David McCarty doubled twice and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of his Oakland debut yesterday to lead the Athletics to a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
McCarty, starting in place of Scott Hatteberg at first base, was called up Tuesday from minor league team Sacramento.
PHOTO: AFP
"It's nice to contribute," said McCarty. "It's been a dream of mine since I came to the Bay area in college to play for the A's. Really once I signed with the A's and was sent down to [the minor league] Triple-A it was my desire to be here. If I had been with any other team I don't know if I would have kept going."
PHOTO: REUTERS
The A's are 4-5 on their season-long 13-game homestand.
"We got some clutch hits today for a change," Oakland manager Ken Macha said.
Ricardo Rincon (5-3) pitched a perfect seventh for the win and Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
Jesus Colome (2-5) got the loss.
Tigers 4, White Sox 2
In Detroit, Jeremy Bonderman won for the first time since May 4, and Warren Morris had three hits and scored twice as Detroit beat Chicago.
Detroit has won two consecutive games and three of its past four, while Chicago has lost four of five. The Tigers clinched just their second home series win of the year.
Bonderman (3-13) ended an 11-start winless streak, allowing two runs on three hits in 6 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Rookie Chris Mears pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second career save. He picked up his first save Tuesday against the White Sox.
Bartolo Colon (6-8) dropped to 0-3 in his last six starts. He gave up four runs on 11 hits and a walk in six innings, striking out four.
Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 7
In Toronto, David Ortiz hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning as Boston rallied past Toronto.
Manny Ramirez led off the ninth with a long fly to left-center field, and left fielder Shannon Stewart nearly ran into center fielder Vernon Wells, who allowed the ball to tick off his glove for a triple. Ortiz followed with his double off Jeff Tam (0-4).
Down 7-3 in the eighth, the Red Sox batted around to tie it, and Brandon Lyon (4-5) pitched the bottom half for the win.
Korean pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim struck out three in the ninth for his third save in three chances.
Frank Catalanotto homered and tied a career high with five hits for the Blue Jays. Delgado went 3-for-5 and knocked in his major league-leading 94th run.
Yankees 6, Indians 2
In Cleveland, David Wells pitched 7 2-3 strong innings to lead a resurgent New York past Cleveland.
Wells (11-3) allowed nine hits, walked none and struck out one while improving to 7-0 on the road. He is also 7-0 following a loss or no-decision this season.
The Yankees, who were held to one hit by rookie Billy Traber on Tuesday, welcomed back Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano and Bernie Williams to their lineup. It was the first time the trio of stars had played together since May 21.
Jeter had a season-high four hits -- three off C.C. Sabathia (8-4) -- and two RBIs. Williams drove in two runs in his first game in six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Soriano missed Tuesday night's series opener, and Jeter was used as a pinch-hitter. Both had hand injuries.
Rangers 4, Twins 1
In Arlington, Texas, Alex Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and Joaquin Benoit pitched seven strong innings as Texas beat Minnesota.
Rookie Mark Teixeira also homered for the Rangers, who've won three successive games and 10 of 15.
Rodriguez snapped a 1-all tie in the sixth with his 22nd home run off former Rangers' pitcher Kenny Rogers. Rodriguez is 8-for-16 with three homers and seven RBIs all-time against Rogers (7-5), who allowed four runs and seven hits over seven innings.
Benoit (4-4) allowed a homer to Torii Hunter in the sixth, but otherwise shut down the Twins, who've lost four straight and 11 of their last 16.
Ugueth Urbina got three outs for his 26th save in 30 chances.
Angels 5, Royals 3
In Anaheim, California, Shawn Wooten hit a three-run homer and catcher Bengie Molina withstood a violent collision at the plate as Anaheim ended Kansas City's five-game road winning streak.
Down 3-2, the Angels scored three in the sixth inning against Jeremy Affeldt (5-5). Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson opened the inning with singles, and Wooten snuck a 2-2 pitch just inside the left-field pole one out later.
Francisco Rodriguez (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Troy Percival pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances.
Orioles 7, Mariners 2
In Seattle, Tony Batista hit a two-run homer and Rick Helling pitched six strong innings as Baltimore beat Seattle to improve to 2-16 at Safeco Field.
Helling (6-6) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. His road ERA of 7.88 in his first nine starts was the highest in the American League. This time, he was steady for five innings and escaped a sixth-inning jam with only one run allowed.
Melvin Mora went 2-for-5 with two singles, raising his AL-leading average to .358. Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, second in the race, went 1-for-4 and is hitting .349.
Ryan Franklin (6-8) lost his fourth straight start.
Tom Glavine lost to his old team for the third time this season, and Russ Ortiz became the National League's first 12-game winner as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 6-3 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
Glavine (6-9), who let three of his first four batters score, allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings and tied a season high with five walks. He dropped to 0-3 against Atlanta this season and has allowed 16 runs in 15 2-3 innings against the Braves -- a 9.19 ERA.
Glavine blamed the loss partly on the Questec machine used to evaluate umpires, saying it's caused them to shrink his strike zone to an impossibly narrow width.
"I know my name has been brought up in the Questec argument," he said. "I'm the poster child."
Glavine's assessment was backed up his former catcher, Atlanta's Javy Lopez.
"Glavine is the same pitcher," said Lopez. "I don't see anything different. He was throwing the same way as when he was with us."
Atlanta, which leads the NL East at 58-31, has won six straight. Ortiz (12-4) won his fifth straight start and tied Toronto's Roy Halladay for the major league lead in victories.
John Smoltz got three outs for his major league-leading 34th save in 36 chances.
Cubs 5, Marlins 1
In Chicago, Kerry Wood pitched a three-hitter, striking out 12, and Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer as Chicago beat Florida.
Jose Hernandez also hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who won their first series since taking two of three from Baltimore June 10-12. Wood (9-6) threw 129 pitches -- 79 strikes -- in his second complete game of the season, the other coming on June 18 at Cincinnati. It was the seventh time this season and 34th in his career that Wood has struck out 10 or more. He walked three.
Carl Pavano (6-10) allowed seven hits and three runs in seven-plus innings.
Phillies 2, Expos 0
In Montreal, Kevin Millwood pitched a three-hitter and Bobby Abreu homered as Philadelphia beat Montreal.
Japanese Pitcher Tomo Ohka (7-9) took a no-hitter into the seventh before Placido Polanco's infield single. Abreu followed with his 14th homer.
Millwood (10-6) threw his second shutout of the season. The other one came April 27 when he pitched a no-hitter against San Francisco. He struck out six and walked four in his fourth career shutout and third complete game of the season.
Dodgers 6, Cardinals 5
In St. Louis, David Ross and Cesar Izturis drove in two runs each as Los Angeles, enjoying another rare burst of offense, beat St. Louis.
The Dodgers got to Brett Tomko (5-6) for five runs in the fourth and scored six runs for the first time since June 25. They've totaled 11 runs the last two games, after scoring 20 in the previous 11.
Scott Rolen homered and had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who have lost three in a row. Bo Hart singled, walked, stole a base and drove in a run.
Kazuhisa Ishii (8-3) gave up four runs in 5 1-3 innings, winning for the first time in four starts, and the Dodgers ended a three-game losing streak and won for the third time in 16 games overall.
Eric Gagne got the last four outs for his 31st save in 31 opportunities -- his 39th in a row dating back to last year.
Astros 12, Reds 2
In Houston, Jeriome Robertson became the first Houston rookie to win seven straight decisions and Adam Everett hit his first career grand slam as Houston beat Cincinnati.
Everett's shot highlighted a six-run first inning as the Astros won their third in a row and sent Cincinnati to its seventh straight loss.
Lance Berkman and Richard Hidalgo hit consecutive homers for Houston and Gregg Zaun also connected.
Robertson (8-3) hasn't lost since April 25, a span of 13 starts. He gave up one run and four hits in seven innings.
Danny Graves (4-9) made his third straight start on three days' rest and struggled. He went five innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits and two walks.
Brewers 2, Pirates 1
In Milwaukee, Wes Helms' infield hit drove in the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning to lift Milwaukee over Pittsburgh.
Brooks Kieschnick (1-1) singled as a pinch-hitter in the 11th, then pitched a hitless 12th for the victory. A slugger who had trouble making contact in his previous stints in the majors, Kieschnick earned his first victory since reviving his career as a reliever.
Richie Sexson drew a two-out walk in the 12th and took third base on John Vander Wal's single. Helms followed with a slow grounder down the third-base line.
Joe Beimel (1-2) took the loss.
Rockies 11, Giants 7
In Denver, Preston Wilson had four hits and four RBIs, and Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer as Colorado snapped San Francisco's three-game winning streak. Barry Bonds drove in four runs for the Giants, including a three-run homer, his 27th of the season and 640th of his career. Colorado's Aaron Cook (3-6) went 6 1-3 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs.
Diamondbacks 8, Padres 3
In Phoenix, Shea Hillenbrand homered again and drove in four runs as Arizona beat San Diego to tie a team record with its 11th straight home victory. Craig Counsell, Luis Gonzalez and Steve Finley also homered for Arizona, making it easier for Chris Capuano (1-2) to earn his first major league victory.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later