A-Rod faces poker query

YANKEES THIRD baseman Alex Rodriguez met with a group of Major League Baseball officials yesterday to discuss allegations that he participated in illegal poker games.

Rodriguez said the 2-hour meeting, which was held in Baltimore, "went well."

"They asked questions and I answered them," he said. "I'll let them review it, chew on it and then let them come back to us."

Star magazine reported last month that several people saw A-Rod playing in games hosted at Hollywood hotels and residences. His publicist denied that Rodriguez participated, and the slugger echoed that sentiment in an interview with reporters before New York faced the Orioles last night.

"All the lies, you just can't put up with that kind of stuff," he said. "You just want facts and you always want to be treated fairly and I think I have been."

Rodriguez would not detail the line of questioning, but noted that he answered all of them.

Rodriguez also faced questions about his gambling habits in 2005, when the New York Daily News reported he attended games at an underground poker club in New York. Rodriguez later acknowledged, "It wasn't the right thing to do," and checked with MLB before holding a charity poker tournament the following year.

In last night's game at Baltimore, Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy homered in a six-run second inning and the Orioles beat the Yankees, 12-5, for their fifth straight victory. Tommy Hunter (3-2) allowed four runs and five hits over seven innings to help Baltimore improve to 2-9 against New York this season.

Rodriguez homered for the Yankees, his first since June 11, ending a single-season, career-long drought of 96 at-bats without a home run.

Moments before the first pitch, there was a moment of silence in honor of 1979 Cy Young winner Mike Flanagan, who died Wednesday at age 59 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. For the rest of the season, the Orioles will wear a black circular patch on their right jersey sleeves with the word "FLANNY" written in white.

At Cleveland, Jim Thome went hitless in four at-bats but was warmly welcomed in his Cleveland homecoming after nearly a decade away and the Indians stopped their slide in the AL Central with a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals.

* At Arlington, Texas, Nelson Cruz had two long homers among his four hits and drove in six runs as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers stretched their advantage to three games over second-place Los Angeles with an 11-7 victory over the Angels.

* At Minneapolis, designated hitter Victor Martinez homered and drove in four runs in the Detroit Tigers' 8-1 triumph over the Minnesota Twins.

* At Toronto, James Shields (12-10) pitched his major league-leading 10th complete game, Evan Longoria hit a pair of solo home runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Blue Jays, 6-1.

* At Boston, Scott Sizemore and Josh Willingham each hit two-run homers during a six-run fourth inning that carried the Oakland Athletics to a 15-5 win over the Red Sox.