American League roundup
Cabrera, Gibbons star as Orioles knock off Indians BALTIMORE (AP) – Daniel Cabrera pitched seven innings of four-hit ball and Jay Gibbons capped a sixth-inning rally with a three-run homer, helping the Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians 4-0 on Saturday.
Cabrera (6-7), who had been 0-3 in his last four starts, won for the first time since June 5 at Detroit. He walked two and struck out five, becoming the first Orioles starter to record a victory since Rodrigo Lopez on June 21.
Tim Byrdak pitched the eighth and B.J. Ryan worked the ninth, finishing the Orioles’ fifth shutout of the season. The Orioles, who had lost eight of nine, stole a season-high five bases.
Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro went 0-for-3 and remained eight hits shy of 3,000 for his career. Palmeiro is trying to join Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
The Indians lost for just the seventh time in 25 games. Kevin Millwood (3-6) allowed four runs – three earned – and three hits over six innings.
Rangers 6, Mariners 5
SEATTLE – Gary Matthews homered with two outs in the ninth inning, leading Texas to its fourth straight victory.
The Rangers, who lead the majors with 133 home runs, also got a three-run shot from Michael Young in the second and a solo shot from David Dellucci – his third homer in three games – in the fourth.
Adrian Beltre had his first two-homer game since joining the Mariners, but struck out against rookie Kameron Loe (2-1) with the game tied and two men on to end the seventh.
J.J. Putz (1-3), who came in with two outs in the eighth, gave up the home run to Matthews as Seattle matched a season high with its seventh straight loss.
Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 23 opportunities.
Twins 4, Devil Rays 1
MINNEAPOLIS – Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer, Kyle Lohse pitched eight strong innings and Minnesota beat Tampa Bay again.
Joe Mauer added an RBI double for Minnesota, which won for the fifth time in six games.
Jorge Cantu drove in a run with a fourth-inning single. The Devil Rays have lost seven of their last eight games overall and seven in a row to the Twins.
Lohse (7-6) gave up just four hits and one walk while striking out six. Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances.
Seth McClung (0-4), making his second start since his recall from Triple-A Durham last week, gave up six hits, four runs and three walks in six innings. He struck out eight.
Yankees 8, Tigers 4
DETROIT – Tony Womack hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth to break a tie and Bernie Williams followed with three-run homer to lift New York over Detroit.
Williams finished with four hits and five RBIs, matching a season high.
Dmitri Young’s three-run homer gave Detroit a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning before the Yankees rallied with two runs in the sixth, one in the seventh and four in the ninth off closer Troy Percival (1-2).
Tom Gordon (2-3) entered the game in the seventh for New York, and retired five straight before Carlos Guillen reached on an error and Magglio Ordonez walked. Gordon got out of the eighth unscathed by striking out Ivan Rodriguez, who reacted by whipping his bat toward Detroit’s dugout, hitting Young’s foot in the on-deck circle.
Angels 5, Royals 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bartolo Colon allowed one hit through seven innings, then walked off the field with the team trainer after surrendering three more in the eighth of the Angels’ victory.
There was no immediate indication what, if anything, was wrong with the right-hander. Retiring 19 in a row in one stretch, Colon (11-4) wound up going 7 1-3 innings and giving up three runs and four hits, with five strikeouts and no walks.
Chone Figgins had three hits and scored twice for the AL West-leading Angels. Francisco Rodriguez earned his 15th save in 17 chances.
Jose Lima (1-7) gave up four runs and 10 hits in six innings, and his future with the Royals could be in question. The veteran right-hander now has only one win in 17 starts this year and an ERA of 7.58. His 73 earned runs and 80 total runs allowed are the most among AL pitchers.
Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 4
BOSTON – Manny Ramirez hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning, lifting Boston to a comeback victory over Toronto.
It was just Boston’s third win in 10 games against Toronto this season and came one night after the Red Sox lost 15-2.
Johnny Damon had a pair of doubles, extending his hitting streak to 18 games for the Red Sox.
After David Ortiz singled off reliever Pete Walker (3-2), Ramirez hit a fly ball down the right-field line that hooked around the foul pole. It was his 20th homer of the season, the 11th straight year he has reached the mark.
Mike Timlin (3-1) recorded one out in the seventh inning, after starter David Wells was ejected, to pick up the victory.
Struggling closer Keith Foulke got the final four outs for his 15th save in 18 chances. He got Reed Johnson to fly to right with runners on second and third to end the eighth.
Wells was ejected in the seventh inning by second base umpire Chris Guccione in a bizarre scene. The left-hander turned his back to home plate and waved his glove in apparent disgust after allowing a single to Shea Hillenbrand.
After being thrown out, Wells walked toward Guccione and the pair were brim-to-brim, screaming at each other before they were separated.
Toronto built a 4-0 lead against Wells, scoring a run in the second and three in the fourth before Boston rallied to tie it.
The Blue Jays made it 1-0 when Gregg Zaun singled and came around to score on Orlando Hudson’s triple down the right-field line. Hudson’s RBI single and John McDonnell’s two-run single made it 4-0 in the fourth.
After being held to just three hits by Toronto starter Gustavo Chacin in the first four innings, the Red Sox had seven in the next two frames to tie the game.
Jason Varitek’s sacrifice fly in the fourth cut the deficit to 4-1. Ortiz had an RBI single in the fifth after Damon’s two-out hustle double and Edgar Renteria’s infield hit.
Varitek and Kevin Millar singled to chase Chacin in the sixth. Trot Nixon singled to load the bases against Walker, and Bill Mueller followed with a ground-rule double deep into the right-field corner to tie it 4-4.
Walker got out of trouble by getting the next three hitters without allowing the ball out of the infield. But he couldn’t get past Ramirez in the seventh.
Wells gave up four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.