American LeagueJosh Beckett held the punchless Kansas City Royals to four hits over eight innings and Manny Ramirez homered in leading the Boston Red Sox to a second consecutive 1-0 victory on Wednesday.
The last time the Red Sox won two straight 1-0 games at Fenway Park was 1916, when the ballpark was only four years old and Boston was on its way to its second World Series title in a row. Babe Ruth beat the New York Yankees on June 22 and Ernie Shore edged the Philadelphia Athletics the next day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
A day after two Red Sox rookies combined to one-hit the Royals, Beckett (12-5) struck out seven and walked none to join Toronto's Roy Halladay as the American League's only 12-game winners.
PHOTO: AP
After the game, the Red Sox announced Beckett agreed to a US$30 million, three-year contract extension with a club option for 2010 that could bring the total value of the deal to US$40 million.
Jonathan Papelbon got three outs for his 29th save.
Mark Redman (6-5) struck out nine in eight innings, but his six-game winning streak came to an end. He threw his first complete game since May last year.
Mariners 3, Yankees 2
At New York, Ichiro Suzuki touched off Seattle's go-ahead rally in the eighth inning with his third hit of the game and the Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak, defeating New York.
The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Yankees.
J.J. Putz got three outs for his 18th save in 21 tries. He blew a ninth-inning chance in the Mariners' previous game -- a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to the Yankees that, because of a long rain delay, ended around 12:40am on Wednesday.
Richie Sexson homered for Seattle off Randy Johnson (10-8), who struck out a season-high 11.
Mark Lowe (1-0) earned his first major league victory.
Indians 6, Angels 4
At Anaheim, California, Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer that snapped John Lackey's scoreless string at 30 2-3 innings, and Cleveland ended Los Angeles' eight-game winning streak.
Aaron Boone also homered and Jhonny Peralta hit a go-ahead single for Cleveland, which stopped a five-game losing streak. Paul Byrd (7-6) ended the Angels' longest winning streak of the season in his first start against his former team since signing a two-year, US$14 million contract with the Indians in December.
Athletics 5, Orioles 1
At Baltimore, Barry Zito pitched seven innings of five-hit ball, Frank Thomas homered and drove in three runs, and Oakland beat Kris Benson and Baltimore.
Milton Bradley and Eric Chavez also connected for the Athletics, who took two of three from the Orioles. Milton Bradley went 3-for-4 and is 9-for-19 in five games since returning from the disabled list.
Tigers 5, White Sox 2
At Detroit, Craig Monroe hit Detroit's first grand slam of the season and Jeremy Bonderman allowed two runs over 7 1-3 innings to lead the Tigers to the win.
Detroit beat defending World Series champion Chicago for just the second time in eight games.
Rangers 5, Blue Jays 4
At Toronto, Kevin Millwood earned his 10th win and Gary Matthews Jr hit a go-ahead double in a four-run seventh inning to help Texas beat Toronto on a troubling night for the Blue Jays.
Designated hitter Shea Hillenbrand refused to sit in the dugout with his Toronto teammates after he was chastised during a team meeting. Hours before, Hillenbrand criticized the organization and said he expects to be traded. The Blue Jays designated him for assignment and he was not in the clubhouse after the game.
Twins 7, Devil Rays 2
At Minneapolis, Rondell White hit two home runs to lead Minnesota to its sixth straight victory.
Brad Radke won his fourth straight decision for Minnesota, which has won 18 of 23 overall and 19 of the last 20 at home. Radke (8-7) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.
National League
Bobby Abreu hit a two-run double in the ninth inning off a suddenly shaky Trevor Hoffman, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the San Diego Padres 5-4 to avoid a three-game sweep on Wednesday.
Hoffman has two blown saves in his last three chances, plus one in the All-Star game last week.
Shane Victorino started the winning rally when he was hit on the right biceps on Hoffman's first pitch. Chase Utley walked ahead of Abreu, who doubled on a 1-2 pitch. Abreu also had an RBI single in the first.
Chris Coste hit his first major league homer for the Phillies.
Geoff Geary (6-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win and Tom Gordon worked a perfect ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances.
Josh Bard hit a three-run homer off Phillies starter Jon Lieber, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Giants 7, Brewers 6
At San Francisco, Ray Durham hit a two-run single off closer Derrick Turnbow's glove in the ninth inning to help San Francisco get the win.
Marlins 1, Nationals 0
At Miami, rookie Anibal Sanchez allowed one hit in seven innings and Cody Ross homered for Florida. Sanchez (3-0) lowered his ERA in four starts this season to 1.46. He beat Roger Clemens in his previous outing and has allowed only three hits in his past 14 innings, all scoreless.
Pirates 6, Rockies 5
At Pittsburgh, Joe Randa drove in three runs and Pittsburgh beat Colorado to capture its second consecutive series.
Randa, who began the season as the Pirates' starting third baseman but lost his job after going on the disabled list, went 2-for-4 and has hit .500 (11-for-22) with nine RBIs in his last five starts.
Zach Duke (7-8) won for the first time in more than a month, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out five.
Astros 4, Cubs 2
At Chicago, Roger Clemens outpitched Greg Maddux in a rare matchup of 300-game winners to help Houston beat Chicago.
Reds 7, Mets 4
At Cincinnati, Jason LaRue's two-run double in the eighth inning sparked Cincinnati to a victory over New York that featured a long rain delay, a broken winning streak and a little taste of Hollywood.
The Reds rallied from a 4-0 deficit, tying it on Rich Aurilia's solo homer in the fifth. Scott Hatteberg started the winning rally with his third hit of the game, a leadoff single in the eighth off Duaner Sanchez (5-1).
Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 0
At Phoenix, Miguel Batista pitched a six-hitter and Stephen Drew had three hits as Phoenix trounced Los Angeles.
Cardinals 8, Braves 3
At St. Louis, Chris Carpenter shut down a surging Atlanta offense and Jim Edmonds hit a three-run homer to lead St. Louis past Atlanta.
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