Franklin Gutierrez hit a grand slam in the first inning as the Cleveland Indians pulled off a rare triple steal in an 8-2 win over the Chicago White Sox in the American League on Tuesday.
Gutierrez hit a 2-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers off Mark Buehrle (2-6) for his first career grand slam. Gutierrez hit a three-run homer off Buehrle on opening day and is batting .417 (5-for-12) with two homers and seven RBIs in his career against the left-hander.
Buehrle allowed seven runs in five innings. He was pulled after consecutive doubles by Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Garko in a bizarre sixth inning that featured the official scorer crediting the Indians with a triple steal.
PHOTO: EPA
The Indians’ rare offensive outburst was enough for starter Aaron Laffey (3-3), who allowed two runs in five innings.
Rangers 12, Rays 6
At St Petersburg, Florida, one-time Tampa Bay prospect Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam and matched his career high with five RBIs, helping Texas cool off the Rays.
Vicente Padilla (7-2) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings. Hamilton had a RBI double off Andy Sonnanstine (6-3) in the first and added his second grand slam of the season in the eighth.
Twins 4, Royals 3, 12 innings
At Kansas City, Missouri, Michael Cuddyer singled home Joe Mauer in the 12th inning, giving Minnesota a victory and sending the Kansas to its ninth straight defeat.
The Royals had tied it at 3 in the ninth on Mark Teahen’s three-run, inside-the-park homer off Joe Nathan.
Orioles 10, Yankees 9, 11 innings
At Baltimore, Aubrey Huff doubled with the tying run in the 11th inning and scored the game-winner on a long single by Alex Cintron, giving Baltimore a win over New York.
After New York took a 9-8 lead in the 11th against Matt Albers (3-1) on an RBI single by Hideki Matsui, Melvin Mora led off the bottom half with a single off LaTroy Hawkins (1-1). One out later, Huff doubled and took third as Mora beat the throw to the plate.
Hawkins then issued two straight intentional walks before Cintron hit a fly ball to right over the drawn-in outfield.
Angels 3, Tigers 2
At Anaheim, California, Gary Matthews Jr hit an RBI single off Aquilino Lopez with two out in the ninth inning to lift Ervin Santana and the Angels to a victory over Detroit.
Santana (7-2) held Detroit to two runs and three hits, including Miguel Cabrera’s two-run homer in the second inning. The Angels’ right-hander pitched his second complete game of the season and third of his career, striking out seven and walking none.
Athletics 3, Blue Jays 1
At Oakland, California, Greg Smith ended a five-start winless stretch, Jack Hannahan had an RBI double and Bobby Crosby also drove in a run in Oakland’s victory over Toronto.
Mariners 4, Red Sox 3
At Seattle, Jose Lopez lined a single past diving third baseman Mike Lowell to score Wladimir Balentien with the game-winning run as Seattle beat Boston to end a season-high, seven-game losing streak.
The Mariners overcame Manny Ramirez’s 499th career home run.
The ninth inning began with a one-hopper by Balentien that went off the backhanded glove of Alex Cora for an infield single to deep shortstop. Miguel Cairo then sacrificed Balentien to second.
Pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed sent Balentien to third base with a ground out and Mike Timlin (2-3) intentionally walked Ichiro Suzuki before Lopez lined a 1-2 pitch — and then got mobbed near second base by teammates who hadn’t had something to celebrate for most of a dreadful May.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was in the clubhouse when Ramirez hit his home run. The right-hander left the game before the bottom of the fifth with an injury.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Johan Santana snapped the New York Mets out of their recent doldrums, pitching seven effective innings to beat the feisty Florida Marlins 5-3 in the National League on Tuesday.
Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro each hit a pair of two-out RBI singles for the Mets.
One day after embattled manager Willie Randolph kept his job — for now — following a much-publicized meeting with ownership, the Mets won for only the second time in nine games.
Santana (6-3) struck out seven and worked around eight hits, allowing three runs.
Reds 9, Pirates 6
At Cincinnati, Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer that set a club record for left-handed batters, and Jay Bruce went 3-for-3 in his eagerly awaited debut to lead Cincinnati.
Dunn’s three-run shot in the fifth off Ian Snell (2-4) was his eighth in his last 12 games. With 252 career homers, he moved ahead of Ted Kluszewski — the bare-armed “Big Klu” — for most by a left-handed Reds hitter. Dunn later added a run-scoring single as the Reds pulled ahead 9-3.
Bruce had a pair of singles, a double, two walks, a stolen base and a pair of RBIs.
Reds rookie Johnny Cueto (3-5) lasted only five innings and was in line for a loss until Dunn connected.
Brewers 3, Braves 2
At Milwaukee, after grousing earlier in the day about being placed in a platoon situation at third base, Bill Hall scored the winning run in Milwaukee’s victory.
Hall, who entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth, led off the bottom of the inning with a broken-bat bloop single off Atlanta reliever Jeff Bennett (0-3). Rickie Weeks sacrificed Hall to second, and Hall stole third on a 3-0 pitch to Mike Cameron. Cameron then lofted a fly ball to center, and Hall’s slide narrowly beat the throw home.
Salomon Torres (4-1) earned the victory for Milwaukee.
Astros 8, Cardinals 2
At St Louis, Shawn Chacon won his second straight start after nine no-decisions to open the year and Hunter Pence had a career-best five hits in Houston’s victory.
Chacon (2-0) worked seven strong innings, helping the Astros win the opener of a nine-game trip.
Pence was 5-for-5 with four singles and a double, including an RBI infield hit in a four-run first off Braden Looper (6-4). Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer, and Lance Berkman walked twice, singled and scored three times.
Cubs 3, Dodgers 1
At Chicago, Sean Gallagher had his best start, and Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome capped a three-run seventh with run-scoring hits to lead Chicago.
Los Angeles got an RBI single from Blake DeWitt in the fourth, but the third baseman’s error in the seventh allowed the tying run to score.
Phillies 7, Rockies 4
At Philadelphia, Kyle Kendrick pitched effectively in a career-best seven and one third innings, and Greg Dobbs and Pedro Feliz both drove in two runs for Philadelphia.
Kendrick (4-2) allowed two runs and seven hits.
Giants 6, Diamondbacks 3
At Phoenix, Bengie Molina and Jose Castillo homered to help Tim Lincecum earn his seventh victory in the San Francisco Giants’ win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Padres 4, Nationals 2
At San Diego, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff homered on consecutive pitches with two outs in the seventh inning, and San Diego beat Washington in a matchup of last-place teams.
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