TORONTO – Baseball fans have long been warned to look out for foul balls and flying bats.

Now add falling letters to the list.

A fan at the Toronto Blue Jays’ game was OK on Monday after being struck in the right shoulder by a tumbling, metal “B” from a sign honoring Jackie Robinson.

The middle-aged man had a scrape after a foul ball by home run leader Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays dislodged one of the letters in a tribute honoring Robinson’s retired No. 42.

The letter fell about 30 feet from the facing over the third deck behind home plate in the seventh inning of the Texas-Toronto game.

“I was very surprised, because I didn’t expect a ‘B’ to fall on me,” said the injured fan, who gave only his first name as Ian and said he was a season-ticket holder from Toronto. He was watching the game with his son.

Although he was sore, the fan who was struck said the injury wouldn’t prove too serious; he throws left-handed.

The white letter, some two feet high, bounced down the aisle and was picked up in the front row by fan Bruno DeRose, who proudly held it over his head. Other fans booed when stadium security took the letter away.

“They should have at least given me a couple of tickets or a ball,” DeRose said. “I couldn’t believe it happened.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez edged ahead of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx on Monday when he registered 100 RBIs for a record 14th time in his career.

Rodriguez became the first major leaguer to reach the milestone with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning of New York’s 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

“It feels good,” Rodriguez told reporters after breaking clear of a four-way tie with Ruth, Gehrig and Foxx, who had each achieved the feat in 13 seasons.

“You try to come out and be consistent every year, so it’s nice.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi paid tribute to Rodriguez, who recently became the seventh player ever to hit 600 home runs.

“It’s amazing, it’s an amazing number,” Girardi said of the RBI milestone. “It just shows you how consistent he has been, how healthy he has been in his career to be able to do something like that. It’s a pretty amazing feat.”

Rodriguez went into Monday’s game with 98 RBIs but added one more with a solo home run in the fourth inning, the 605th homer of his career. He then set the mark with a sacrifice fly to right field in the sixth.

The New York Yankees third baseman ended the game with a total of 22 homers for 2010 and needs eight more to reach 30 in a single season for a 14th time, and 13th in a row.

Asked about keeping his homer streak alive, Rodriguez replied: “I just want to be productive and help the team win.”

(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Ginsburg)

NEW YORK (AFP) – Alex Rodriguez blasted a solo home run Monday to reach 100 RBIs for a record 14th Major League Baseball season.

The New York slugger’s homer came in the fourth inning off Brian Matusz in the New York Yankees’ 4-3 loss to Baltimore. He also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

Rodriguez vaulted past Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, who each reached the mark 13 times.

“It’s an amazing number. It just shows you how consistent he has been,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He came up at a young age and has been consistent throughout his career. It’s a pretty amazing feat.”

Rodriguez’s achievements come with a twist. In 2009 he admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez has 13 consecutive seasons with 100 RBIs. With 22 homers, he also has a chance to reach 30 for the 13th time in a row and 14th overall.

Rodriguez hit his 605th home run overall. He is seventh, trailing Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Ruth (714) among others. Bonds has also been implicated in a steroid scandal.

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox have promoted first baseman Lars Anderson from Triple-A Pawtucket and put him in the starting lineup against Tampa Bay in his major league debut.

The Red Sox also activated catcher Jason Varitek from the 15-day disabled list Monday and recalled outfielder Josh Reddick after Pawtucket played its season finale. Both Varitek, who was on a two-game rehab assignment, and Reddick were to make the short drive to Boston and be active for the Red Sox game.

Boston manager Terry Francona said before the game that right-hander Michael Bowden will also be recalled Tuesday.

PHOENIX – Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run triple off Aaron Heilman in the 11th inning and the San Francisco Giants inched closer to the NL West lead with a 2-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Madison Bumgarner matched zeros with Arizona starter Ian Kennedy into the eighth inning and the Giants pulled it out in the 11th when Schierholtz followed singles by Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey with his triple to center off Heilman (5-7).

Santiago Casilla (6-2) struck out the side in the 10th and Brian Wilson earned his 41st save to seal San Francisco’s sixth victory in eight games. The Giants pulled within a half-game of first-place San Diego, which entered Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 10-game losing streak.

Bumgarner was sharp, allowing five hits over 7 1-3 innings. Kennedy was even better, giving up two hits over eight innings.

Arizona right fielder Gerardo Parra kept the scoreless tie in tact in the ninth by diving forward to catch Posey’s flare with two on and two outs, but Heilman was hit hard for the second straight outing.

The game included a couple of scary moments on consecutive at-bats in the fourth, when two children were injured by flying objects.

A 13-year-old boy sitting near the Diamondbacks dugout was put in a neck brace and carried off on a stretcher when he was struck on the right side of the head with a bat that flew from Posey’s hands. Minutes later, a 2-year girl sitting in the upper deck was hit on the forehead by a foul ball off the bat of Pablo Sandoval.

Both were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

On the field, nobody could get to Kennedy or Bumgarner.

Kennedy was sharp for the fifth straight start, striking out six and retiring 14 of his final 15 batters.

The right-hander did a little work with his bat, too, leading off the eighth with his first career double. He was stranded at third after Javier Lopez struck out Kelly Johnson, and Ramon Ramirez got Chris Young on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Bumgarner matched Kennedy almost pitch for pitch.

The left-hander struck out seven and twice got Adam LaRoche with two on and two outs: on a strikeout in the first inning and a fly ball to the warning track in right in the sixth.

Notes: Giants SS Juan Uribe didn’t play after fouling a pitch off his left shin Sunday against the Dodgers. … Arizona RF B.J. Upton missed his fifth straight game with a strained left shoulder. … The Giants have won five straight road games.

NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez reached 100 RBIs for a record 14th season with plenty of time to spare.

A-Rod had a solo home run in the fourth inning off Brian Matusz and a sacrifice fly in the sixth of the New York Yankees’ 4-3 loss to Baltimore on Monday.

Rodriguez surpassed Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, who each reached the mark 13 times.

“It’s an amazing number. It just shows you how consistent he has been,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He came up at a young age and has been consistent throughout his career. It’s a pretty amazing feat.”

Rodriguez has 13 consecutive seasons with 100 RBIs. With 22 homers, he also has a chance to reach 30 for the 13th time in a row and 14th overall.

Last year, Rodriguez needed a three-run homer and a grand slam at Tampa Bay in the seventh inning of New York’s regular-season finale to keep up his streaks of 30 and 100.

“Obviously you try to come out and be consistent every year,” Rodriguez said. “It’s nice.”

Rodriguez hit his 605th home run overall. He is seventh, trailing Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630) and Sammy Sosa (609).

Activated a day earlier following a stint on the disabled list due to a tight left calf, Rodriguez raised his average to .267. Before Sunday, he hadn’t played since Aug. 20.

“It’s only eight or nine at-bats,” he said, “but I certainly feel pretty good. I’m seeing the ball well.”

(This version CORRECTS Corrects Rodriguez to seventh overall in 8th paragraph.)

OAKLAND, Calif. – Coco Crisp and Matt Carson each hit solo home runs to back Brett Anderson, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 Monday.

Anderson (4-6) allowed four hits in a season-high 7 2-3 innings and left to a standing ovation. He ended a four-game losing streak that matched the longest of his career.

Then again, most everyone seems to be shutting down Seattle lately. The Mariners have scored three or fewer runs in 11 straight games.

Crisp homered in the first, Oakland’s first leadoff homer of the season. It was the third leadoff home run of Crisp’s career and his first since Aug. 18, 2003, against Tampa Bay.

Oakland has won six in a row at home against the Mariners. Franklin Gutierrez hit a solo homer in the seventh for Seattle’s first run and Jose Lopez had a ninth-inning sacrifice fly.

After Crisp homered, Daric Barton followed Crisp’s homer with a triple off the wall in right field that Ichiro Suzuki appeared to lose in the sun. Kurt Suzuki’s RBI groundout one batter later made it 2-0.

Crisp added an RBI single in the fourth and Jack Cust singled in a run in the seventh.

Anderson struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. He earned just his second win since coming off the disabled list for a second time this year on July 30 from an elbow injury. He got Casey Kotchman to ground into a double play in the second, the first of 13 straight outs by the pitcher before Ichiro’s two-out single in the sixth.

Anderson was rewarded in April with a $12.5 million, four-year contract that includes club options for 2014 and 2015.

The A’s have won all their meetings with the Mariners in the Coliseum this season since an opening day loss back on April 5.

Oakland won for the 15th time in its last 20 day games and improved to a majors-best 32-15 in afternoon contests.

Jason Vargas (9-9) lost his fourth straight start and was done after 4 1-3 innings, matching his shortest outing of the year. He allowed five runs on seven hits.

Gutierrez returned to the lineup after missing two games with a stomach bug and recorded an RBI for the fourth straight game. He also hit a ninth-inning double.

Notes: Anderson didn’t issue a walk for the fifth time in 2010. … Carson’s fourth-inning leadoff homer snapped an 0-for-15 funk.

DENVER – Ubaldo Jimenez won his club-record 18th game despite a wild performance and the surging Colorado Rockies rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-5 Monday.

Even though he leads the National League in victories, Jimenez (18-6), hadn’t won since Aug. 4. He snapped a personal four-game losing streak even though he didn’t have his usual command of his fastball and struggled through a 123-pitch effort.

He allowed seven hits and matched a season high with six walks, one of them intentional, threw a wild pitch and hit a batter in six innings.

The Reds’ lead in the NL Central was cut to six games over St. Louis, which beat Milwaukee 8-6.

Troy Tulowitzki homered, tripled and drove in three runs for the Rockies.

Reds rookie sensation Aroldis Chapman hit 102 mph on the stadium radar gun and struck out Tulowitzki. But the Rockies nicked Chapman for three hits during a three-run sixth that made it 8-4.

After giving up four runs in the third inning, Jimenez stranded 11 Reds through the sixth. The Rockies finally gave him some run support in winning their fourth straight game against division leaders — they just took three from San Diego over the weekend, their first sweep on the road this season.

Tulowitzki broke a 4-all tie in the fifth when he sent a fastball from Bill Bray (0-2) halfway up the left-field bleachers.

In the fourth, Tulowitzki followed NL batting leader Carlos Gonzalez’s bases-loaded, broken-bat, two-run double down the right-field line with a two-run, standup triple to left-center as the Rockies quickly erased Cincinnati’s four-run cushion.

Jimenez was lifted for pinch-hitter Chris Nelson in the sixth and Nelson singled, bringing on Chapman. His 99 mph heater was stroked up the middle by Eric Young Jr. for an RBI single that made it 6-4.

Dexter Fowler’s hard shot knocked down shortstop Paul Janish, whose errant throw to second base allowed Nelson to score to make it 7-4. Ryan Hanigan’s passed ball allowed another run across before Chapman tied up Tulowitzki with an inside heater for strike three.

The Reds batted around in the third inning, scoring four times on five hits and two walks. Drew Stubbs scored from third on Brandon Phillips’ groundout, Chris Heisey followed with an RBI single and Jonny Gomes added a two-run single to make it 4-0.

Jimenez, who let out a big sigh of relief after striking out Stubbs with his 31st pitch of the inning to strand the bases full, drew a one-out walk in the bottom half of the inning, when the Rockies got all four runs back.

The Reds stranded also stranded the bases loaded in the fourth and the sixth and left runners at the corners in the fifth.

For a while this summer, it seemed like Jimenez would obliterate the franchise mark of 17 wins set by Kevin Ritz in 1996 and tied by Pedro Astacio in ‘99 and Jeff Francis in ‘07. But after winning 15 games before the All-Star break, Jimenez had been stuck on 17 wins for more than a month, victimized by poor run support and spotty defense.

In his five previous starts, he was 0-4 despite a 3.00 ERA and he received zero or one run of support in four of those five games.

“I think maybe if you want to get right down to it, we’ve been trying too hard to get the damn thing for him,” Colorado manager Jim Tracy said before the game. “We haven’t scored for the guy.”

Notes: Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games with a first-inning double and finished 3 for 5, raising his batting average to .340.

NOTES: Francis (left arm) threw 48 pitches Sunday at Triple-A Colorado Springs and is slated to join Colorado’s bullpen later this week. … The Rockies called up C Mike McKenry from Colorado Springs. … The Reds are two wins shy of ending their nine-year string of losing seasons. … The Rockies began a stretch in which 16 of 22 games are at Coors Field, where they’re 13-4 since July 29.

CHICAGO – Geovany Soto hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning for the Cubs’ first lead of the game and closer Carlos Marmol shut down the Houston Astros in the ninth, giving Chicago a 5-4 victory Wednesday.

Soto’s drive off Astros reliever Wilton Lopez was his 17th of the season and it helped the Cubs to their fourth win in five games.

Marmol pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh straight save and career-high 28th of the season. Cubs reliever Andrew Cashner (2-5) pitched one inning and earned the win.

The Astros went up 4-0 in the second inning, but the Cubs got three runs back in the third, including a two-run homer by Marlon Byrd. They tied it 4-all in the fifth when lead off batter Jeff Baker lined a double down the left field line scoring Darwin Barney.

Lopez (5-2) entered in relief in the eighth inning and was the loser.

The Astros batted around in the second, starting with Chris Johnson’s leadoff homer. He lined Coleman’s 1-1 pitch deep into the left field bleachers for his seventh home run of the season.

Matt Downs then walked, Jason Castro singled and advanced to second and third after an error by Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Downs scored on a wild pitch.

Back-to-back singles from Jeff Keppinger and Hunter Pence brought home Castro and Michael Bourn, who was hit by a pitch.

The Cubs scored three runs in the third, with the big blow coming on Byrd’s two-out, two-run homer. It was Byrd’s first home run since Aug. 11 and his 12th overall.

Cub right-hander Casey Coleman went six innings. He gave up four runs on eight hits and five walks. Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked one.

WASHINGTON – Rookie Danny Espinosa drove in six runs, hitting a grand slam, a solo homer and getting two other hits and helping the Washington Nationals rout the New York Mets 13-3 Monday for their third straight victory.

Espinosa, called up from Triple-A on Wednesday, led off the third inning with a home run off Mike Pelfrey. Espinosa added an RBI single in the fifth, hit a grand slam off Ryota Igarashi in the sixth and doubled in the eighth.

Espinosa has three homers in his last four games.

Washington scored 13 unanswered runs to post its 60th win of the season, eclipsing the Nationals’ total from both 2008 and 2009.

Ivan Rodriguez’s two-run double ignited a five-run rally in the fourth. Michael Morse hit a tiebreaking single off Pelfrey (13-9) as the Nationals came back from a 3-0 deficit. Rodriguez finished with three RBIs.

Scott Olsen (4-8) picked up the victory with four hitless innings of relief. It was Olsen’s his appearance out of the bullpen since his 2005 rookie season. Collin Balester worked the ninth, finishing a three-hitter.

Pelfrey lost for the third time in five decisions. He allowed six runs on five hits and walked three.

The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the first without benefit of a hit out of the infield. Angel Pagan dropped a bunt single, stole second went to third when shortstop Espinosa bobbled Chris Carter’s grounder and scored on David Wright’s sacrifice fly. Jordan Zimmermann then walked the next three hitters, a free pass to Josh Thole forcing home a run.

Thole’s RBI single made it 3-0 in the third.

After Espinosa’s homer just inside the left-field foul pole in the third, the Nationals chased Pelfrey in the fourth. Washington batted around for the third straight game.

Nyjer Morgan’s RBI single finished Pelfrey. Raul Valdes relieved and hit Adam Kennedy with a pitch before walking Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Zimmermann worked four innings, allowing three runs — one earned — on three hits.

Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the sixth and Espinosa hit a grand slam off the right-field facade later in the inning.

Notes: Washington RF Willie Harris left the game for precautionary reasons after crashing face-first into the scoreboard in right-center while trying to catch Carter’s third-inning double. … Nationals SS Ian Desmond (sore left hamstring) got the day off from the starting lineup, but struck out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. … Tuesday’s game will feature two starting pitchers making their major league debuts: Washington LHP Yunesky Maya and Mets RHP Dillon Gee. Maya is a Cuban defector who was 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA in five starts at three different minor league levels, while Gee went 13-8 with a 4.96 ERA in 28 starts at Triple-A Buffalo. “This year has been unbelievable and especially to end it here. The main goal was just to go out this year and to prove that I’m healthy again,” said Gee, who missed much of 2009 with a right shoulder injury. … Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said Rodriguez and rookie Wilson Ramos would split the starting catcher’s job for the final month of the season. … Pelfrey has a 10.98 ERA in two September starts after posting a 1.20 ERA in five August starts.

(This version CORRECTS Nationals 13, Mets 3. Corrects to three home runs in four games in 3rd paragraph.)