American League
The Baltimore Orioles stayed in the game with four home runs and then got a much-needed win with a soft single.
Coming off a road trip on which they went 0-5 and were outscored 35-12, the Orioles rallied three times for a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.
PHOTO: AP
"I'm not going to lie. We needed this win bigtime," first-year manager Sam Perlozzo said. "For a ballclub that lost five in a row and not played very well in the last 10 days or so, to come back the way they did was a great effort.
"We battled. We could have shut that game down, and we didn't," he said. "It's good to get that win out of the way."
Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada, Jeff Conine and Jay Gibbons homered for the Orioles, who trailed 5-2 in the sixth inning and 6-4 in the seventh.
PHOTO: AP
Mora and Gibbons tied it at 6 with solo homers in the seventh. Mora drove in the winning run in the eighth with a soft single to left with two on and two outs. It followed shortstop Carlos Guillen fumble of a grounder by Chris Gomez, his second error of the game.
"We gave them a couple of extra opportunities to score and they took advantage of them," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We just didn't hold on to it tonight."
Chris Ray worked the ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.
"We needed that win. The attitude in the clubhouse has been down a little bit," Mora said.
Magglio Ordonez homered in the fourth straight game for the Tigers, who have lost three straight and four of five.
Ordonez gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead in the seventh with a homer off Todd Williams, Baltimore tied it in the bottom half with the two homers against Fernando Rodney (1-1), who came in with a spotless ERA over 13 innings.
The Tigers got runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth against LaTroy Hawkins (1-1) before the right-hander struck out Ivan Rodriguez.
Red Sox 14, Yankees 3
Alex Gonzalez and Manny Ramirez homered for Boston, which matched its longest winning streak of the season at five and its season highs for runs and hits (16). The Red Sox stopped New York's winning streak at five and moved past the Yankees into the AL East lead.
Alex Rodriguez made two errors at third base and Melky Cabrera, brought up when Gary Sheffield went on the disabled list before the game, dropped a fly to right field by Ramirez for a two-run error. New York, which allowed six unearned runs, had just 12 errors coming in, tied for second fewest in the majors.
Josh Beckett (4-1) gave up a two-run homer to Jason Giambi in the bottom of the first and allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking none.
Randy Johnson (5-3) struggled for the fourth time in five starts, lasting 3 2-3 innings and allowing five hits and seven runs.
White Sox 9, Angels 1
At Chicago, Jim Thome hit a three-run homer, his 14th, and drove in four RBIs for Chicago, while Scott Podsednik reached base five times, scored three runs and robbed Tim Salmon of a home run leading off the seventh. Joe Crede and Jermaine Dye hit solo homers for the White Sox, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. Freddy Garcia (5-1) won his fifth straight decision, allowing a run in eight innings.
Kevin Gregg (2-1) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 2 2-3 innings in his second start for Los Angeles, which has lost 10 of 12. They have only three runs and 11 hits in their last three games, all losses.
Royals 10, Indians 7
John Buck drove in four runs with a single and a three-run homer and Kansas City beat Cleveland for the fourth straight time. Buck, who hit his first homer of the season on Monday, hit a 422-foot shot off reliever Danny Graves (2-1) in a six-run sixth. The 17 hits were a season high for the host Royals, who have won four of six after starting 5-20.
Jhonny Peralta walked four times, tying a Cleveland season high. Jeremy Affeldt, who had gone 2-1 with a 0.55 ERA his three previous starts, lasted just 1 2-3 innings, giving up two runs and five hits.
Mariners 8, Devil Rays 1
At Seattle, Felix Hernandez (2-4) allowed one run and five hits and struck out eight in 7 2-3 innings for Seattle, which scored as many runs as in its previous three games combined. The Mariners won for the third time in four games after a four-game losing streak. Carl Everett homered in the fifth, the Mariners' first since May 1.
Doug Waechter (0-2) allowed a season-high 11 hits and seven earned runs in seven-plus innings for Tampa Bay, which lost for the seventh time in nine games.
National League
Bobby Abreu couldn't come up with the game-winning base hit or homer. So he did the next best thing.
Abreu reached on pitcher Aaron Heilman's throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing David Dellucci to score the winning run in Philadelphia's 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Heilman (0-1) retired the first two batters in the ninth, but Dellucci, pinch hitting for the pitcher, lofted a triple that landed just inside the right-field foul line. Jimmy Rollins was hit by a pitch and Chase Utley walked to load the bases for Abreu.
Abreu tapped the ball in front of the plate, and a charging Heilman slipped as his throw to first base sailed down the line, allowing Dellucci to score for the emotional win in Philadelphia.
The last time Philadelphia won nine in a row was a 13-game streak in 1991. This streak was in jeopardy in the ninth after Carlos Delgado's two-run homer off Phillies closer Tom Gordon (2-1) wiped out a fantastic pitcher's duel between Brett Myers and Mets ace Pedro Martinez.
Delgado's drive was his 12th and tied it at 4. Gordon was 10-for-10 in save opportunities and Delgado was 2-for-30 against the right-hander.
Giants 6, Cubs 1
Barry Bonds was ready to make history in San Francisco. Juan Pierre made him wait a little longer.
Pierre's leaping catch against the wall in center field robbed Bonds of home run No. 714, and the Giants slugger remained one shy of tying Babe Ruth for second place.
Bonds, who had the night off for Monday's makeup game with Houston, went 1-for-4 with a single two nights after hitting No. 713 with a 450-foot shot in Philadelphia.
Lance Niekro had a two-run shot and singled in a run and Randy Winn added a solo drive for San Francisco to help Jason Schmidt (3-2) win his sixth straight decision against the Cubs and earn his third victory in a row. He allowed five hits, struck out six and walked none.
Rich Hill (0-2) avoided becoming the 420th pitcher to surrender a home run to Bonds.
Cardinals 4, Rockies 2
Albert Pujols' major league-leading 17th home run, a three-run shot off Jose Mesa in the eighth inning, gave the Cardinals the home win.
Pujols' blast came one inning after Colorado's Matt Holliday hit his third homer in two games to snap a 1-1 tie.
Colorado starter Josh Fogg allowed six hits and one run in seven innings, but Mesa (0-1) allowed three runs in eighth, failing to record an out.
Adam Wainwright (1-0) worked a perfect eighth and Jason Isringhausen struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.
The visiting Rockies had won four straight.
Brewers 5, Padres 4, 10 innings
Corey Koskie doubled in the go-ahead run off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the 10th inning and the Brewers ended the Padres' nine-game winning streak.
San Diego had tied the game at 4 in the sixth on Khalil Greene's three-run homer.
Carlos Lee, who homered in the fifth inning, started visiting Milwaukee's winning rally with a two-out double into the left-field corner. Koskie followed with the double into the right-field corner off Hoffman (0-1).
Dan Kolb (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win, and Derrick Turnbow pitched the 10th for his 11th save in as many chances.
Dodgers 12, Astros 7
Jeff Kent hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs to lift the Dodgers to their fourth straight win.
Kent's second homer of the season capped the Dodgers' six-run eighth inning. Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew also homered against Houston starter Andy Pettitte, who allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings.
Morgan Ensberg, Adam Everett and Jason Lane hit two-run homers for the Astros, who have lost five straight.
Mike Gallo (0-1) got the loss for visiting Houston, while Takashi Saito (3-2) pitched a perfect eighth inning for the victory.
Pirates 3, Diamondbacks 0
Ian Snell limited Arizona to five hits over seven innings and Ronny Paulino hit his first career homer.
Paulino homered in the second inning, his first in 47 career at-bats, as the Pirates took a 2-0 lead at home against Miguel Batista (3-2). Paulino missed a second homer by inches when his drive in the seventh hit the top of the padded wall in right field and bounded back into play for a double. Paulino scored a batter later on pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit's double.
Snell (2-2) struck out five and walked one. Mike Gonzalez completed the six-hitter for his fourth save in as many opportunities.
Nationals 7, Reds 1
Tony Armas Jr. pitched into the seventh inning and Jose Guillen hit two home runs to lead Washington.
Ryan Zimmerman, Alfonso Soriano and Matthew LeCroy added solo drives for Washington, which finished with a season-high five homers. Guillen had three RBIs.
Soriano's ninth-inning drive off Brian Shackelford traveled an estimated 492 feet, making it the fourth longest ever hit at Great American Ball Park.
Armas (3-2) allowed one run and two hits in six-plus innings.
Reds starter Brandon Claussen (2-4) allowed 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings and struck out four in his second straight loss.
Braves 10, Marlins 2
Brian Jordan hit a three-run homer and John Thomson pitched five innings for his first win of the season as the Braves handed the Marlins a franchise-record tying 11th consecutive home loss.
Thomson (1-2) lowered his ERA to 1.88 and won for the first time in six starts. He gave up four hits and an unearned run, and drove in a run with a single.
Brian Moehler (0-4) lost his 10th consecutive decision since last season. He gave up seven runs in 5 1-3 innings, hiking his ERA to 9.76.
Atlanta's Edgar Renteria was 0-for-11 lifetime against Moehler before he doubled in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to start the season to 23 games.
Minor League Baseball prospect Delmon Young was suspended for 50 games without pay by the second-division International League on Tuesday for throwing a bat that hit an umpire in the chest.
League president Randy Mobley said he believed the suspension was the longest in the league's 123-year history. There was no record of the most severe suspension in US minor league professional baseball for an on-field incident.
Young was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was chosen the 2005 minor league player of the year by Baseball America. His brother is Detroit Tigers star Dmitri Young.
"Fifty is a fair amount, and I'm going to serve it and then I'll be back on the ballfield," Young said at the Devil Rays' minor league complex.
"No, I really don't think I have anger management issues," he said. "I'm competitive. I just let the emotions get a little better than me sometimes. I've got to control that."
The suspension is retroactive to April 27, the day after Young tossed his bat in a game while playing for Durham. The 20-year-old outfielder has agreed to perform at least 50 hours of community service, and can play again June 19.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but