American LeagueDavid Ortiz hit a three-run homer to ruin Johnny Damon's return to Fenway Park and lead Boston to a 7-3 victory over New York on Monday night in the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals.
Mark Loretta's single broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth and Ortiz followed with his 11th homer.
Booed each time he came to the plate, Damon, left for New York as a free agent after last season, went 0-for-4.
Reliever Mike Timlin (3-0) got the win and Jonathan Papelbon retired the side in order in the ninth with two strikeouts. Aaron Small (0-1) took the loss after going 10-0 for the Yankees last season.
Boston starter Tim Wakefield allowed a hit and a walk through three innings before falling behind 3-1 in the fourth. The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs and Hideki Matsui's groundout drove in one run and Robinson Cano singled in two.
Boston tied it in the fourth on an RBI single by Manny Ramirez and Trot Nixon's RBI-groundout.
Tigers 3, Royals 2
At Detroit, Jeremy Bonderman threw eight shutout innings and Detroit won its fourth straight.
Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe homered for the Tigers, who have outscored their opponents 36-3 in winning the first four games of an eight-game homestand. They improved to 3-0 against the Royals this year, outscoring Kansas City 20-6.
Matt Stairs and Mark Teahen had RBI singles in the ninth to get Kansas City within one, but Todd Jones got Angel Berroa to ground out with runners on first and third to finish up his fourth save.
Kansas City starter Runelvys Hernandez (1-1) gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Blue Jays 9, Orioles 7
At Baltimore, Troy Glaus went 4-for-5 with two homers, two doubles and four RBIs to lead Toronto.
Glaus hit a solo shot in the second inning and erased a 3-2 deficit with a three-run drive in the seventh. It was his second multihomer game of the season and 20th of his career.
He also scored four runs, the last on a three-run homer by Lyle Overbay in the ninth.
Ted Lilly (3-1) gave up two earned runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings.
After Miguel Tejada homered in a four-run ninth, former Oriole B.J. Ryan got the final out for his fifth save. Ramon Hernandez went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs for Baltimore.
Reliever LaTroy Hawkins (0-1) retired pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto leading off the seventh, then gave up singles to Alex Rios and Vernon Wells. Glaus then hit a 2-0 pitch over the right-field scoreboard, his eighth homer of the season.
White Sox 8, Indians 6
At Cleveland, Javier Vazquez dominated for six innings and Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer to help teammate Jim Thome enjoy his return to Cleveland.
Thome was back at Jacobs Field for the first time as a visiting player. The Indians' career home run leader bolted as a free agent following the 2002 season, signing a six-year, US$85 million deal with Philadelphia.
Thome went 1-for-5 with an RBI in his first game at the Jake since Sept. 29, 2002. He also struck out twice to the delight of some Cleveland fans.
Vazquez (3-1) allowed five hits and would have blanked the Indians for six innings if left fielder Scott Podsednik hadn't dropped a two-out fly ball.
Podsednik had four hits and matched a club record with four steals as the White Sox won their fourth straight and improved to 18-7 -- their record on May 1 a year ago when they went on to win the World Series. The Indians trailed 7-0, but Travis Hafner's third career grand slam brought Cleveland within two in the seventh.
Rangers 3, Devil Rays 0
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Kameron Loe and two relievers combined on a four-hitter for Texas.
Loe (1-2) retired the first 14 batters before giving up a single to Travis Lee with two outs in the fifth. He also allowed a leadoff double to Sean Burroughs in the sixth and singles to Damon Hollins and Lee in the seventh.
The right-hander, the last Texas starter to get a win this season, struck out three and walked none in seven innings.
Tampa Bay's Seth McClung (1-4) held the Rangers to four hits -- one a homer by Rod Barajas -- until Mark DeRosa doubled leading off the eighth. Gary Matthews tripled on reliever Ruddy Lugo's first pitch to drive in DeRosa, then scored on Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly.
Mariners 8, Twins 2
At Minneapolis, Kenji Johjima had three hits, three RBIs and a home run to lead Seattle to its third straight victory.
Six Mariners starters had at least two hits and the defense was spectacular in support of Joel Pineiro (3-2), who tossed his ninth career complete game and cruised after a five-run sixth. He gave up nine hits without a walk or a strikeout.
Jose Lopez and Matt Lawton each had three hits, Yuniesky Betancourt went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Richie Sexson homered for his 1,000th career hit.
Lew Ford had two hits and an RBI and Justin Morneau homered for the troubled Twins, who lost their fourth straight and 11th of 14.
National League
Bronson Arroyo stayed unbeaten in Cincinnati by pitching a four-hitter for the second complete game of his career, and the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 Monday night in a matchup of the NL's top two teams.
Cincinnati set a club record with 17 victories in April, and started a new month with the same winning formula -- a lot of offense, a little dazzling pitching.
Rich Aurilia hit a solo homer, and Felipe Lopez broke an 0-for-17 slump with a run-scoring single and a bases-loaded single that drove in three runs all together. Every Reds starter except Arroyo had a hit off left-hander Mark Mulder (2-1), who was denied his 100th career win.
The biggest change in the Reds is the addition of Arroyo (5-0), who has dramatically improved a rotation that was the NL's worst last season. The right-hander is the first Reds starter to win his first five decisions since Paul Wilson went 7-0 in 2004.
Arroyo extended the best start of his career by limiting the Cardinals to Juan Encarnacion's solo homer, three other harmless hits and three walks. His only other complete game was for Pittsburgh on Oct. 2, 2001, against the Mets.
Arroyo also became the first Reds pitcher to go eight innings in three consecutive starts since Jose Rijo in 1994.
The victory left Cincinnati (18-8) in sole possession of first place in the NL Central, a game ahead of the defending champion Cardinals.
Braves 2, Rockies 0
At Atlanta, Tim Hudson pitched the second one-hitter of his career and drove in the first Atlanta run.
Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings had the only hit off Hudson, a single to right with two outs in the third inning. The Braves right-hander retired the last 17 Colorado hitters.
Hudson (2-2) walked three, struck out five and threw 103 pitches in his second complete game of the season.
Jennings (1-2) certainly pitched well enough to win, allowing seven hits and both Atlanta runs in seven innings. Hudson also had an RBI single in the second.
Phillies 8, Marlins 5
At Miami, Pat Burrell homered for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to cap a comeback against Florida starter Dontrelle Willis.
The Phillies rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the seventh, scoring the tying run on a gaffe by rookie second baseman Dan Uggla. It was a hero-to-goat transition for Uggla, who hit a two-run homer and scored from second base on a groundout.
Willis (1-2) gave up eight earned runs, matching his career high, in 7 1-3 innings. He hit three batters and threw two wild pitches.
Tom Gordon pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in as many chances, and Rheal Cormier (1-0) earned the win by getting the only batter he faced to hit into a double play.
Mets 2, Nationals 1
At New York, Endy Chavez scored on Washington reliever Gary Majewski's throwing error in the ninth inning to give the Mets the win. Chavez was brought in to run for 47-year-old Julio Franco, who walked with one out in the inning. Chavez moved to second on a single to left by Jose Reyes.
When Paul Lo Duca hit a bouncer back to Majewski (1-2), it looked as if the Nationals might be able to turn a double play and send the game into extra innings.
But Majewski's throw to second was high, glancing off the outstretched glove of shortstop Royce Clayton and into center field. Chavez slowed slightly as he approached third, then took off for home with the winning run.
New York's Billy Wagner (2-0) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth.
Brewers 4, Astros 2
At Milwaukee, Bill Hall had three hits for the third straight game and Damian Miller hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for the Brewers.
The victory, Milwaukee's sixth in its last seven games, was tempered by the loss of Tomo Ohka, who left the game after the fifth inning with a right shoulder cuff strain. He was to be re-evaluated yesterday.
Hall homered in the sixth. He has nine hits in his last 14 at-bats.
Matt Wise (2-1) pitched the eighth for the win, and Derrick Turnbow struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save in nine chances. Dan Wheeler (0-1) took the loss in relief of Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez.
Cubs 2, Pirates 1
At Chicago, Matt Murton's RBI single in the eighth inning gave the Cubs the win.
With the score tied 1-1, John Grabow (0-1) issued a two-out walk to Todd Walker. Salomon Torres replaced him and gave up an infield single to Aramis Ramirez. Murton then singled up the middle past a diving Jack Wilson to score Jerry Hairston Jr., who was running for Walker, from second.
The Pirates dropped to 1-13 on the road and 7-20 overall.
Bob Howry (2-0), the second of three Chicago pitchers, worked 2-3 of an inning for the win. Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.
Pete Rose Jr, the son of Major League Baseball's career hits leader, was sentenced Monday to one month in prison and five months of home detention for distributing a steroid alternative to his minor league teammates.
Rose faced up to two years in prison and a US$1 million fine. Federal judge Robert Echols waived a fine for Rose.
"I made a mistake and hurt a lot of people," Rose said outside the courthouse after the sentencing. "The judge is great. He was very generous and I can't thank him enough. He doesn't have to worry about me doing anything like this again," Rose said.
The 36-year-old Rose pleaded guilty on Nov. 7 to distributing the steroid alternative GBL, a drug he used as a sleep aid, to some of his teammates with the Chattanooga Lookouts, a third-level minor league team which Rose played on in 1997, 2001 and 2002.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration has said Rose's arrest was part of a larger investigation into a major GBL trafficking organization.
Rose played most of his career in the minor leagues, but made it to the majors for 11 games with the Reds in 1997, going 2-for-14. Last season, he played for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.
Pete Rose Sr holds the MLB record of 4,256 hits. He agreed to a lifetime ban from MLB in 1989 following an investigation that he bet on games; after 14 years of denials, he admitted in his autobiography that he bet on Reds games while managing them in the late 1980s.
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