NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP AND REUTERS, SAN FRANCISCO
The San Francisco Giants scotched Roy Halladay’s perfect start to the season with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
The former American League Cy Young winner allowed five runs and 10 hits in seven innings to lose his first game in five starts.
“They hit some good pitches and I made some poor pitches that cost me,” Halladay told reporters. “You learn from it and move on. You show up tomorrow, work hard and go out and be aggressive next time.”
Mark DeRosa hit a two-run single in the first inning and Eli Whiteside added an RBI double in the second and a solo home run in the seventh against Halladay to give the Giants (11-8) their third win in four games.
San Francisco left-hander Jonathan Sanchez allowed one run and struck out six to earn his second win of the year.
Sanchez had to scrap during an outing that included five walks, and he escaped a bases-loaded one-out jam in the third without surrendering a run.
Guillermo Mota pitched one and 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the Giants while Sergio Romo handled the final two innings to nail down the win.
Shane Victorino led the way with three hits for the Phillies (11-8), who left 11 runners on base.
Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard went 0-for-3 to continue his struggles at the plate on the same day he agreed to a contract extension with the team worth at least US$125 million over five years.
CARDINALS 4, BRAVES 3
In St Louis, Yadier Molina’s RBI double snapped an eighth-inning deadlock and Colby Rasmus homered in St Louis’ 4-3 victory over Atlanta, the Braves’ sixth straight loss.
Troy Glaus had two hits and an RBI for the Braves, who have been outscored 23-9 during their worst slump since dropping six straight to end last year.
Albert Pujols had three hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who have won the opener in all but one of seven series. Pujols had a run-scoring groundout in the sixth and doubled off Takashi Saito (0-1) to open the eighth.
Dennys Reyes (2-0) worked around two two-out walks in the eighth.
Ryan Franklin finished for his seventh save in seven chances.
Rasmus had two hits and an intentional walk after going 1 for 18 at home to open the season. He is 12 for 26 during a seven-game hitting streak after hitting his sixth homer to open the seventh.
In other National League action it was:
• Cubs 4, Nationals 3, 10 innings
• Marlins 10, Padres 1
• Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3
• Brewers 17, Pirates 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, TORONTO
Jason Varitek had four RBIs and Marco Scutaro scored a career-high four runs as Boston held off Toronto for a 13-12 win on Monday night.
Varitek went 3 for 5 with two two-run singles and Scutaro went 3 for 5 with a walk against his former team, which set a season high in runs, and with 18 hits.
Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer and Lyle Overbay went 3 for 5 with a solo homer and four RBIs.
Scott Schoeneweis (1-0) got one out for the win and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his sixth save, ending the game after 4 hours, 3 minutes.
Shawn Camp (1-1) allowed three runs and four hits in one and 2/3 innings.
Josh Beckett, who had a 6.62 ERA in 12 career starts against Toronto, allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, while Toronto’s Dana Eveland allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
In other American League action it was:
• Tigers 8, Rangers 6
• Royals 3, Mariners 1
• Angels 5, Indians 2
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