Justin Verlander held Texas hitless until the seventh inning as the Detroit Tigers hit three home runs in a 5-0 victory over the Rangers on Sunday.
Mitch Moreland’s two-out double to right-center ended Verlander’s bid for his third career no-hitter. Verlander (10-6) left the game after the seventh with a tight right quad muscle, having allowed just one hit and three walks. He struck out three.
Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta hit solo homers off Texas starter Martin Perez (3-2). The Rangers finished with two hits.
Photo: AFP
Verlander was picked for the American League All-Star team, but was replaced for tonight’s event.
Also in the American League, Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer a pitch after shortstop Eduardo Nunez made a two-out throwing error as the Minnesota Twins took advantage of New York miscues and misfortune to beat C.C. Sabathia for the first time in six years and end more than a decade of misery in the Bronx with a 10-4 win over the Yankees.
Justin Morneau had three hits — two very well placed — as Minnesota took two of three from New York to win a series at Yankee Stadium for the first time since taking a set at the old ballpark in 2001. The Twins are 9-31 in the Bronx since 2002.
They had even less success against Sabathia (9-8), going 0-11 in 12 games including the post-season after beating him on July 29, 2007. In other AL games, the Baltimore Orioles downed the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4, the Tampa Bay Rays blanked the Houston Astros 5-0, the Seattle Mariners edged the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 and the Oakland Athletics took 11 innings to beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-3 over 10 innings.
In the National League, Dillon Gee allowed just one unearned run in 6-2/3 innings and John Buck hit a two-run single to lead the New York Mets to a 4-2 victory and avoid a sweep by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the All-Star break.
Gee (7-7) is 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in five career starts against Pittsburgh. He scattered five hits, struck out two and walked one.
Buck’s hit capped a three-run first inning against fill-in starter Gerrit Cole (4-3), who lost his third straight start after becoming the first Pirates pitcher since Nick Maddox in 1907 to win the first four of his career.
Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer in St Louis’ four-run ninth inning as the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 in MLB’s final game before the All-Star break.
Allen Craig lined a tiebreaking RBI single into left field before Molina drove an 0-2 pitch from Kevin Gregg (2-2) over the wall in left for his seventh homer. Washington’s Denard Span had three hits, including a tiebreaking two-out RBI double in the 10th inning as the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 5-2.
Span was dropped from the top spot in the order for the first time this season, and he responded with three hits in the No. 7 position. He snapped a 1-for-20 slump with a two-out RBI double in the second inning, and singled in the fourth.
Also, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-4, the Colorado Rockies downed the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 and the San Diego Padres trounced the San Francisco Giants 10-1.
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