Apr 9, 2006 By Mlb Roundup 4 min read

BALTIMORE (AP) – Curt Schilling pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Jason Varitek had a hand in both Boston runs, and the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Saturday. Varitek hit two doubles, scored a run and drove in one. Manny Ramirez had two hits for the Red Sox, who have won three straight to improve to 4-1, their best start since 2002.

Schilling (2-0) struck out four and walked two. A year ago, the right-hander had a difficult time recovering from offseason ankle surgery and didn’t earn his second win until July.

Now he’s got a 1.93 ERA and has accounted for half of Boston’s victories.

After striking out Jeff Conine with two on and two outs in the seventh, Schilling pumped his fist and pounded his glove as he walked off the mound with a 2-1 lead.

The bullpen made it stand up. Mike Timlin gave up a single in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got three straight outs for his second save.

Luis Matos homered for the Orioles, who have dropped three in a row after opening the season 2-0. Baltimore has lost seven straight to Boston, dating to last September.

Bruce Chen (0-1) gave up two runs and five hits in five-plus innings.

The start of the game was delayed 90 minutes by rain, and the temperature was 44 degrees when the first pitch was thrown.

The early innings featured solid pitching and excellent defense.

Ramirez isn’t known for his prowess with a glove, but the left fielder made a fine running catch of a twisting two-out liner that Conine hit down the line with two on and two outs in the second.

Leading off the Boston fourth, David Ortiz hit a liner off the right-field scoreboard. Jay Gibbons played the carom perfectly and threw out Ortiz at second base. Later in the inning, Varitek doubled with two outs and scored on a single by Kevin Youkilis.

Indians 3, Twins 0

CLEVELAND – Jason Johnson pitched shutout ball for seven innings in his Cleveland debut and Travis Hafner homered again.

Hafner went 3-for-3 to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 10 straight over three games and helped the Indians stretch their winning streak to four after an opening-night loss in Chicago.

After going 4-for-4 with two homers Friday in Cleveland’s 11-6 win over the Twins, Hafner homered, walked, hit an RBI double and singled. He started the streak with a walk in his last at-bat Wednesday in Chicago.

Johnson (1-0) gave up only four hits. The right-hander walked one, struck out two and was helped by two double plays. Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his second save.

Scott Baker (0-1) allowed nine hits and three runs in 4 1-3 innings to get the loss.

Cubs 3, Cardinals 2

CHICAGO – Derrek Lee hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning to lead the Chicago Cubs to the victory.

Michael Barrett hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh for the Cubs, who couldn’t get anything going against NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter. The right-hander struck out nine in six shutout innings, allowing four hits and one walk.

Lee, who homered on Friday in the Cubs’ home opener, greeted Cardinals reliever Brad Thompson (1-1) with a drive leading off the eighth. Lee’s homer left Wrigley Field and landed on Waveland Avenue despite the wind blowing in.

Bob Howry (1-0) got two outs in the eighth and Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

Brewers 5, D’backs 4

MILWAUKEE – Carlos Lee’s ninth-inning single led the Brewers to their fifth straight comeback win.

Milwaukee is 5-0 for the first time since 1987 and the third time in franchise history.

Dan Kolb (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to get the win. Luis Vizcaino (0-1) got the loss.

With one out, J.J. Hardy doubled down the left-field line – his third hit of the game. Geoff Jenkins was walked intentionally to put runners at first and second.

On a 1-2 pitch, Lee lined the ball to center field and Hardy beat Eric Byrnes’ throw to the plate.

Giants 12, Braves 6

SAN FRANCISCO – Omar Vizquel had four hits and five RBIs and Moises Alou hit a two-run homer for the Giants.

The Giants scored eight runs off Tim Hudson (0-1) to help Jamey Wright (1-0) win his San Francisco debut. Alou hit his 299th career homer in the first and Vizquel hit a three-run double in a five-run second against Hudson.

Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with two walks for the Giants, remaining stuck on 708 career home runs.

Wright allowed four runs and five hits in seven-plus innings, leaving to a standing ovation.

Hudson gave up six earned runs and eight hits in four innings for his second straight rough start. Chipper Jones had three RBIs for the Braves.