AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer, who started the season a perfect 6-0, struggled for the second game in a row on Tuesday, but the Tigers still scratched and clawed their way to an 8-7 victory over division rivals Minnesota.
Brennan Boesch broke a 7-7 tie with a sacrifice-fly RBI in the eighth inning to nose the Tigers (28-26) across the line and give them their third straight win.
“In that situation, I’m looking to be patient to get a pitch to hit, but I’m not trying to guide a sacrifice-fly,” Boesch told reporters of his game-winning swing. “You just have to identify a pitch that you can get the job done with, any way you can.”
In a game of momentum swings and lead changes, Detroit had six runs in the fifth to erase a 3-0 deficit, only to fall behind 7-6 in the top of the seventh when Minnesota’s Justin Morneau hit a two-run homer with his second blast of the game.
Scherzer left the game in the seventh after allowing all seven runs. The right-hander has surrendered seven runs in each of his last two starts and is 6-2 after the no-decision.
Jhonny Peralta’s sacrifice-fly RBI in the bottom of the seventh tied it 7-7 for the Tigers, who let winning pitcher Al Alburquerque work the eighth while reliever Joaquin Benoit closed out the ninth.
Peralta also had a two-run double in the fifth that gave the home team a short-lived 6-3 lead.
Minnesota scored a run in the sixth and three in the seventh to move ahead.
Phil Dumatrait pitched the final 1-1/3 innings for the Twins, taking the loss. Minnesota, who hold the worst record in the Major Leagues at 17-36, have lost three straight and nine of their past 11 games.
“The good part of it is that we’re battling our tails off,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “But unfortunately for us, it’s another loss.”
Indians 6, Blue Jays 3
In Toronto, Mitch Talbot won for the first time since returning from an elbow injury, pitching the American League-leading Cleveland Indians to a win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Talbot (2-1) missed more than three weeks with a sore elbow. He allowed one run in 6-2/3 innings.
Grady Sizemore came in 0 for 12 with seven strikeouts in three games since coming off the -disabled list last week, but ended his slump with a pair of RBI doubles. He finished 2 for 4, raising his average to .255.
Brandon Morrow (2-3) gave up a season-worst six runs in five innings for Toronto, who lost for the first time in five games.
Yankees 10, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, New York beat Oakland for the ninth straight time.
Curtis Granderson homered and drove in four runs and Derek Jeter had two hits to reach 2,983 for his career.
Robinson Cano also homered, Alex Rodriguez had three hits and three RBIs and Mark Teixeira took advantage of shoddy Oakland fielding to steal home for the Yankees, who have their longest winning streak against the A’s since 1964 to 1965.
New York’s Freddy Garcia (4-4) allowed three runs over seven innings in his 300th career start.
Oakland starter Brett Anderson (3-5) allowed a career-worst 10 runs.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Rays 5, Rangers 4
‧ White Sox 10, Red Sox 7
‧ Royals 7, Angels 3
‧ Mariners 3, Orioles 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ST LOUIS, Missouri
Skip Schumaker’s infield RBI hit capped a three-run eighth inning that lifted the St Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants in the National League on Tuesday.
Albert Pujols and Allen Craig hit RBI doubles in the eighth before Schumaker, who had been in a 2-for-19 slump, got the go-ahead single against Javier Lopez (2-1) on a perfectly placed grounder between the first and second basemen. Schumaker’s headfirst dive into the bag just beat the throw.
Marlins 5, Diamondbacks 2
In Phoenix, Arizona, Florida put an end to Arizona’s seven-game winning streak.
Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez (5-1) struck out eight batters in as many innings to win his fifth straight decision, and also drove in two runs with the bat.
Logan Morrison and Gaby Sanchez each hit solo homers as Florida took advantage of a shaky Ian Kennedy (6-2) to bounce back from a 15-4 drubbing in the series opener.
Brewers 7, Reds 2
In Cincinnati, Milwaukee got an overdue win at Cincinnati.
An ailing Corey Hart homered and drove in four runs for the Brewers, who had lost six straight at the Reds.
Hart missed two games over the weekend with a stomach illness. He hit a three-run homer off Chad Reineke (0-1), who made his first big league appearance in two years. Hart later singled home a run.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Nationals 10, Phillies 2
‧ Padres 5, Braves 4
‧ Dodgers 8, Rockies 2
‧ Pirates 5, Mets 1
‧ Astros 7, Cubs 3
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