AMERICAN LEAGUE
REUTERS AND AP, NEW YORK
AND KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
The Texas Rangers chased Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in the seventh inning then tacked on late runs to defeat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Sunday.
Matsuzaka struck out eight batters and exited trailing 2-0 with two outs in the seventh. However, Rangers infielder Michael Young broke the game open with a three-run homer against Boston reliever Manny Delcarmen.
Darnell McDonald hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth in which the Red Sox (67-52) scored three times to pull within 5-3 but Texas added two runs in the bottom half of the inning to seal the win.
Despite temperatures exceeding 37°C in Arlington, Texas, starter C.J. Wilson struck out eight and allowed just one run in seven-and-two-third innings to improve to 11-5 for the AL West-leading Rangers (67-49).
“C.J. was excellent,” Texas manager Ron Washington told reporters. “He pounded the strike zone, kept the ball in play and weathered the heat.”
Wilson is enjoying his first season as a starter, having been converted from a relief pitcher, and leads Texas in wins while helping the team build an eight-game lead in the division.
Matsuzaka, who has had an up and down year marked by multiple trips to the disabled list, lost for the first time since June 30.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox fell six games behind leaders, the New York Yankees, in the AL East.
ROYALS 1, YANKEES 0
Bryan Bullington, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2002, threw eight crisp innings for his first major league win, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees.
Bullington (1-2) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out five to outpitch A.J. Burnett (9-10), who yielded four hits and one run in eight innings. Joakim Soria finished the two-hitter, extending his club record with his 26th consecutive save.
Alex Rodriguez, who homered in his final three at-bats on Saturday night, slammed a Bullington pitch to deep center leading off the second inning, driving Gregor Blanco almost to the wall. However, A-Rod went down quietly the rest of the way.
BLUE JAYS 4, ANGELS 1
In Anaheim, Ricky Romero pitched seven solid innings one day after signing a multiyear contract extension for the Blue Jays.
Romero (10-7) allowed six hits, struck out four and walked three.
The only run off the left-hander came in the fifth, when Mike Napoli hit his 19th homer, one shy of last season’s total.
Kevin Gregg struck out the side in the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.
Dan Haren (1-3) gave up four runs and nine hits over seven innings and struck out five in his fifth start with Angels. The three-time All-Star, who averaged 14.6 victories over the previous five seasons, is 1-7 in his last 12 outings overall.
TIGERS 13, WHITE SOX 8
In Chicago, Johnny Damon hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the eighth inning and Jhonny Peralta homered twice as the Tigers rallied to beat the White Sox.
Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Raburn also connected for the Tigers, who won for only the third time in 16 road games. Detroit also snapped a string of 10 straight road series losses.
Cabrera went deep against Sergio Santos in the seventh and Detroit added three more in the eighth. Damon had the key two-out hit against J.J. Putz (5-5), but center fielder Andruw Jones dropped pinch-hitter Brandon Inge’s fly ball for a run-scoring error that made it 9-7.
After Jones homered in the White Sox eighth, Detroit put the game away with four runs in the ninth. Brad Thomas (5-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the victory.
In other AL play, it was:
Twins 4, Athletics 2
Rays 3, Orioles 2
Rangers 7, Red Sox 3
Indians 9, Mariners 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, SAN FRANCISCO
Yorvit Torrealba homered and Miguel Tejada hit a two-run single to back Wade LeBlanc as the San Diego Padres took a key series from the San Francisco Giants with an 8-2 victory on Sunday.
Tony Gwynn Jr and Everth Cabrera also singled in runs in San Diego’s four-run second as the Padres moved three-and-a-half games ahead of the Giants in the NL West.
Tim Lincecum (11-7) is on the first losing streak of three straight starts in his career. The two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, facing the Padres for the first time since beating them on July 9 last year, was done after his second-shortest outing this year of three-and-two-third innings.
Giants rookie Buster Posey hit a two-run homer in the third.
LeBlanc (7-10) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.
PHILLIES 3, METS 1
In New York, the Phillies ended the Mets’ miserable week.
Jimmy Rollins stole two bases and Shane Victorino swiped another to help manufacture two-out runs for the Phillies. Jayson Werth tripled and reached base three times as Philadelphia won the final two games of the three-game series after snapping their 38-inning scoreless streak at Citi Field.
With a whimper, the Mets ended a trying week in which a civil suit was filed against ace Johan Santana by the woman who accused him of raping her — no charges were filed — last year in Florida and their closer was charged with third-degree assault for allegedly beating his girlfriend’s father outside the family room at Citi Field.
CUBS 9, CARDINALS 7
In St Louis, Derrek Lee homered his first two at-bats, helping Chicago beat Kyle Lohse and knock St Louis out of first place in the NL Central.
Ryan Dempster (11-8) won his third straight start for the Cubs, who have won only four of 18 but took two out of three against a team that had grabbed the division lead with a three-game sweep at Cincinnati.
St Louis slugger Albert Pujols became the first player to hit 30 homers in his first 10 seasons when he belted a drive to center in the first.
BRAVES 13, DODGERS 1
In Atlanta, Troy Glaus hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs for the Braves.
Alex Gonzalez also drove in four runs for the Braves, who improved the majors’ best home record to 41-16. Jair Jurrjens (5-4) gave up one run in seven stellar innings.
Vicente Padilla (6-4) gave up a season-high eight earned runs in four-and-a-third innings. His ERA rose from 3.32 to 3.96.
NATIONALS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 3
In Washington, Ian Desmond hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning for the Nationals.
With the game level at 3, Adam Kennedy led off the seventh with a single off Jordan Norberto (0-2). He advanced on pinch-hitter Alberto Gonzalez’s sacrifice and after Roger Bernadina popped out, Desmond singled to right for the lead.
The hit broke a scoreless streak of 17-and-two-third innings by the Diamondbacks bullpen.
In other NL play, it was:
Reds 2, Marlins 0
Rockies 6, Brewers 5
Astros 8, Pirates 2
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