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Yanks’ Mussina stops Rangers

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kuo Hong-chih, of Taiwan, pitches in the eighth inning against the St Louis Cardinals in St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Mike Mussina pitched seven scoreless innings to help the New York Yankees earn a split of their four-game series against the Texas Rangers with a 3-0 road victory on Thursday.

Mussina’s 15th victory of the season equaled the most he had registered since 2003 and matched the Cleveland Indians’ Cliff Lee for the most in the American League this campaign.

The veteran right-hander has been the rock of a Yankees starting rotation forced to absorb injuries to Wang Chien-ming, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.

“I’ve got some more games to pitch, and hopefully, I can keep doing what I’ve been doing,” Mussina (15-7) told reporters.

“I’m not going to try to change anything or invent something new. I’m just trying to keep going out there and preparing and doing what I’ve been doing.”

New York closer Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth to record his 28th save of the year as the Rangers were held scoreless for only the second time this season.

Yankees regular shortstop Derek Jeter filled in as the designated hitter and went 3-for-4, sparking the victory with a solo home run in the first inning off Texas starter Scott Feldman. Jeter added an RBI single in the ninth.

Feldman was solid for the Rangers, allowing two runs over seven innings pitched, but received no run support.

“We have the best offense in the league,” Feldman said. “Tonight probably would have been enough to win any other night, but not the way Mussina was pitching.”

Right fielder Marlon Byrd went 3-for-4 for Texas (60-56), now 12 games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West division.

The Yankees (63-52) have pulled to within three games of the second-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East.

BLUE JAYS 6, ATHLETICS 4

At Toronto, A.J. Burnett won his fourth straight start as Toronto extended Oakland’s losing streak to 10 games.

Joe Inglett drove in the go-ahead run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, helping Toronto finish a four-game sweep.

Burnett (14-9) allowed four runs in six innings.

Winless since July 27, the A’s have dropped seven straight series and are a major league-worst 2-17 since the All-Star break.

The last time Oakland had a losing streak this long was a 12-game skid that began with nine straight losses in September 1995 and continued with three more defeats in April 1996.

The A’s also lost 12 consecutive games in April 1994.

In other games, it was:

• Tigers 8, White Sox 3

• Mariners 2, Rays 1



NATIONAL LEAGUE

AP, NEW YORK

David Wright hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning after the Mets bullpen blew another late lead for Johan Santana, lifting New York to a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

Santana, just 9-7 in his first season with the Mets, left with a 3-1 lead in the eighth.

It was the sixth time in 24 starts this season that the bullpen cost him a potential win, and in five of those the collapse came in the ninth inning.

He has eight no-decisions, and in seven of those allowed two runs or fewer.

Wright’s drive off Heath Bell (6-5) was his 21st of the season and came after he committed base running blunders in each of the first two games of the series and a costly error in New York’s 4-2 loss on Wednesday night.

MARLINS 3, PHILLIES 0

At Philadelphia, Chris Volstad tossed six sharp innings and combined with four relievers on a four-hitter, helping Florida take two of three from the National League East leader Philadelphia.

Volstad (3-2) didn’t allow a hit until pitcher Cole Hamels lined a single to center with two outs in the fifth. The 21-year-old right-hander gave up three hits and walked four.

Joe Nelson worked the seventh, Arthur Rhodes and Matt Lindstrom combined for three outs in the eighth, and Kevin Gregg finished for his 25th save in 31 chances.

Hamels (9-8) again was a hard-luck loser. The left-hander allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out seven. He hasn’t won since July 3.

DODGERS 4, CARDINALS 1

At St Louis, Clayton Kershaw worked seven dominant innings and Manny Ramirez homered for the fourth time in six games with Los Angeles, which averted a three-game sweep to St Louis.

Ryan Ludwick’s consecutive home run streak ended at five games, which tied a Cardinals record, after he went 1-for-3 with a single, two strikeouts and a walk.

The 20-year-old Kershaw (2-3), the seventh overall pick of the 2006 draft, allowed only three singles while matching his season best with seven strikeouts and working around four walks. The seven-inning stint was the deepest he’s gone by a full inning in 12 career starts.

Taiwan’s Kuo Hong-chih stepped in to pitch a perfect eighth inning, striking out one batter.

NATIONALS 6, ROCKIES 3

NATIONALS 6, ROCKIES 3, 2ND GAME

At Denver, Lastings Milledge homered twice in the opener and finished the day with five hits and five RBIs to help Washington sweep a doubleheader from Colorado by identical scores.

The Nationals got strong starts from Odalis Perez (5-8) and Jason Bergmann (2-8), who took a shutout into the eighth inning of Game 1 for his first win in nearly three months.

Joel Hanrahan saved both games, giving him three saves this season.

The Nationals were 18-37 on the road before taking three of four at Coors Field. Matt Holliday, Yorvit Torrealba and Garrett Atkins homered for Colorado.

Just off the disabled list, Jeff Francis (3-8) lost his first start since June 28.

In the nightcap, the Nationals roughed up Ubaldo Jimenez (8-10), who was 6-1 in his previous seven starts and entered with a 14-inning scoreless streak.

In other games, it was:

• Astros 7, Reds 4

• Braves 6, Diamondbacks 4