Pedro Martinez struck out 10 in a six-hitter for his first shutout in almost four years and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-0 on Thursday for their fifth win in six games.
Martinez (13-4) walked none and passed Bob Feller and Warren Spahn for 21st place in career strikeouts with 2,590. He threw 109 pitches and extended his domination of Tampa Bay.
PHOTO: AFP
He also beat the Devil Rays in his previous shutout and complete game. He blanked them 8-0 on Aug. 29, 2000, then went all nine innings in a 3-2 win last September.
It was his 16th career shutout and 42nd complete game.
Martinez is 9-1 since losing at Toronto on May 16.
David Ortiz and Bill Mueller each had three hits and Ortiz had two RBIs, giving him a career-high 102. He had 101 last season.
Mark Hendrickson (8-11) took the loss.
Orioles 6, Angels 1
In Anaheim, California, Melvin Mora homered and drove in three runs, Rodrigo Lopez pitched seven strong innings and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Angels.
The victory was Baltimore's ninth in 10 games, and ended Bartolo Colon's six-game winning streak.
Lopez (10-7) won for the fourth time in his last five road starts, allowing a run and five hits while striking out five and walking one.
Mora homered in the first inning against Colon and added a two-run single in the sixth against Brendan Donnelly. He's batting .346 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs, all career highs.
Colon (11-9) gave up six runs, eight hits and walked a season-high six in 5 1-3 innings while striking out three. The right-hander had a 2.54 ERA during his winning streak, which matched the longest of his career.
White Sox 3, Royals 2
In Chicago, Carl Everett and Ross Gload homered, and Freddy Garcia pitched six strong innings to lead the White Sox past Kansas City.
After giving up two runs and three hits in the first, Garcia (10-9) settled in and shut down the Royals. He allowed seven hits in six innings but struck out seven and walked none. Garcia is 6-2 in nine starts with the White Sox since being acquired from Seattle on June 27.
Shingo Takatsu pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Gload's homer, a solo shot in the fourth, snapped a 2-2 tie and put the White Sox ahead for good. It was only his third this season, first at home and first since May 19.
Kansas City's Jimmy Serrano (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits through six innings in his second major league start. He struck out six.
Khalil Greene singled home the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 Thursday to move within a game of the NL wild-card lead.
The Padres tied it at 4 in the eighth on Brian Giles' RBI single off Mike Remlinger after Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give Chicago the lead.
The game was twice delayed by rain for a total of 78 minutes on a chilly day at Wrigley Field, where the temperature at the start was just 60 degrees.
Phil Nevin, who didn't start because of the flu, singled to start the 11th, moved to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a bunt single by Ramon Hernandez. With two outs, Greene hit an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Dempster (0-1) into left field to put the Padres in front.
Ricky Stone (2-2) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win. Trevor Hoffman got three outs for his 31st save, retiring Moises Alou on a popup with a runner on third to end it.
Reds 6, Dodgers 5
In Cincinnati, D'Angelo Jimenez singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Reds rallied past the Dodgers to avoid a three-game sweep. The Reds scored three times in the eighth off Darren Dreifort (1-3), including a two-run homer by Wily Mo Pena.
Adam Dunn led off with a walk, and Pena homered to tie it. Barry Larkin singled one out later and, after Darren Bragg walked, pinch-runner Ryan Freel scored on Jimenez's single.
Gabe White (1-1) got two outs for the win. Danny Graves pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save.
Jason Grabowski and Adrian Beltre homered to put Los Angeles ahead 3-0 in the third. Beltre's solo drive was his 32nd, tying Pedro Guerrero's record for a Dodgers third baseman.
Giants 7, Pirates 0
In Pittsburgh, Jason Schmidt pitched a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts for his NL-leading 15th win, and the Giants defeated the Pirates.
Edgardo Alfonzo, Marquis Grissom and Michael Tucker each drove in two runs to help the Giants avoid a season sweep by Pittsburgh. Barry Bonds had an RBI double.
Schmidt (15-4) walked one against his former team and allowed only four singles -- two by Rob Mackowiak. It was Schmidt's eighth career shutout, and third this season. The right-hander struck out at least 10 for the third straight start and ninth time this season. He joined Oakland's Mark Mulder as the only 15-game winners in the majors.
Schmidt is 4-1 against the Pirates since they dealt him to San Francisco on July 30, 2001. This was the first time he faced Ryan Vogelsong, the pitcher he was traded for. Vogelsong (3-9) lasted only five innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
Rockies 3, Phillies 1
In Philadelphia, Shawn Estes allowed one run in six innings and Royce Clayton hit a two-run homer to lead the Rockies, who won three of four against the Phillies.
After hitting a season-high six home runs a day earlier, the Phillies were stymied by Estes (13-4). The left-hander scattered four hits and struck out three to win his fifth straight decision.
Tim Harikkala pitched two perfect innings, and Shawn Chacon allowed a hit but struck out the side in the ninth for his 29th save in 37 chances, completing the five-hitter.
Clayton gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead in the third inning with his eighth homer, a two-run shot to left off Corey Lidle (7-11) in his Phillies debut. Lidle, traded by Cincinnati on Monday, gave up two runs, three hits and walked three in five innings on three-days' rest.
Cincinnati Reds star Ken Griffey Jr. will miss the rest of the major league baseball season because of a torn right hamstring, the latest setback in a long line of injuries for the All-Star outfielder.
Griffey will have surgery on Monday, the Reds said. Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said on Wednesday that an MRI exam showed that Griffey had ruptured his hamstring last week in San Francisco.
Griffey was batting .253 with 20 homers and 60 RBIs. He hit the 500th home run of his career on June 20, but hasn't hit one since.
Mike Piazza out
Mets catcher Mike Piazza was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday because of inflammation in his left knee, leaving New York without its best hitter as the team tries to stay on the edge of the NL playoff race.
The move was made retroactive to Aug. 7. Piazza had an MRI exam on Tuesday and received a shot in his knee.
The 11-time All-Star is batting .276 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs this season but has slumped badly since June. When asked if surgery was a possibility, he said: "Not at this point. I think that's sort of a last-ditch option."
Jason Giambi recovers
Jason Giambi expects to make a full recovery from health problems that have slowed him this summer and is confident he will return to the New York Yankees' lineup before the end of the season.
Giambi was cleared medically to resume baseball activities on Tuesday, when he arrived in Tampa to begin working himself back into playing shape.
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