Tigers earn rare sweep in Bronx

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda delivers a pitch against Florida Marlins pitcher Burke Badenhop at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Thursday. PHOTO: EPA

AMERICAN LEAGUE

The Detroit Tigers overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit to beat the Yankees 8-4 on Thursday and complete their first three-game sweep of the Bronx Bombers in New York in 42 years.

Ramon Santiago, making his first start of the season at shortstop, slashed a two-run triple in the sixth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and Miguel Cabrera drove a two-run, opposite field homer to right in the seventh to lift the Tigers to victory.

Detroit left-hander Nate Robertson recovered from a three-run homer he yielded to Bobby Abreu in the first to go five and two-thirds innings for the win and improve to 1-3.

Rookie right-hander Ian Kennedy failed to protect the early 3-0 lead, giving up four runs in the third keyed by a two-run double by Magglio Ordonez and a run-scoring triple by Cabrera.

Reliever Jonathan Albaladejo (0-1) took the loss.

Detroit, preseason favorites in the American League Central, are beginning to roll after an 0-7 start. The win lifted the Bengals’ record to 14-15.

New York dropped to 14-16 but Yankee captain Derek Jeter at least reached a milestone.

When he crossed the plate in the fifth inning to make it 4-4, it was the shortstop’s 1,390th run, tying him for fourth on the team’s all-time list with Joe DiMaggio.

The Yankees said tests on injured pitcher Phil Hughes, placed on the disabled list on Wednesday, had showed a stress fracture of a rib that would probably sideline him until July.

That made the 23-year-old Kennedy’s failure to hold the Tigers down sting even more since the team was counting on him to contribute.

“Again, he doesn’t get through the fifth inning and that’s tough,” Yankee manager Joe Girardi told reporters. “You can’t continue to do that because it kills your bullpen. He’s still having that inning he’s having a hard time closing out. He’s not giving us the distance we need. This game isn’t easy and you have to be able to make adjustments on the fly.”

“You start going through a lineup a second time, a third time, you have to start reading their swings and how they are attacking you and make adjustments,” Girardi said.

BLUE JAYS 3, RED SOX 0

At Boston, A.J. Burnett scattered three hits pitching into the eighth inning and Alex Rios homered for the Toronto Blue Jays, who wrapped up a miserable road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Toronto finished the nine-game trip at 2-7 and avoided a sweep after Boston had won the two previous games in the last at-bat. The Red Sox and Blue Jays combined for seven total runs in the series.



In other games it was:

• Indians 3, Mariners 2, 11 innings

• Athletics 15, Angels 8

• Rays 4, Orioles 2

• Rangers 2, Royals 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE

AP, CHICAGO

Ryan Braun hit a two-run double off Kerry Wood during Milwaukee’s three-run ninth inning and the Brewers rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Thursday.

Wood wasted his third save opportunity in seven chances and a fine performance by Carlos Zambrano, who pitched six innings and helped himself with his 13th career homer — tying the team record held by Ferguson Jenkins.

Brian Shouse (2-0) got the final out in the eighth and Eric Gagne pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 13 chances.

DODGERS 5, MARLINS 3

At Miami, Matt Kemp drove in the tiebreaking run with a ninth-inning single and Los Angeles beat Florida to complete its second consecutive series sweep.

The Dodgers have won six straight, their longest winning streak since taking seven in a row to close the 2006 season. The Marlins have lost three in a row for the first time this year.

With the score 3-all, Rafael Furcal led off the ninth with a walk against Kevin Gregg (3-2), advanced on Juan Pierre’s sacrifice and scored on Kemp’s single.

PHILLIES 3, PADRES 2

At Philadelphia , Ryan Howard hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning to lift Philadelphia over San Diego.

Tom Gordon (3-2) pitched a perfect eighth and Brad Lidge retired the side in the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances. Lidge hasn’t allowed an earned run in 12 innings this season.

The slumping Howard connected off Joe Thatcher (0-3) leading off the eighth, driving one into the right-field seats. The 2006 NL MVP also had an RBI double against starter Randy Wolf. Howard is batting just .184 with six homers and 14 RBIs.

NATIONALS 3, PIRATES 2

At Washington, Austin Kearns broke a tie with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning, and Washington edged Pittsburgh to run its winning streak to a season-high four games.