Major League Baseball
Matthews, Escobar shine as Angels edge Yankees NEW YORK (AP) – Gary Matthews Jr. lined a two-run triple that gave the Los Angeles Angels yet another fast start and Kelvim Escobar made the early lead stand up, beating the New York Yankees 3-1 Saturday.
Los Angeles won for the eighth time in 10 games and did it without manager Mike Scioscia, who was back in California for his son’s high school graduation. Bench coach Ron Roenicke ran the team, and will do it again Sunday when the Angels go for the sweep.
The AL West leaders took a 3-0 lead off Chien-Ming Wang before Escobar threw a pitch. They’ve now outscored opponents 52-19 in first innings this season.
Indians 6, Tigers 3
DETROIT – David Dellucci hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and C.C. Sabathia tied the league lead with his seventh victory for Cleveland.
Victor Martinez also hit a two-run home run to help the Indians beat Detroit for the second straight day, giving them a 11/2-game lead in the AL Central.
Mariners 9, Royals 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kenji Johjima hit his first major league grand slam, Richie Sexson added a three-run shot, and Cha Seung Baek struck out seven in seven-plus innings for Seattle.
Baek (2-2) gave up five hits and the only runner to get past second did so on an error. He threw 98 pitches and 74 were strikes.
Cubs 4, Dodgers 2
LOS ANGELES – Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa hit back-to-back home runs and reliever Will Ohman struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Kent with the bases-loaded in the eighth inning to help preserve a victory by the Chicago Cubs over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Carlos Zambrano (5-4) gave up two runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings, struck out a season-high eight and walked one in his second-best start of the season. He allowed one run in eight innings in a 10-1 victory over the Mets on May 15.
Zambrano gave up his second run in the eighth, a two-out RBI single by Nomar Garciaparra that cut the Cubs’ lead to 4-2. The right-hander walked Russell Martin to load the bases before giving way to Ohman, who got Kent on a called third strike.
Ryan Dempster got his 11th save in 12 chances. Dempster allowed singles to Andre Ethier and Mike Lieberthal before getting pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz to ground into a game-ending double play.
Phillies 6, Braves 4
ATLANTA – Chase Utley drove in three runs, Shane Victorino had three hits and Philadelphia moved above .500 for the first time this season.
The Phillies (25-24) have won the first two games of the three-game series and are three games behind the second-place Braves in the NL East.
Atlanta suffered its ninth loss in 13 games as Buddy Carlyle (0-1), called up from Triple-A Richmond for the start, gave up five runs in four innings.
Adam Eaton (5-3) gave up six hits and four runs in six innings for the Phillies.
Edgar Renteria hit his seventh homer and drove in four for Atlanta.
Mets 7, Marlins 2
MIAMI – Carlos Delgado ended a long power drought with two home runs and five RBIs and John Maine matched a career-high with eight strikeouts in six innings for New York.
Delgado hit his first home run in 47 at-bats in the third inning, added a three-run shot in the fifth for his first multi-homer game since Aug. 22 and scored three times to help New York move a season-high 31/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East.