Major League Baseball
Chisox’s Danks outduels Mussina CHICAGO (AP) – Rookie John Danks outpitched Mike Mussina and A.J. Pierzynski hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning Wednesday as Chicago beat New York 5-3 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
Paul Konerko also homered for Chicago, and Bobby Abreu and Josh Phelps connected for the Yankees in the makeup of Tuesday night’s rainout.
Pierzynski hit his sixth homer to put the White Sox ahead 3-2. One out later, Jermaine Dye doubled, Rob Mackowiak was hit by a pitch and Joe Crede delivered an RBI single to finish Mussina (2-2). Tadahito Iguchi’s sacrifice fly off Luis Vizcaino made it 5-2.
Mussina gave up eight hits and five runs in 5 1-3 innings. Danks (2-4) won his second straight start, allowing seven hits and two runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Indians 7, Twins 1
CLEVELAND – C.C. Sabathia pitched eight sharp innings and Trot Nixon drove in three runs for Cleveland.
Sabathia (6-1) allowed five hits, struck out five, walked one and hit a batter. Minnesota’s only run came on Nick Punto’s single in the second.
Nixon drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the fifth and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Grady Sizemore, who has six hits in his last nine at-bats, scored three runs and stole two bases for Cleveland. He has been successful in all 14 of his steal attempts this season.
Blue Jays 2, Orioles 1
TORONTO – A.J. Burnett pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Troy Glaus singled home the go-ahead run as Toronto completed its first three-game sweep of the season.
Burnett (4-3) walked two in his 17th career complete game. He also struck out 10 in his previous start, a 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay that ended Toronto’s nine-game losing streak. It was the first time this year he has won consecutive starts.
Brian Burres (1-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in five-plus innings for Baltimore, which lost its fifth straight, matching its longest skid of the year.
Devil Rays 11, Rangers 8
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Carl Crawford tripled with the bases loaded and Delmon Young drove in three runs to lead Tampa Bay.
Sammy Sosa hit his 597th homer in the fourth for the Rangers, who led 6-4 before the Devil Rays scored six runs in the fifth – the last three on Crawford’s third triple of the season.
Sosa’s two-run shot off Casey Fossum (3-3) was his ninth of the year and extended his major league record for most ballparks homered in to 45. Victor Diaz and Mark Teixeira also homered off Fossum, who allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings.
Al Reyes pitched the ninth for the Devil Rays, picking up his 12th save in 12 opportunities.
Nationals 6, Braves 4
WASHINGTON – Ryan Church hit a go-ahead, three-run double in the fifth, and Washington’s bullpen threw five shutout innings for the Nationals’ fifth victory in six games.
Church’s liner to right-center off Kyle Davies (1-2) capped a four-run inning in which the Nationals batted around and all of the runs were unearned, thanks to second baseman Kelly Johnson’s fielding error.
Levale Speigner lasted four innings in his first major league start, allowing four runs and eight hits.
Phillies 6, Brewers 2
PHILADELPHIA – Cole Hamels retired his first 18 batters and struck out 11 in eight innings to lead Philadelphia, which reached the .500 mark for the first time this season.
Hamels (6-1) didn’t allow a baserunner until he walked Rickie Weeks to open the seventh. NL home run leader J.J. Hardy followed with Milwaukee’s first hit, his 13th homer of the year, to make it 6-2. Hamels gave up two hits and one walk in eight innings.
Aaron Rowand hit a three-run homer in the second for the Phillies (20-20), who won their sixth in seven games. The NL Central-leading Brewers have lost five of six.
Jeff Suppan (5-4) gave up nine hits and six runs – four earned – in seven innings.
Astros 2, Giants 1
HOUSTON – Rookie Hunter Pence homered for the second straight game and Houston won its fourth in a row.
Pence put Houston up 2-1 with a solo homer that bounced off the train tracks above the left-field wall in the fourth. He hit a tying two-run drive in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 6-5, 10-inning win.
Pence, who was called up on April 27, is 7-for-7 in this series. He had singles in the second, sixth and eighth innings Wednesday and has four home runs and 15 RBIs this season.
Giants slugger Barry Bonds was 1-for-3 with a single and a walk. He hasn’t hit a homer since May 8 and remains 10 from Hank Aaron’s career record of 755.
Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 3
DENVER – Brad Hawpe homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Aaron Cook and Colorado.
Hawpe’s first career multihomer game overshadowed the solid major league debut of Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds, who went 2-for-3 and doubled home two runs with his first major league hit.