AMERICAN LEAGUE
The Seattle Mariners downed the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on Sunday to win their third consecutive series.
Pitcher Erik Bedard (5-2) picked up his third victory in a row, continuing to rebound from shoulder problems that have plagued him over the past two seasons.
PHOTO: AP
Jose Lopez had three hits including a homer and drove in two runs.
Bedard — who allowed two runs on four hits over five innings, striking out and walking four — said he was satisfied with the win.
“I felt good out there, even though my pitch count got high too quickly,” Bedard, who threw 101 pitches, told reporters. “It was good enough to get the job done.”
It was the second straight loss for the Twins, and with Detroit chalking up two wins in a row left them three-and-a-half games behind the front-running Tigers in the AL Central.
Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire felt his club should have had more to show for its efforts.
“I thought we worked Bedard about as good as you can work him,” Gardenhire said. “We forced him to throw pitches. We did our job working him, we just never came up with the big hit against him.”
Russell Branyan and Jamie Burke also homered for the Mariners, with the 37-year-old Burke adding a single in his first game since being recalled to the majors from Triple-A Tacoma.
“You can’t get discouraged,” Burke said. “There are a lot of good catchers in this organization. A lot of guys can play at this level and just never know who’s going to get the call, and I wasn’t discouraged at all. It’s just part of the game.”
YANKEES 4, RAYS 3
At New York, Mariano Rivera bounced back from a poor outing against Tampa Bay as the home team rallied for three runs in the eighth inning.
Nick Swisher hit the 100th home run in 28 games at the new Yankee Stadium, helping Joe Girardi earn his 200th win as a manager.
Alfredo Aceves (4-1) pitched two scoreless innings in New York’s major league-leading 20th comeback victory this season.
Hideki Matsui beat out a potential double-play grounder to drive in the go-ahead run and Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save — one day after giving up four runs in the ninth inning and taking the loss.
The Yankees took advantage of two crucial walks and a key error by fill-in third baseman Willy Aybar in the eighth to beat reliever Grant Balfour (2-1).
In other AL action it was:
Rangers 6, Red Sox 3
Blue Jays 4, Royals 0
Tigers 9, Angels 6
Indians 8, White Sox 4
Athletics 3, Orioles 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, SAN DIEGO
Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer off infielder Josh Wilson with two outs in the 18th inning on Sunday, giving the Arizona Diamondbacks a 9-6 win over the San Diego Padres in the longest major league game this season.
The Padres were held hitless through nine extra innings by four relievers. Their only baserunners in extras came on three walks. The game took 5 hours, 45 minutes.
San Diego scored five in the ninth and tied it at 6 on David Eckstein’s first career pinch-hit homer, a three-run shot, with two outs off Chad Qualls.
In other NL action it was:
Phillies 7, Dodgers 2
Braves 8, Milwaukee 7
Giants 3, Marlins 2
Rockies 7, Cardinals 2
Cubs 6, Reds 3, 14 inns
Mets 7, Nationals 0
Astros 6, Pirates 4
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