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American League

The Boston Red Sox' bid to pay a winning tribute to former star Ted Williams was spoiled by the Detroit Tigers.

The Red Sox lost 9-5 to Detroit on the night they mourned the death of Williams, who was one of the sport's greatest ever hitters.

Baseball great Williams dies

Players wore black armbands and Williams' retired No. 9 was etched by a lawn mower in the left-field grass at Fenway Park where the Hall of Famer played, and the centre-field flag hung at half-mast

The game began nine minutes late because of a minute's silence, a trumpeter playing taps and a two-minute video of Williams, who passed away on Friday aged 83 after a series of health problems.

Mark Redman held the Sox scoreless through eight innings as Detroit rookie Ramon Santiago had a career-high three RBIs and five Tigers had two hits each.

Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa missed their game against the Atlanta Braves
Sammy Sosa was an absentee for the Chicago Cubs
New York Yankees' Orlando Hernandez returned from injury as they overcame the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3.

Hernandez had six shutout innings while Bernie Williams homered for the first time and Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer.

The win stretched the Yankees winning streak to five for the fifth time this season.

National League

After firing manager Don Baylor and without Sammy Sosa for the weekend, the Chicago Cubs lost again, this time 4-3 to the Atlanta Braves.

The Cubs dismissed Baylor earlier on Friday and replaced him with Bruce Kimm, but the move didn't pay immediate dividends.

Cubs fire manager Baylor

Kimm, who moves up from Triple-A Iowa, won't be with the team until Saturday and bench coach Rene Lachemann took over against the Braves.

It was the Cubs' ninth loss in 11 games.

Sosa originally was in the line-up, but travelled back to Chicago for a family emergency.

Team spokesman Chuck Wasserstrom said he was not expected to return to Atlanta for the final two games of the series.

Keith Lockhart hit a two-run homer as the Braves won for the 14th time in 16 games. John Smoltz earned his 30th save.

Chicago's Fred McGriff hit his 465th homer, tying him for 23rd on the career list with Dave Winfield.

Friday's Major League results

American League Boston 5-9 Detroit
Chicago White Sox 2-4 Cleveland
NY Yankees 6-3 Toronto
Oakland 4-3 Kansas City
Seattle 4-8 Minnesota
Texas 7-6 Baltimore

National League

Philadelphia 3-8 Montreal
Cincinnati 8-6 Milwaukee
Pittsburgh 4-3 Houston
Florida 3-5 NY Mets
Atlanta 4-3 Chicago Cubs
St Louis 5-6 Los Angeles
Arizona 2-1 San Francisco
Colorado 9-6 San Diego


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