Blue Jays blank O's

BALTIMORE -- Jose Cruz Jr. homered to back a solid pitching performance by Esteban Loaiza as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 Monday.

Cal Ripken, beginning the final homestand of his career, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is hitless in his last 25 at-bats. He also had two throwing errors from third base, his first two-error game since April 1999.

Cruz's 31st homer, a sixth-inning drive estimated at 400 feet, broke up a pitching duel between Loaiza and rookie Rick Bauer (0-4). It was his third homer in three games and fourth in his last nine starts.

Loaiza (11-11) allowed six hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking one.

YANKEES 8, WHITE SOX 1

NEW YORK -- Sterling Hitchcock pitched his first complete game since 1998 to help New York beat Chicago in front of the smallest crowd at Yankee Stadium in more than seven years.

Only 8,112 fans showed up for the game, which was a makeup from Sept. 11, when the terrorism attacks that devastated New York shut down baseball for six days.

Most of the fans who had tickets for that game opted to trade them in for another game.

Hitchcock (4-4), acquired from San Diego on July 30, pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game since Aug. 14, 1998, against Milwaukee, when he was still with the Padres. Hitchcock also had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Derek Jeter drove in three runs and Alfonso Soriano had two RBIs as the Yankees jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third inning against Kip Wells (10-10).

DEVIL RAYS 10, RED SOX 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tanyon Sturtze became Tampa Bay's first 10-game winner this season as the Devil Rays routed Boston.

Sturtze (10-12) is just the third Tampa Bay pitcher to record double-digit wins, joining Rolando Arrojo (1998) and Albie Lopez (2000).

The Devil Rays (58-98) have won six of eight as they try to avoid becoming the first AL team to lose 100 games since the 1996 Detroit Tigers (53-109).

Lou Merloni hit two solo homers for Boston, which has lost seven of nine and fell one game under .500. The Red Sox are 12-25 under manager Joe Kerrigan, who replaced Jimy Williams on Aug. 16.

-- From wire reports