Justin Verlander shut down the New York Yankees while the Detroit Tigers roughed up Mike Mussina and a couple of relievers in their highest-scoring game this season, a 16-0 win on Monday.
Verlander (14-5) gave up just three hits over seven innings and Placido Polanco was one of three Tigers with at least three hits, including his homer after Mussina was chased.
The Tigers, who outhit the Yankees 20-3, took three of the four games and won a series for the first time since sweeping Minnesota from July 17-19. New York, meanwhile, has lost five of seven games and fallen eight games behind American League East-leading Boston.
Mussina (8-10) might have pitched himself out of the rotation, lasting just three innings and giving up six runs, nine hits and a walk. Mussina has allowed 19 earned runs in nine innings -- an ERA of 17.69 -- in his last three starts, his season ERA rising from 4.50 to 5.53.
Indians 8, Twins 3
At Cleveland, Paul Byrd beat Minnesota once again, Victor Martinez homered and Cleveland turned a triple play in slowing Minnesota's climb in the AL Central.
Byrd (13-5) allowed three runs in six innings to move to 4-0 this season and 10-3 in his career against the Twins.
With runners at first and second in the top of the seventh, Indians reliever Rafael Perez came on and got Mike Redmond to hit a hard grounder to third baseman Casey Blake, who fielded it and quickly stepped on the bag. Blake then threw to second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, whose relay to first baseman Victor Martinez easily beat the slow-footed Twins catcher.
Angels 6, Mariners 0
At Seattle, John Lackey pitched his second straight seven-hit shutout against the Seattle and Los Angeles increased its lead in the AL West to three games.
Garret Anderson homered and had three RBIs as the Angels improved to 9-4 against Seattle this season.
White Sox 5, Devil Rays 4
At Chicago, Jose Contreras got his first win as a starter in two months and rookie Josh Fields put the White Sox ahead with Chicago's fourth homer of the seventh inning.
Contreras (7-16), who leads the major league in losses, had dropped nine straight starts since beating Florida on June 18. He allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0 in his career against Tampa Bay.
Blue Jays 6, Athletics 2
At Oakland, California, Troy Glaus' run-scoring double off the wall highlighted Toronto's four-run rally in the 12th inning as Toronto sent Oakland to its fourth straight loss.
Oakland tied it in the eighth on Dan Johnson's RBI single and the Athletics' bullpen retired 11 straight batters before Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas singled to lead off the 12th against Alan Embree (1-2).
Glaus then crushed a line drive off the top of the extended wall in left-center and Aaron Hill followed with an RBI single off Ruddy Lugo. Gregg Zaun and Reed Johnson drove in additional runs for the Blue Jays.
Chase Utley had three hits, including a solo homer, in his first game since having hand surgery one month ago as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 9-2 in the National League on Monday.
J.D. Durbin had a career-high six strikeouts in six innings, Pat Burrell and pinch-hitter Tadahito Iguchi hit two-run homers and Jayson Werth was 4-for-4 for the Phillies.
Durbin (6-3) allowed two runs and six hits. Mets starter Brian Lawrence (1-2) gave up five runs and 10 hits in four innings.
Padres 3, Diamondbacks 1
At San Diego, Geoff Blum hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and ace Jake Peavy was brilliant again with 11 strikeouts, leading San Diego past Arizona and trimming the Diamondbacks' lead in the National League West to two games over the Padres.
Milton Bradley also homered for San Diego, which is trying to win its third straight division title.
Braves 13, Marlins 2
At Miami, Brian McCann hit his second grand slam in a week and Atlanta rebounded from a tough weekend in St. Louis to rout slumping Florida.
The Braves won for the second time in seven games, after losing two of three over the weekend to the Cardinals. The Marlins lost for the 12th time in their last 13.
Matt Diaz hit a solo homer, doubled twice, singled and scored three runs. Chipper Jones had three hits and scored three runs and Kelly Johnson hit a solo homer.
Giants 4, Rockies 1
At San Francisco, Rich Aurilia singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning for the second straight day and San Francisco downed Colorado for its fifth straight win.
Kevin Frandsen added a two-run double to give the Giants their 10th win in 12 games.
Brad Hawpe hit a home run for the Rockies, who had their three-game winning streak stopped.
Brian Wilson (1-0) pitched the eighth for the win and Brad Hennessey pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances, including the last 12 in a row.
Dodgers 5, Nationals 4
At Los Angeles, Derek Lowe won despite giving up three homers, Ramon Martinez hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Los Angeles gained ground in the NL West.
Los Angeles closed within five-and-a-half games of division-leading Arizona and remained three-and-a-half games back of San Diego in the wild-card race.
The Dodgers trailed 4-2 before they scored three runs in the sixth inning, capped off by Martinez's sacrifice fly.
Lowe (11-11) gave up three homers in a game for the first time in more than two years. The right-hander allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB