romping 9-3 over the hapless Tigers, who have won just twice in their last 14 games.

In St. Petersburg, Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein singled in the seventh inning to plate the winning runs in the Anaheim Angels' 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It was the Angels' sixth straight victory.

Meanwhile, in Phoenix, Arizona, Randy Johnson was making no mistakes his time, going all the way to notch his 20th victory in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in National League action on Wednesday.

In Chicago, Moises Alou rapped out four hits, the first of them an opening-inning single that plated Sammy Sosa, as the Cubs blanked the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 in a battle of the league's two worst teams.

In Montreal, the Expos turned 13 hits and a couple of Philadelphia errors into eight runs in an 8-5 win over the Phillies, a slight increase over Tuesday night.

In Atlanta, four homers accounted for all the scoring in the Braves' 6-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In St. Louis, the Cards roared back from a 5-0 second-inning disadvantage to pound the reeling Cincinnati Reds 10-5.

In San Diego, Brett Tomko went all the way for the Padres in a 5-1 spanking of the Houston Astros.

In San Francisco, the bats were strangely silent as the visiting Colorado Rockies eked out a 2-1 win over the Giants.