Print

Mail

wiki links

AMERICAN LEAGUE: Blue Jays trounce struggling Royals

Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay pitches against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of their game against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday. PHOTO: AP

The Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City 7-1 in a match-up of the two lowest-scoring teams in the American League on Friday, inflicting the Royals’ fifth straight loss.

Starting pitcher Roy Halladay threw his majors-leading fifth complete game to record the win.

The light-hitting Marco Scutaro connected for two-run singles in his first two at-bats, matching a career high with four RBIs.

Yankees 13, Mariners 2

In New York, Andy Pettitte struck out nine batters to win for the first time in more than a month as New York beat Seattle.

Shelley Duncan hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and the Yankees put together an eight-run fifth inning to blow the game open.

Mariners manager John McLaren was ejected in the second inning, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi was missing, too, due to a one-game suspension after a similar confrontation with an umpire the previous day.

Rays 2, Orioles 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, pitcher Matt Garza took a four-hitter into the eighth inning as Tampa Bay shut down Baltimore.

Carl Crawford snapped a scoreless tie with a fifth-inning single for the Rays.

The Orioles have been shut out two of the past three games and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. They’ve been outscored 12-1 during a three-game losing streak and haven’t homered in 28-and-one-third innings.

Twins 9, Tigers 4

In Detroit, Kevin Slowey pitched seven shutout innings as Minnesota upset Detroit.

The Tigers, last in the Central Division after a slow start, scored 30 runs in a three-game sweep of Seattle, but Slowey pushed them back into a slump.

Slowey gave up four hits and three walks in six innings for his first win this season after four losses.

Angels 3, White Sox 1

In Chicago, Los Angeles brought an end to Chicago’s eight-game winning streak.

Angels starter Joe Saunders took a shutout into the ninth inning and Torii Hunter homered in the fifth for the visitors.

Saunders recorded his eighth win, and is emerging as a star after splitting the past two seasons between the majors and minors. He has needed just 10 starts to match last year’s win total and moved into a tie with Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka for the AL lead in victories.

Rangers 13, Indians 9

In Cleveland, the home side lost its seventh in a row and lost pitcher Fausto Carmona to injury against Texas.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his first career grand slam and the Rangers got seven runs in the third inning when Carmona was replaced after straining his left hip on a fielding play. He will be assessed on a day-to-day basis.

Athletics 8, Red Sox 3

In Oakland, California, Boston’s seven-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of Oakland.

Veteran slugger Frank Thomas hit a two-run homer to stake pitcher Rich Harden to an early lead and Mark Ellis added a three-run shot.

Harden didn’t allow a hit until the fourth on the way to winning back-to-back starts.

Thomas hit the first pitch he saw in the third for his seventh home run, then Ellis hit his fourth homer of the year in the third.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

AP, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Carlos Zambrano had four hits to go with a stellar seven innings on the mound and Reed Johnson hit a three-run home run and two doubles as the Chicago Cubs drubbed the Pittsburgh Pirates again 12-3 on Friday.

The Cubs, who lead the National League Central, are 9-1 against their division rival this season.

Zambrano (7-1) gave up two runs and six hits, and his four-hit game was the first by a Cubs pitcher since Lew Burdette on July 23, 1964. His 4-for-5 elevated his average to .343, which is higher than any Pirates starting position player.

Zach Duke (2-3) was lifted after allowing 10 of the Cubs’ 18 hits and five runs.

Diamondbacks 11, Braves 1

At Atlanta, Doug Davis gave up only one run in seven innings and Arizona used a five-run first inning to roll past Atlanta.

Davis (2-1) was strong in his first major league start since April 8, giving up five hits. Doctors removed Davis’ cancerous thyroid gland on April 10 and declared him cancer-free this month.

Stephen Drew and Eric Byrnes hit homers and Chris Snyder added a two-run double in Arizona’s five-run first inning. Conor Jackson, Chris Young and Mark Reynolds also hit homers.

Atlanta’s Jo-Jo Reyes (2-2) gave up six hits and eight runs, seven earned, in five innings.

Giants 8, Marlins 2

At Miami, Barry Zito earned his first win of the season after eight straight losses, Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand hit consecutive home runs, and Jose Castillo also connected to help San Francisco win a third consecutive game.

Zito (1-8) allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked four for his first victory since Sept.

30. He avoided becoming the first starter in franchise history to begin a season 0-9.

The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner, Zito has been a bust in San Francisco since signing a US$126 million, seven-year contract before last season.

Scott Olsen (4-2) allowed seven runs and eight hits in his shortest outing of the season for Florida.

Nationals 5, Brewers 1

At Washington, Milwaukee shortstop J.J. Hardy’s error was turned into four unearned runs in the sixth inning to give Brian Sanches a win in his Washington debut.

The Nationals sent six men to the plate after Hardy bobbled Cristian Guzman’s routine double-play bouncer in the sixth inning, breaking a 1-1 tie and making a hard-luck loser out of Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (2-4).

Sanches (1-0), promoted earlier in the day from Triple-A Columbus, struck out the side while allowing one hit in the sixth.

His one inning of work was enough to earn him his second major league victory — the first came last year with Philadelphia.

Astros 4, Phillies 3

At Houston, Jose Valverde earned a save after getting struck in the face with a line drive and Hunter Pence hit two homers for Houston.

Valverde earned his 15th save in 18 chances after Pedro Feliz smacked a liner off his face. The closer allowed four hits and two runs in an eventful ninth, before Shane Victorino flew out to center with runners on second and third to end it.
This story has been viewed 707 times.