Print

Mail

wiki links

Red Sox’s Youkilis defies gravity

Chicago White Sox third-base coach Jeff Cox sports a camouflage uniform and a vintage US helmet in honor of US troops stationed overseas before a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Chicago on Friday. PHOTO: AP

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead, three-run homer two innings after Kevin Youkilis’ shot defied gravity to spark the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 win over the New York Yankees on Friday.

Youkilis’ drive squirted out of Johnny Damon’s glove, bounced off the top of the left-field wall three times and sat on the fence for several tantalizing seconds before rolling back to the field for a tying, two-run triple.

Damon bruised and sprained his left shoulder on Youkilis’ triple and left the game, as the Yankees lost for the fifth time in six games.

Josh Beckett (8-5) recovered from a three-run first inning that included a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez, and a sacrifice fly by Jason Giambi. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 29 chances, completing a six-hitter.

ATHLETICS 7, WHITE SOX 1

At Chicago, Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Joe Blanton pitched seven solid innings to lead Oakland to a win over Chicago.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kuo Hong-chih of Taiwan pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning in San Francisco on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Emil Brown and Wes Bankston both had three hits for Oakland, which finished with 17 hits.

The White Sox dropped their second consecutive game after winning seven straight, and their lead in the AL Central fell to one game with the Twins’ victory over Cleveland.

Blanton (5-11) allowed one run and six hits.

TWINS 12, INDIANS 3

At Minneapolis, Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and finished with a season-high four RBIs to help Minnesota beat Cleveland for its 14th win in 16 games.

Nick Punto homered and also had four RBIs for Minnesota.

Livan Hernandez (9-5) allowed home runs to Kelly Shoppach and Ben Francisco, but held the Indians to three runs and five hits over six innings.

Paul Byrd (3-10) allowed six runs and eight hits over 5 1-3 innings for slumping Cleveland, which has lost six straight.

MARINERS 4, TIGERS 1

At Seattle, Raul Ibanez clanged a solo home run off the windows of a restaurant in right field and a pair of Seattle relievers helped finish what Erik Bedard started.

Jose Lopez added a key two-run double late to help the Mariners win for the eighth time in 11 games. Ibanez’s 10th homer of the season broke a 1-all tie in the fourth, and Lopez sealed the victory with a two-out, two RBI double off Detroit starter Kenny Rogers (6-6) in the eighth.

It made a winner out of Seattle starter Bedard (6-4) even though he called it a day after five innings.



In other games it was:

• Orioles 10, Rangers 4

• Rays 11, Royals 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE

AP, DENVER, COLORADO

Chris Iannetta singled home the winning run off Kevin Gregg in the ninth inning and Colorado homered six times to beat the Florida Marlins 18-17 after trailing by nine runs in the biggest comeback in Rockies history.

Garrett Atkins, who had a career-best five hits, drove in the tying run off Gregg (6-4), who blew his second save in 24 hours.

After Hanley Ramirez’s error on a potential double-play groundball loaded the bases, Iannetta singled to left through a drawn-in infield.

The last time a team came back to win from nine down was Aug. 23, 2006, when Cleveland rallied for a 15-13 victory at Kansas City, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

DODGERS 10, GIANTS 7

At San Francisco, Andre Ethier homered and smashed a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, Derek Lowe won for the first time in three starts and Los Angeles rallied past San Francisco for its fourth straight victory.

Giants rookie reliever Osiris Matos (0-1) allowed five unearned runs in the sixth. Left fielder Fred Lewis made a costly mistake when he dropped a routine line drive by Nomar Garciaparra to start the inning. Pinch-hitter Delwyn Young hit a tying RBI single two batters later, then one out later Ethier began a stretch of three straight doubles that scored runs.

CUBS 2, CARDINALS 1

At St. Louis, the return of Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano trumped the soap opera setting of Jim Edmonds’ homecoming and Albert Pujols’ 300th home run.



In other games it was:

• Padres 5, Diamondbacks 1

• Brewers 9, Pirates 1

• Reds 3, Nationals 0

• Phillies 3, Mets 2

• Braves 6, Astros 2
This story has been viewed 873 times.