AMERICAN LEAGUE
REUTERS, CLEVELAND, OHIO
The stage was set for Alex Rodriguez, a chance to celebrate his 35th birthday with a ninth-inning, game-tying home run that would make him only the seventh Major League Baseball player to hit 600 career homers.
However, the stadium lights dimmed shortly after A-Rod bounced meekly to short to end a 4-1 victory for the Cleveland Indians over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.
“I saw an opportunity to get a big hit to at least keep the rally going,” Rodriguez said about his ninth-inning chance with Brett Gardner on third and Derek Jeter on first. “The No. 1 thing is you want is to get a big hit, hit the ball hard somewhere. A home run would be fantastic, not to get 600 but to tie the game.”
Rodriguez grounded out three times in the game and hit a long fly to right-center in the seventh that was caught just in front of the warning track.
A-Rod is hitless in eight at-bats after two games of a four-game series in Cleveland.
“For me, the biggest thing is to stay within the game and not try to do too much,” Rodriguez told reporters, saying that a few times in recent days he had “tried to swing too hard or maybe got a little pull happy.”
“As long as I swing at strikes and think big part of the field, like that ball to right-center, good things are going to happen,” he said.
Good things happened on Tuesday for 25-year-old Indians starter Josh Tomlin, who kept the Bronx Bombers off balance as he notched a victory in his major league debut.
“He threw the ball extremely well,” Rodriguez said. “He kept working ahead of guys. For the most part, I don’t think we had any good swings against him.”
RAYS 3, TIGERS 2
James Shields pitched six-and-two-thirds strong innings to guide the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in the American League in St Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday.
Shields (9-9) allowed just one walk and had seven strikeouts as the Rays closed within two games of AL East-leading New York.
Tampa Bay went up 3-2 when Matt Joyce had a broken-bat run-scoring double during the sixth.
Detroit’s Justin Verlander (12-6) allowed three runs in his second complete game of the season, but took the loss.
Rafael Soriano, the Rays’ fourth reliever, struggled in the ninth before getting his 27th save.
RED SOX 4, ANGELS 2
In Anaheim, California, John Lackey pitched into the eighth inning to win in his return to Angel Stadium, directing Boston’s win over Los Angeles.
Lackey (10-5), pitching against his old team, threw 124 pitches.
Jed Lowrie’s two-run double in the seventh put Boston ahead in just his sixth game of the season after missing nearly four months with mononucleosis.
Angels starter Jered Weaver (9-7) allowed six hits in seven innings as Los Angeles slumped to its sixth loss in seven games.
RANGERS 3, ATHLETICS 1, 10 INNINGS
In Arlington, Texas, Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to lift Texas over Oakland.
With the game tied 1-1, Josh Hamilton drew a one-out walk off Michael Wertz (2-2) and Cruz followed with his homer.
Oakland advanced a runner to third with two outs in the 10th, but Texas’ Neftali Feliz (2-2) struck out Cliff Pennington to end it.
Rangers starter Cliff Lee struck out a career-high 13 — the most by a Texas pitcher for 11 years — but remained stuck on 99 career victories.
TWINS 11, ROYALS 2
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