Travis Hafner homered twice, went 4-for-5 and tied a career high with six RBIs, and the Cleveland Indians ended a four-game losing streak with a 14-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
Casey Blake went 5-for-6 to match a career high for hits as the Indians tied their season best with 21. Cleveland also had 21 hits -- including eight home runs -- on July 16 at Seattle.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Jake Westbrook (9-5) won despite allowing five runs on 11 hits in six innings.
Hafner also had six RBIs on July 20 at Anaheim. It's the seventh time this season he's had four or more RBIs in a game. He hit a two-run homer off Josh Towers (6-4) in the first, a two-run shot off Justin Miller in the sixth and almost had a third with the bases loaded in the ninth, but center fielder Vernon Wells caught the ball on the warning track for a sacrifice fly.
Tim Laker followed with a three-run homer off Kevin Frederick for the game's final runs.
Rangers 8, Tigers 0
In Detroit, Mike Bacsik gave up four hits over seven innings in his debut with Texas, and Laynce Nix hit a two-run homer to lead the Rangers past Detroit.
Bacsik (1-0), who signed with Texas in December, struck out four and walked none. Brought up from Triple-A Oklahoma last week, Bacsik retired nine straight before Alex Sanchez singled leading off the fourth. The Tigers had two on and no outs, but Bacsik struck out Ivan Rodriguez, and retired Dmitri Young and Carlos Guillen on flyouts.
Bacsik was 4-4 with a 6.12 ERA in 12 starts and seven relief appearances in parts of three seasons with the New York Mets and Cleveland. Jason Johnson (8-9) allowed five runs on 10 hits in six innings.
Devil Rays 5, Red Sox 4
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Toby Hall snapped an 0-for-18 slump with his first career grand slam in the seventh inning as Tampa Bay beat Boston for only the second time in nine tries.
With the Devils Rays trailing 4-1, Hall hit a 1-2 pitch with no outs from Bronson Arroyo (4-8) into the left-field seats. Travis Harper (3-2) worked a scoreless inning for the win, and Danys Baez got four outs for his 23rd save in 25 opportunities after pinch-runner Dave Roberts was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Rocco Baldelli after a single by Doug Mientkiewicz.
Royals 11, White Sox 0
In Kansas City, Missouri, Brian Anderson had a career-best two-hitter to win for the first time since April 20, and John Buck had three hits -- including a three-run homer that capped a seven-run first inning for the Royals as Kansas City trounced Chicago.
Aaron Rowand was the only batter to reach against Anderson, doubling to lead off the game, walking in the third, then doubling again in the ninth. Anderson (2-9) retired eight batters in a row before Rowand's walk and 17 before the ninth-inning hit.
Scott Schoeneweis (6-9) lasted just 1 1-3 innings giving up a season-high nine runs and nine of Kansas City's 17 hits as Chicago lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Orioles 6, Mariners 3
In Baltimore, Rafael Palmeiro singled in two runs to snap a seventh-inning tie, as Baltimore handed Seattle its sixth straight loss.
Brian Roberts also had two RBIs for Baltimore. Todd Williams (1-0) got the last two outs in the seventh, and Jorge Julio got his 17th save.
The Orioles scored three runs on one hit in the seventh against Shigetoshi Hasegawa (4-4) and Mike Myers, off whom Palmeiro singled down the right-field line. Miguel Tejada, who reached on an error by third baseman Willie Bloomquist, scored on a wild pitch.
Randy Winn homered and Ichiro Suzuki had three hits for the Mariners.
Twins 6, Angels 3
In Minneapolis, Justin Morneau homered for the second straight night, sparking a three-run sixth inning that carried Minnesota past Anaheim for its 13th victory in 16 games.
Torii Hunter followed Morneau with a double, then Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer to break it open for the Twins, who now have a season-high six-game lead in the AL Central.
Vladimir Guerrero homered for the Angels against Kyle Lohse (5-8). Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Ramon Ortiz (3-7) gave up 11 hits and six runs while striking out two in 6 2-3 innings.
Yankees 8, Athletics 6, 11 innings
In New York, Gary Sheffield tied the game with a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Alex Rodriguez had a decisive two-run shot in the 11th as New York edged Oakland.
With New York trailing 6-4 in the ninth, Derek Jeter singled off closer Octavio Dotel before Sheffield homered. After Mariano Rivera (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings, Sheffield singled in the 11th off Justin Duchscherer (4-3) before Rodriguez took the AL lead with his 29th home run.
John Olerud hit a two-run single in his first at-bat with the Yankees and made a great play at first base to help Rivera escape a jam in the 10th.
Eric Byrnes had a three-run homer, and Jermaine Dye and Eric Chavez also connected for the A's.
John Thomson pitched four-hit ball for seven innings, Chipper Jones had a pair of RBI singles for Atlanta, and the Braves beat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Wednesday for their 10th victory in 12 games.
"Everytime I've pitched against them before, it seemed like they had my number. Tonight I decided to throw more off-speed stuff and changeups and I got a lot more ground balls," Thomson said.
Jeff Bagwell hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth off closer John Smoltz, who got his 26th save in 28 chances as the NL East-leading Braves won for the eight time in 10 road games. Thomson (9-7) struck out two, walked one and retired 11 of the last 12 hitters that he faced. Pete Munro (2-3) lasted only 4 1-3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits.
Mets 6, Brewers 5
In Milwaukee, first baseman Lyle Overbay botched Gerald Williams' bunt for a tiebreaking two-run error in a five-run seventh inning as New York beat Milwaukee to win consecutively for the first time in nearly a month.
The Mets overcame a 3-1 deficit in the seventh, when Doug Davis walked Cliff Floyd and Mike Cameron, and Mike Adam (1-1) relieved and allowed a two-run single to Joe McEwing that tied the score. Williams bunted, and Overbay threw the ball into right field.
Pinch-hitter Trent Durrington homered off Mike Stanton in the eighth, and Russell Branyan connected with one out in the ninth off Braden Looper, who got five outs for his 22nd save in 25 chances.
Dodgers 2, Pirates 1
In Los Angeles, Jose Lima pitched seven solid innings to win his fourth straight decision and Alex Cora hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh to give Los Angeles a win over Pittsburgh.
Cora's two-out homer down the right-field line in the seventh against Josh Fogg (6-8) was his career-high seventh this season. The NL West leaders won for the 23rd time in 29 games.
Cardinals 5, Expos 4
In St. Louis, Albert Pujols homered leading off the ninth inning, and John Mabry was 4-for-4 and four RBIs to lead St. Louis past Montreal.
Pujols' 31st homer of the season, a drive off Chad Cordero (3-2), capped the Cardinals' comeback from a 3-0 deficit.
Cubs 11, Rockies 8
In Denver, Aramis Ramirez hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the top of the eighth after Nomar Garciaparra tied it on Shawn Chacon's wild pitch moments earlier to lead Chicago past Colorado.
It was a wild one at Coors Field, where the lead changed three times in the final three innings.
After pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh, Ramirez hit a solo homer to make it 7-6. Todd Walker added a two-run homer two batters later for the Cubs.
Other results: Diamondbacks 11, Marlins 6; Phillies 7, Padres 5; Reds 8, Giants 7.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS