SCOREBOARD

Thursday, Aug. 14

Milwaukee at San Diego (3:35 p.m. EDT). Ben Sheets (11-5, 2.95 ERA) takes the mound hoping to extend the Brewers' lead in the wild card race. He'll face Jake Peavy (8-8, 2.68), who has not allowed more than four runs in any of his 20 starts this season.

STARS

Tuesday

- David Ortiz, Red Sox, hit two three-run homers in the first inning and Boston - despite blowing a 10-0 lead, beat Texas 19-17 in a wild game.

- Javier Vazquez, White Sox, pitched eight shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out 10 in Chicago's 9-0 win over Kansas City.

- Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox, overcame striking out twice in the first inning, hitting two homers including a key three-run shot in the eighth inning to help Boston beat Texas 19-17.

- Adam Lind, Blue Jays, went 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs to help Toronto beat Detroit 6-4.

- Marlon Byrd, Rangers, went 5-for-6 with a home run, a double and three RBIs in a losing effort as Texas fell 19-17 to Boston.

- Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox, had five hits and scored five runs in Boston's 19-17 victory over Texas.

HAPPY PAPI

David Ortiz hit two three-run homers in the first inning to help the Red Sox score 10 runs in the frame against the Texas Rangers. Ortiz hit his 15th and 16th homers off Scott Feldman, to become the first player to hit two home runs in the first inning since Aaron Boone of the Cincinnati Reds against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 9, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Bret Boone and Mike Cameron were the last American Leaguers to do it, and they did it in the same game, according to Elias. On May 2, 2002, the pair hit back-to-back homers twice in the first inning for the Seattle Mariners against the Chicago White Sox.

NO LEAD IS SAFE

The Red Sox took a 10-0 lead after one inning, and gave it away. Fortunately, they rallied to beat the feisty Rangers 19-17 on Kevin Youkilis' two-run homer, his second of the game. The 19 runs were the most scored by the Red Sox this season and they ruined a Rangers comeback that matched the greatest ever against Boston. The Red Sox also squandered a 10-run lead on June 4, 1989, against Toronto when they lost 13-11 in 12 innings after they led 10-0 through six. The combined 36 runs tied in AL record set on June 29, 1950, when the Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics 22-14. The teams totaled 37 hits.

NO LEE, NO PROBLEM

The Astros are playing some of their best baseball of the season, even though slugger Carlos Lee is out. Lance Berkman hit a grand slam in an eight-run seventh inning and the Astros beat the Giants 12-4 for their sixth straight win. Berkman hit his 24th homer this season and his fourth career regular-season grand slam. Berkman has homered in two of his last three games after going 33 games without one.

EASY TARGET

White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin sat out against the Royals after he was struck on the left forearm by a pitch from Josh Beckett on Monday night, the fifth straight game in which he was hit by a pitch. So it was no surprise that he felt soreness and had trouble gripping a bat after taking batting practice before the game against Kansas City. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Quentin wasn't in pain and expected him to play in Wednesday's game. Quentin became the first player since 1920 with that long of a streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He has been hit 19 times overall - most in the majors.

DL'D

The Dodgers placed center fielder Andruw Jones on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 10. Jones, laboring through the worst season of his 13-year career, has soreness in his left knee. The five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner is batting .161 in 74 games with three home runs and 14 RBIs in the first year of a $36.2 million, two-year contract. He underwent surgery May 27 to repair torn cartilage in his right knee.

AILING

All-Star catcher Joe Mauer sat out against the Yankees with a stiff neck. Mauer, fifth in the AL in batting (.316) and third in on-base percentage (.409) coming into the game, said he has had stiffness for the last three days, but didn't think it would become an ongoing issue. He said he expected to be back Wednesday. … Giants ace Tim Lincecum left in the fifth inning against Houston after he was struck in the right knee by a line drive. Lincecum allowed only one hit and struck out seven through 4 1-3 innings. He left after Brad Ausmus drove a 3-1 pitch straight back to the mound. Lincecum tried to dodge it, but the ball hit him on the side of his knee. … Detroit 3B Carlos Guillen left the game after seven innings because of lower left back tightness. … Phillies CF Shane Victorino left after six innings because of lower back stiffness.

REHABBING

Yankees RHP Phil Hughes made a rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He allowed two runs and three hits with four strikeouts and a walk in 5 1-3 innings against Pawtucket. … RHP Carl Pavano's rehab start for Double-A Trenton on Tuesday didn't go as well. He gave up seven hits, including two homers, and five runs in 4 1-3 innings. He also hit two batters with pitches.

'PEN PULLS THROUGH

The beleaguered Mets bullpen finally saved one for Johan Santana, preserving a 4-3 victory over the Nationals. The Mets relief corps has struggled badly without injured closer Billy Wagner. But with a 4-3 lead, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano each worked a scoreless inning to lock down Santana's elusive 10th win. Feliciano, normally a left-handed specialist, struck out two in a perfect ninth for his third major league save. The other two came last year. Six times this season New York's bullpen has cost Santana a potential win - with five of the collapses coming in the ninth inning. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner left with a 3-1 lead in his previous outing last Thursday, only to have San Diego tie it in the ninth.

TRADED

The Red Sox acquired pitcher Paul Byrd from Cleveland, hoping to boost a rotation hurt by an injury to Tim Wakefield and the struggles of Clay Buchholz. The Red Sox will send either a player to be named or cash to the Indians. The 37-year-old Byrd is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA this season. But he has won all four of his starts since the All-Star break with a 1.24 ERA.

STREAKING

Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer and Jeff Suppan pitched eight strong innings to lead the Brewers to their seventh straight victory, 5-2 over the Padres. … Asdrubal Cabrera hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning to help the Indians beat the Orioles for their fifth straight win. The slick-fielding Cabrera provided a boost last August when he was called up, hit .283 and solidified the defense to help Cleveland to the AL Central title. This season, Cabrera had a .184 average when he was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on June 9. He was recalled on July 18, and is batting .353 (18-for-51) in his last 15 games.

STAT

When Delmon Young homered off Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning, it was the first time the Yankees closer had allowed a home run to a Twins player in his career. He had pitched 53 regular season innings against Minnesota without along a homer coming into the game.

SPEAKING

"At some point, you're thinking about going for a field goal." - Red Sox manager Terry Francona after watching his team take a 10-0 lead, fall behind 16-14, and finally rally to beat the Rangers 19-17.

SEASONS

Aug. 14

1937 - The Detroit Tigers scored 36 runs (16-1 and 20-7) against the St. Louis Browns in a doubleheader sweep to set major league record. Pete Fox of the Tigers scored eight of the runs in the doubleheader.

1958 - Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians stole home twice, in the eighth and 10th innings, in a 10-9 win over Detroit. He had only three steals all year.

1961 - The Philadelphia Phillies dropped their 17th straight game, a 9-2 loss to Dick Ellsworth and the Chicago Cubs. It was also the 11th consecutive complete game thrown against the Phillies.

1969 - On an off-day after a three-game sweep by the Astros in Houston, the New York Mets fell to third place, 9.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs.

1971 - St. Louis right-hander Bob Gibson pitched a no-hitter, blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0. Jose Cruz made a running catch of Milt May's 400-foot drive to center in the seventh inning and third baseman Joe Torre made a leaping stab of Dave Cash's bad-hop grounder in the eighth inning.

1981 - Jeff Burroughs of the Seattle Mariners hit three home runs in a 13-3 rout of the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a doubleheader.

1982 - Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies, in his first at-bat of a 15-11 victory over the Montreal Expos, passed Hank Aaron and moved into first place on the career at-bat list with 12,365.

1987 - Oakland's Mark McGwire set a major league rookie record with his 39th homer of the season to help the A's to a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the California Angels. McGwire gave the A's a 5-3 lead in the sixth when he hit the two-run homer off Don Sutton.

1998 - Baltimore's Chris Hoiles became the ninth major leaguer and first catcher to hit two grand slams in one game against the Cleveland Indians. Hoiles homered in the third inning off Charles Nagy and in the eighth against Ron Villone to lead the Orioles to a 15-3 victory.

2002 - Trevor Hoffman became the first reliever in major league history to earn 30 or more saves in eight straight seasons in San Diego's 6-2 win over the New York Mets.

2006 - Matt Diaz went 4-for-5 with a homer, tying an NL record by hitting safely in 10 consecutive at-bats, and Chipper Jones homered in three straight plate appearances to lead Atlanta to a 10-4 victory over Washington.

2007 - Atlanta manager Bobby Cox set a dubious record in the Braves' 5-4 victory over San Francisco. Cox was tossed after the fifth for arguing a called third strike - the 132nd ejection of his career to break the mark originally set by Hall of Famer John McGraw.

Today's birthdays: Clay Buchholz 24; Leo Nunez 25; Juan Pierre 31; Mark Loretta 37.