Print

Mail

wiki links

Wang strikes out 10 as Yanks win

Alex Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs and Wang Chien-ming (王建民) struck out a career-high 10 batters as the New York Yankees overpowered the cross-town Mets 8-2 in Major League Baseball (MLB) interleague play on Sunday.

Rodriguez delivered his Major League-leading 27th home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the first inning to help the Yankees to their 11th win in 12 games.

Wang (7-4) came within one out of a complete game. He gave up six hits and two runs and walked only one batter.

"He was really throwing hard," the Mets' Carlos Beltran said.

"I didn't know he was capable of throwing 95, 96, 97 [miles per hour]," Beltran said.

The Yankees' Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon also hit home runs.

Orlando Hernandez struck out six and walked one for the Mets. The former Yankee pitcher gave up seven hits and six runs.

Miquel Cairo's run-scoring double and Damon's RBI single pushed the Yankees's lead to 4-0 in the second and Rodriguez made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third.

Damon homered in the sixth for a 6-0 advantage and Posada's two-run shot in the eighth gave the Yankees their final runs.

Wang had a two-hitter going until the seventh inning when Carlos Delgado's two-out double netted the Mets their first run.

Beltran's ninth-inning single provided the Mets' second run.

Indians 5, Braves 2

Fausto Carmona pitched seven-plus innings to help the Cleveland Indians avoid a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Casey Blake extended Major League Baseball's longest hitting streak of the season to 26 games as Cleveland won for only the third time in eight games.

Chipper Jones got his 2,000th hit and Scott Thorman hit his eighth homer for Atlanta.

Angels 10, Dodgers 4

In Los Angeles, Howie Kendrick and Orlando Cabrera had three hits each and drove in a combined three runs, helping the Angels clinch the second Freeway Series of the season.

Kelvim Escobar (8-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two.

The Angels dropped the opening game, then won the final two of the interleague series, giving them a 5-1 record against the Dodgers this season.

Cardinals 10, Athletics 6

In Oakland, Ryan Ludwick hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning and drove in a career-high five runs, leading St. Louis to their first interleague series win in four tries this season.

Colby Lewis (0-2) allowed three straight singles to start the seventh before Ludwick's high drive landed in the elevated seats in left-center for his third homer. Lewis' streak of 24 straight retired batters ended on Albert Pujols' base hit up the middle to start the rally.

Tigers 7, Phillies 4

In Philadelphia, Justin Verlander lost his bid for another no-hitter early and watched Detroit come through late, scoring five runs in the seventh to rally and beat Philadelphia.

The Tigers used three pinch-hitters in the seventh, including Gary Sheffield who hit for Verlander and knocked in a run off Geoff Geary (1-2) that cut it to 3-2.

Craig Monroe and Magglio Ordonez followed with consecutive two-RBI hits to complete the rally for a 6-3 lead.

Red Sox 9, Giants 5

In Boston, Barry Bonds added MLB's oldest ballpark to his long-ball list on his way to the sport's most hallowed record.

The San Francisco slugger hit his 748th career homer adding Fenway Park, the Red Sox and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to his totals and moving within seven of Hank Aaron's record.

Twins 10, Brewers 9

In Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning over the wall in right field for his third walk-off homer of the season for Minnesota.

The blast by the reigning AL MVP bailed out teammate Lew Ford, whose two fielding miscues in the top of the inning allowed Milwaukee to tie the game off closer Joe Nathan (3-1).

Astros 10, Mariners 3

In Houston, Mike Lamb hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as Houston completed a series sweep.

Lamb was exceptional throughout the weekend series, going 8-for-10 with two homers, eight RBIs and three doubles.

Devil Rays 7, Rockies 4

In Denver, Jonny Gomes hit a pair of two-run homers, Carlos Pena hit a solo shot into the third deck at Coors Field and Tampa Bay avoided a three-game sweep.

Gomes had the fourth multi-homer game of his career and first since June 11 of last season against Kansas City.

Nationals 4, Blue Jays 2

In Toronto, Ryan Zimmerman homered for the second straight game for Washington, which overcame Frank Thomas' record 244th homer as a designated hitter.

Thomas tied it 2-2 with a solo homer in the third inning, moving him past Edgar Martinez for the most by a DH in MLB history.

Royals 5, Marlins 4

In Kansas City, Missouri, Brian Bannister won his fourth consecutive start, Esteban German drove in the go-ahead run and Kansas City improved to 8-4 in interleague play.

The Royals have won all four series this season against National League teams -- St. Louis, Philadelphia, Colorado and Florida.

Diamondbacks 6, Orioles 4

In Baltimore, Chad Tracy singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Arizona capitalized on another poor performance by the Baltimore bullpen in a victory that extended the Orioles' losing streak to eight.

Eric Byrnes and Chris Snyder homered for the Diamondbacks.

Rangers 11, Reds 4

In Cincinnati, Kevin Millwood got his first victory in two months and Marlon Byrd hit his first homer in nearly a year and drove in three runs for Texas.

Sammy Sosa pinch-hit and grounded into a forceout, leaving him one homer away from becoming the fifth to reach 600.

Pirates 8, White Sox 7

In Pittsburgh, Nate McLouth had a career-high four RBIs and Jose Bautista homered and drove in two runs for the Pirates.

Jack Wilson scored three runs, and Xavier Nady's two-run single in the seventh broke a 5-5 tie and proved to be the winning hit for Pittsburgh, which finished its interleague homestand 4-2.

Padres 11, Cubs 3

Mike Cameron hit two homers and the San Diego Padres hit a season-high five in an 11-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Cameron hit a two-run shot to center in the first inning and followed Adrian Gonzalez's two-run drive in the third with a homer off Rich Hill (5-5) that made it 5-1. Khalil Greene added a three-run homer off Sean Gallagher in the fifth and Rob Bowen hit a solo drive against Michael Wuertz in the eighth.

Greg Maddux (6-3) allowed three runs and seven hits and struck out one.

This story has been viewed 803 times.