Manny Ramirez became the 24th major league player to reach 500 career home runs, connecting in the seventh inning off Chad Bradford to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Saturday. The 500-home run club has only two dozen members, but Ramirez also joined an even smaller fraternity. He is only the seventh player in MLB history with 500 homers, 1,500 RBIs, 1,000 walks, 475 doubles and a .300 batting average. The others are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Frank Thomas and Ted Williams. David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia also homered for the Red Sox, and Jacoby Ellsbury stole three bases in a second straight game. Ellsbury also tripled in the seventh off Lance Cormier (0-2) and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Ortiz before Bradford entered to face Ramirez. Rays 2, White Sox 0: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Scott Kazmir won his fifth straight start, allowing three hits in seven innings of AL East-leading Tampa Bay's victory over Chicago. The 2007 AL strikeout champion set a Rays record for wins in a month, improving to 5-1 since spending all of April on the disabled list with a left elbow strain. Cliff Floyd homered for the second straight game and B.J. Upton drove in another run off Javier Vazquez (5-4) with an RBI grounder, helping the surprising Rays to a league-best 34-22. In other games it was: Mariners 5, Tigers 0; Royals 4, Indians 2; Rangers 8, Athletics 4; Yankees 7, Twins 6, 12 innings; Angels 3, Blue Jays 2, 10 innings. Ken Griffey Jr. hits No. 599 At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th career homer, leaving him one shy of a seldom-reached mark, and Jay Bruce extended his amazing weeklong debut with a 10th-inning homer that lifted the Cincinnati Reds over the Atlanta Braves 8-7 on Saturday. Bruce, the Reds' top prospect, is 11-for-19 in his first five games in the majors, providing one big hit after another. He has a pair of three-hit games and a four-hit game. Francisco Cordero (2-0) pitched the 10th, sending the Braves to an excruciatingly familiar finish. Atlanta has lost its last 20 one-run games on the road since August, matching the second-longest such streak in major league history. Mets 3, Dodgers 2: At New York, Carlos Beltran hit a tying homer and Fernando Tatis singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for New York against Los Angeles. Mike Pelfrey tossed seven solid innings to keep New York close. Stifled by Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley, the Mets came back against Jonathan Broxton (2-2) in the eighth to win for the fourth time in five games following a 1-7 skid. Blake DeWitt hit an RBI single for the Dodgers, who dropped to 1-5 on their seven-game road trip. Cubs 5, Rockies 4: At Chicago, Alfonso Soriano homered and drove in three runs to help Chicago earn its sixth straight win. The NL Central-leading Cubs improved to 25-8 at Wrigley Field this season and handed Colorado its sixth straight loss. Elsewhere it was: Padres 5, Giants 1; Diamondbacks 4, Nationals 0; Marlins 7, Phillies 3; Pirates 14, Cardinals 4; Brewers 4, Astros 1.
