May 22, 2006 8 min read

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and an intentional walk and Matt Cain pitched a one-hitter in the San Francisco Giants’ anticlimactic 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. Bonds remained at 714 home runs a day after connecting for a solo shot to tie Ruth for second behind home run king Hank Aaron’s 755. Mark Sweeney hit a two-run double, Randy Winn singled in two runs and Ray Durham drove in a run on a groundout to help Cain (2-5) end a three-game losing streak. Cain got his second career complete game and first shutout, and San Francisco took two of three in the Bay Bridge Series to win its second straight series.

Cain, who had his turn skipped last Monday at Houston, struck out five and walked three.

The Giants knocked A’s starter Joe Blanton (4-5) out of the game after four innings for his shortest outing of the year.

Devils Rays 3, Marlins 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Scott Kazmir allowed four hits and matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, leading Tampa Bay over Dontrelle Willis and Florida.

Kazmir (7-2) held the Marlins to three singles and Miguel Cabrera’s fourth-inning double en route to a career-best fifth straight win. At 22, he’s the youngest major league pitcher to win seven games this early in a season since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. He walked one and hit a batter. Tyler Walker worked the ninth for his eighth save.

Jonny Gomes keyed a three-run fifth inning with a RBI triple off Willis (1-5), who allowed eight hits in his first complete game of the season. Ty Wigginton and Greg Norton also drove runs for the Devil Rays, who swept the weekend series and have won a season-high four straight games.

Tigers 1, Reds 0

DETROIT – Placido Polanco’s pinch-hit single in the eighth inning broke a scoreless tie, and Nate Robertson tossed 7 1-3 innings to lead the host Tigers.

Robertson struck out seven, walked five and allowed three hits. Fernando Rodney (3-1) and Todd Jones combined to throw 1 2-3 hitless innings with Jones getting his 13th save. Jones set a franchise record with his 155th save with the Tigers, moving one ahead of Mike Henneman.

Detroit has won nine of 10.

Nationals 3, Orioles 1

WASHINGTON – Livan Hernandez snapped a seven-start winless streak and lifted Washington over Baltimore.

Hernandez (2-5) limited Baltimore to one run in seven innings, despite giving up four walks and six hits, though all were singles. He hadn’t earned a victory since April 8 at Houston, his second start of the season.

The burly right-hander helped himself by driving in a run with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth, when Washington scored twice off Orioles starter Bruce Chen (0-5).

Cardinals 10, Royals 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Albert Pujols homered in his third straight game and St. Louis beat Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep and send the Royals to their ninth straight loss.

Kansas City (10-31) has the worst record in baseball and has been swept nine times this season.

Pujols, who leads the majors with 22 home runs in St. Louis’ 44 games, reached the homer mark in the second-fewest games in baseball history. Barry Bonds did it in 43 games in 2001. Pujols is also first with 56 runs scored and 118 total bases.

The Cardinals have won five straight for the first time since July 10-18, 2005, and are a season-high 14 games over .500. They have won 10 of 11 from Kansas City.

Chris Duncan, recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday, and Hector Luna homered in the fifth off Scott Elarton (0-5), winless in 10 starts.

Jeff Suppan (5-3), who pitched for Kansas City from 1998-2002, beat the Royals for the first time in five career outings.

Phillies 10, Red Sox 5

PHILADELPHIA – Bobby Abreu drove in five runs to help Philadelphia snap a five-game losing streak.

Abreu singled, tripled and homered and Ryan Howard also hit a shot for the Phillies, who won 13 of 14 before their losing skid began in Milwaukee. Cory Lidle pitched six solid innings.

Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell homered for the AL East-leading Red Sox.

Lidle (4-4) gave up three runs and five hits. Lenny DiNardo (1-2) couldn’t get past the third inning in his fifth start.

Needing a double for the cycle, Abreu walked on five pitches against Rudy Seanez in the seventh. He finished 3-for-3 with two walks.

Astros 5, Rangers 0

HOUSTON – Taylor Buchholz pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout as Houston beat Texas.

Buchholz (3-3) had lost his last two starts, allowing eight earned runs in each game. He walked none and struck out a career-high six in his first career complete game.

The Astros took two of three from the Rangers, but still have lost 11 of 16 games.

Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane provided all the offense Buchholz would need, each hitting two-run homers.

Brewers 5, Twins 3

MILWAUKEE – Carlos Lee’s two-run double keyed a four-run seventh inning to lift Milwaukee over Minnesota, hours after the visiting Twins won funding for a new stadium.

Chris Capuano (5-3) won for the first time in four starts. Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

The Brewers rallied against reliever Jesse Crain (0-2), who gave up four runs while only getting one out.

Cubs 7, White Sox 4

CHICAGO – Michael Barrett, booed for his punch that set off a melee the day before, delivered a game-tying triple, and Jacque Jones followed with a two-run homer in the eighth as the visiting Cubs rallied to beat the crosstown White Sox 7-4 to avert a sweep.

Carlos Zambrano (3-2) got the win, allowing four hits in seven innings, including two homers to Paul Konerko. Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his eighth save.

But with the White Sox leading 4-2 and Jose Contreras looking strong in his first start since May 4 after coming off the disabled list, the Cubs staged a rally, thanks to a poor throw from White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe on a potential double play.

Neal Cotts (0-2) took the loss.

Aramis Ramirez homered twice off Contreras, who got a no-decision in 7 1-3 innings and still hasn’t lost a regular-season game since last Aug. 15.

Rockies 5, Blue Jays 3

DENVER – Garrett Atkins drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double, Josh Fogg snapped a six-game winless streak, and Colorado completed a three-game sweep of Toronto.

It was the fourth sweep of the season for Colorado (25-19), which matched its best start after 44 games.

Fogg (3-2), who hadn’t won since April 13, allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had given up 20 earned runs in 34 2-3 innings over his previous six starts.

Brian Fuentes worked the ninth for his 10th save.

Mariners 10, Padres 8

SEATTLE – Raul Ibanez and Carl Everett homered during an eight-run second inning to help Seattle beat San Diego and finish a weekend sweep.

The Mariners swept their first series of the year – after losing all three games of a series at Oakland and dropping to a season-low eight games under .500.

The Padres, who began May by going 13-1, were swept in a series for the third time this season.

Chan Ho Park (2-2) entered having allowed one earned run in 22 innings but gave up 10 runs to Seattle in 5 1-3 innings, the most earned runs he had allowed since June 21, 1998.

Felix Hernandez (3-5), the Mariners’ 2005 rookie phenom, allowed a career-high seven earned runs, one start after allowing 10 runs and five earned at Oakland. He managed to get the win, and J.J. Putz earned his sixth save.

Dodgers 7, Angels 0

LOS ANGELES – Derek Lowe allowed three hits in seven shutout innings for his first win since April 13, Andre Ethier hit a three-run homer, and the host Dodgers beat the Angels to complete a sweep of the three-game interleague series.

Lowe (2-3) threw 118 pitches before being lifted for a pinch hitter. The 32-year-old right-hander walked three, struck out seven and didn’t allow a hit after Garret Anderson’s single in the third, retiring 13 of the last 15 batters he faced.

Rookie Jonathan Broxton worked the final two innings to complete the shutout.

Braves 2, Diamondbacks 1

PHOENIX – Tim Hudson pitched eight scoreless innings to help Atlanta beat Arizona.

Hudson (4-3) gave up six hits and three walks. He struck out five as Atlanta avoided its second three-game sweep of the season.

The Diamondbacks finally scored a run in the ninth off Braves closer Chris Reitsma on Eric Byrnes’ RBI double. Macay McBride came on to get the final out for his first save of the season.

Juan Cruz (1-3) matched Hudson through six innings before the Braves broke through. Cruz walked Hudson on six pitches, Marcus Giles sacrificed the pitcher to second and Edgar Renteria lined a double to right field, scoring Hudson for a 1-0 lead. That was only the second hit allowed by Cruz. Renteria scored on Andruw Jones’ groundout.