Bodog Beat

Mark Teixeira throttled the Seattle Mariners' pitching staff for three home runs as his Braves ran away with an 8-3 victory.

Elsewhere in baseball, with the heated cross-town rivalry already intense enough as it is, the fact that both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox currently sit amongst the best teams in the Majors only made the stakes even higher.

It was the first of two series between the two clubs and this time it was the Cubs, who at Wrigley  Field held home field advantage.

With starter Ryan Dempster at the mound it certainly appeared as though the team enjoyed its home field advantage. Dempster allowed just one earned run in eight innings of work, striking out four along the way.

As solid as Dempster may have been on the mound it certainly didn't hurt that the offense appeared to be clicking as well.

Aramis Ramirez went yard for his fourth home run in the past three games, picking up two RBIs. Rookie Eric Patterson then followed suit with a two-run blast of his own.

The Toronto Blue Jays put an end to their seven-game losing streak against the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving manager Cito Gaston his first victory in his second term as Jays boss.

In Boston, Kevin Youkilis' second home run of the night ended the game in the bottom of the 13th inning as the Sox took a 5-3 victory.

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