Print

Mail

wiki links

Braves sweep away Philadelphia

Chuck James gave up one run in five innings, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep with an 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

Atlanta is 3-0 for the first time since opening with seven straight wins in 1994, but the Phillies are 0-3 -- all at home.

James (1-0) struck out five and allowed six hits. Adam Eaton (0-1) gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- and seven hits over 4 2-3 inning in his first start since signing a US$24.5 million contract.

Reds 5, Cubs 2

At Cincinnati Michael Barrett's passed ball let in the tiebreaking run in the seventh as Cincinnati took two of three in its opening series.

Chicago's Bob Howry (0-1) gave up pinch-hitter Jeff Conine's single that tied it with two outs in the seventh, then walked Ryan Freel. Will Ohman came on and threw a wild pitch with Adam Dunn at the plate. Barrett then compounded the mistake by letting a low, sinking pitch deflect off the end of his mitt and skitter to the backstop. Scott Hatteberg added a two-run homer in the eighth off Scott Eyre.

Victor Santos (1-0) pitched out of a threat in the seventh, and David Weathers got three outs for his first save.

Diamondbacks 4, Nationals 3

At Washington, Chris Young hit a two-run single in the first inning and Orlando Hudson homered in the third to help Arizona get the win.

The Diamondbacks had a 4-0 lead by the third inning and Edgar Gonzalez (1-0) and four relievers made it stand. It helped that the Nationals went 0-for-13 with men in scoring position.

Washington's Jason Bergmann (0-1) departed after allowing four runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Jose Valverde pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in two chances.

Giants 5, Padres 3

At San Francisco, Barry Bonds had an RBI double, Ray Durham hit a go-ahead two-run single after a walk to Bonds in the decisive fifth and Matt Morris pitched six strong innings for San Francisco.

Bruce Bochy beat his old team for his first win as Giants manager and San Francisco kept from losing its first three games for only the fifth time since the team moved west from New York in 1958.

Josh Bard hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth for San Diego but Armando Benitez got Mike Cameron to pop out with runners on first and second for his first save.

Morris (1-0) allowed one run and five hits, struck out two and walked two in an efficient 86-pitch effort.

Clay Hensley (0-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in four-and-two-thirds innings.

Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in seven innings in his major league debut, allowing six hits and dominating as he led the Boston Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Thursday.

Matsuzaka (1-0), who signed a US$52 million, six-year contract with Boston, gave up his only run on a sixth-inning homer by David DeJesus. He retired 10 in a row during one stretch and struck out the side in the fourth on 14 pitches.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out two of three batters for his first save.

Zack Greinke (0-1), who missed almost all of last season due to social anxiety disorder, struck out seven in seven innings. Manny Ramirez had an RBI double in the first and Julio Lugo doubled in the fifth, stole third and scored on catcher John Buck's throwing error.

White Sox 4, Indians 3

At Chicago, Roberto Hernandez hit A.J. Pierzynski with a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, forcing in the winning run.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle was forced out in the second inning when he was hit in the left forearm by Ryan Garko's line drive. X-rays were negative.

Pitcher Bobby Jenks (1-0) was awarded the victory.

Cleveland's Grady Sizemore hit a leadoff homer to become the first Indians player to homer in each of the first three games of the season.

Devil Rays 7, Yankees 6

At New York, Alex Rodriguez disappointed in another key at-bat and Tampa Bay spoiled Andy Pettitte's return to New York.

Elijah Dukes hit his second homer in two major league games and Tampa Bay took the lead in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and held on for only its fourth road victory since July 1.

On a windy night with light snow flurries, the Yankees had three errors, three wild pitches and a passed ball. They've made six errors in two games -- three by Gold Glove shortstop Derek Jeter.

Rodriguez had a chance to nullify all that, but he popped out against Brian Stokes with the bases loaded to end the eighth.

Ruddy Lugo (1-0) got the win and Al Reyes worked a perfect ninth for his first save since 2005 with St. Louis.

Pettitte allowed two earned runs and six hits in four innings. Luis Vizcaino (1-1) got the loss.

Athletics 4, Angels 3

At Anaheim, California, Mike Piazza hit his first home run as a full-time designated hitter, connecting against Francisco Rodriguez with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Oakland to the win.

Piazza, who has the most home runs as a catcher in major league history, drove a 1-1 pitch just to the right of dead center field for his first homer in 22 career at-bats at Angel Stadium.

Before the game, Rodriguez (0-1) had to respond to reporters' questions about a smudge located on the bill of his cap that a blogger spotted.

But Major League Baseball would not confirm if any complaints were filed by the Texas Rangers, who faced him twice during the Angels' season-opening three-game sweep.

Justin Duchscherer (1-0) pitched one-and-two-thirds innings to get the win and Huston Street got three outs for his first save.

This story has been viewed 1539 times.