AMERICAN LEAGUE
Jason Bay led the way again for Boston by belting a three-run homer in the first inning to ensure the Red Sox completed a two-game series sweep against New York with a 7-3 win in the new Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
The victory gave the Red Sox a spotless 5-0 mark against their pinstriped rivals this season for the first time since 1985 after a three-game sweep of the Yankees last month at Fenway Park. The Yankees have lost three straight at their new US$1.5 billion ballpark.
Bay also supplied some critical firepower in Monday’s 6-4 victory with a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
Boston improved to 17-10, while New York dipped to 13-13.
Bay’s first-inning blast gave Boston a 4-0 lead after the first three batters in their lineup singled off Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain (1-1) to make it 1-0.
Chamberlain, who was tagged with the loss, clamped down after that by striking out a career-high 12 batters over five and two-thirds innings.
The Yankees clawed back to 4-3 after a three-run homer by Johnny Damon in the third but were unable to score again.
Boston tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth and one in the ninth on just one hit — a soft, RBI-single by Nick Green in the eighth — as the Red Sox tallied on an assortment of walks, an error, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly.
Red Sox starter Josh Beckett improved to 3-2, yielding 10 hits in six innings.
Japanese relievers Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito finished up with three perfect innings — Okajima retired the six batters he faced and Saito set them down in the ninth.
After his bumpy first inning, Chamberlain enthralled the home crowd with his power pitching, but the damage was already done.
The arch rivals play each other 13 more times in the regular season.
Also on Tuesday it was:
• Blue Jays 10, Indians 6
• Rangers 7, Mariners 2, 10 innings
• Royals 8, White Sox 7, 11 innings
• Tigers 9, Twins 0
• Rays 6, Orioles 3
• Angels 5, Athletics 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles Dodgers tied the modern major league record for the longest home winning streak to start a season, improving to 12-0 at Chavez Ravine with a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League on Tuesday.
The defending NL West champions now share the mark with the 1911 Detroit Tigers, who accomplished the feat at Bennett Park the year before they moved into Tiger Stadium. The Dodgers’ sixth straight victory made them a major league-best 20-8 overall, their best start since 1983.
PHILLIES 10, CARDINALS 7
In St Louis, Shane Victorino went 4 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs as Philadelphia beat St Louis to go top of the NL East.
St Louis cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fourth before Jason Werth answered with a three-run homer in the fifth. The Phillies led three times by four runs, finally putting away the Cardinals in the seventh with two RBI singles.
Also on Tuesday it was:
• Reds 7, Marlins 0
• Brewers 8, Pirates 5
• Giants 6, Cubs 2
• Mets 4, Braves 3
• Padres 2, Rockies 1, 10 innings
• Nationals 10, Astros 10, 11 innings, suspended
RSS