Rodriguez ties team saves record in Angels’ win
CLEVELAND (AP) – John Lackey earned his fourth straight win, Francisco Rodriguez tied his team record of 47 saves and the Los Angeles Angels took advantage of four Cleveland errors to defeat the Indians 4-3 Saturday. Lackey (10-2) pitched six innings to remain unbeaten in his last six starts. The Angels added to baseball’s best record and avoided their first three-game losing streak since June.
Rodriguez yielded a single to Jhonny Peralta to open the ninth, then got three quick outs – two on strikeouts – to match his saves mark set in 2006. He narrowly escaped a second straight blown save when Ryan Garko lined a 2-2 pitch inches foul with pinch-runner Franklin Gutierrez on second and two outs before fanning on a 3-2 offering in the dirt.
Garret Anderson extended his hitting streak to 20 games with two singles to help Los Angeles improve to 19-7 since the All-Star break.
Fausto Carmona (5-5) allowed four runs – two earned – and six hits in seven innings. He didn’t strike out a batter for the second time in 54 career starts.
Yankees 3, Royals 2, 13 innings
NEW YORK – Brett Gardner singled through the left side of the infield with two outs in the 13th inning, driving in Robinson Cano and giving New York a much-needed victory over Kansas City.
The Yankees won for just the second time in eight games, as they cling to playoff hopes. They began the day 101/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and seven back of the Boston Red Sox for the wild card.
Cano singled with one out in the 13th off Jeff Fulchino (0-1), just the third hit allowed by Royals relievers. Ivan Rodriguez moved up Cano with a groundout and Gardner slapped a single past third baseman Alex Gordon. The throw from left fielder David DeJesus to the plate was wide.
New York relievers allowed just one hit after Sidney Ponson left in the seventh inning, and David Robertson got some help from Rodriguez behind the plate to escape a jam in the 13th.
Robertson (3-0) walked Mark Teahen leading off the inning, but retired Jose Guillen on a fly ball and struck out Gordon. Teahen took off for second moments later, but Rodriguez threw a strike that beat him to the bag by about three feet.
Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 1
BOSTON – Roy Halladay stopped Boston’s potent offense and spoiled Paul Byrd’s debut with the Red Sox, pitching his major league-leading eighth complete game for Toronto.
The loss snapped Boston’s four-game winning streak and came after the Red Sox scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Texas.
Alex Rios hit a two-run homer and Adam Lind had a solo shot for the Blue Jays, who moved within eight games of Boston for the AL wild-card spot.
Halladay (14-9) improved to 10-4 in his last 16 starts, limiting the Red Sox to six singles before Dustin Pedroia’s homer leading off the ninth. It was his 39th career complete game.
Byrd (7-11), acquired Tuesday from Cleveland for cash or a player to be named, gave up hits to his first three batters – including Rios’ homer. Then he settled down to pitch 7 1-3 solid innings, allowing four runs and 10 hits without any walks or strikeouts.
White Sox 2, Athletics 1
OAKLAND, Calif. – John Danks pitched six effective innings to win his fifth straight decision on the road, and Chicago edged Oakland.
Juan Uribe had two hits and an RBI for the White Sox, who remained tied with Minnesota for the AL Central lead. Toby Hall also drove in a run.
Emil Brown drove in a run for the A’s, who have not won consecutive games since July 10-11.
Danks (10-5) extended his dominance of the A’s, allowing one run and six hits. He walked five and struck out five.
Greg Smith (5-12) turned in a decent effort, giving up two runs and eight hits in five innings. But he fell to 0-6 in his last eight starts.
Twins 7, Mariners 6
MINNEAPOLIS – Joe Mauer homered and scored three times, sliding home in the ninth inning on Brian Buscher’s sacrifice fly to lead Minnesota over Seattle.
The win kept the Twins tied with Chicago for the AL Central lead.
Ichiro Suzuki’s two-run single capped a six-run rally in the sixth that put the Mariners ahead 6-5. Jason Kubel’s pinch-hit single off Cesar Jimenez (0-2) tied it in the eighth.
Twins reliever Craig Breslow worked 2 1-3 scoreless innings, and Dennys Reyes (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth.
Tigers 5, Orioles 3
DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen hit home runs in the fourth inning and Justin Verlander got his first victory in almost a month to lift Detroit over Baltimore.
Gary Sheffield drove in two runs for Detroit, which won for only the fifth time in 16 games. Baltimore had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Verlander (9-13) allowed two unearned runs and four hits in six innings, walking three and striking out six. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his fourth save in eight chances.
Orioles’ starter Dennis Sarfate (4-3) lasted 4 2-3 innings, giving up four runs and six hits. He has yet to last a full five innings in any of his four starts since joining the rotation. He’s allowed 18 earned runs in 15 2-3 innings during that stretch.
Cardinals 9, Reds 3
CINCINNATI – Albert Pujols hit a pair of solo home runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals matched their season high with four homers in all during a victory over the Cincinnati Reds that extended their winning streak to four games.
Skip Schumaker started the barrage with a three-run shot off struggling Aaron Harang (3-13), hit hard in both of his starts since he came off the disabled list. Ryan Ludwick also had a two-run homer, and Pujols hit the first of his two off Harang as well.
The Cardinals’ winning streak is one shy of their season high. St. Louis has won six of its last eight overall, staying right behind Milwaukee in the NL wild-card race.
Joel Pineiro (6-5) improved to 3-0 in August and remained unbeaten in his career against the Reds. Pinch-hitter Andy Phillips and Brandon Phillips hit solo homers off Pineiro, who went six innings.
Cincinnati has come unhinged in the season’s second half, losing 17 of its last 21 games. The Reds have dropped their last eight at Great American Ball Park, their worst such slump since it opened in 2003. They haven’t been this bad at home since 2001, when they dropped nine in a row at Cinergy Field.
For the second start in a row, Harang didn’t give them much of a chance.
The right-hander was sidelined from July 13 to Aug. 9 with a sore right forearm. He returned last Sunday and gave up three homers and a career-high eight earned runs in only four innings of a 13-4 loss in Houston.
His next attempt had a nearly identical outcome.
Schumaker’s three-run homer helped the Cardinals pull ahead 5-1 in the second inning. Pujols homered in the third, and Ludwick ended Harang’s outing with his two-run homer in the fourth – his 31st of the season – for an 8-1 lead. Pujols followed with his 26th homer off Gary Majewski, his third multihomer game of the season.
Diamondbacks 11, Astros 5
HOUSTON – Miguel Montero and Chris Young hit grand slams – the first time Arizona has hit two in the same game – and the Diamondbacks beat the Houston Astros.
Montero and Young hit the first slams of their careers, both connecting off Brandon Backe. Montero also had a solo homer and double, driving in a career-high five RBIs as the Diamondbacks won for the fifth time in six games.
Yusmeiro Petit (2-3) allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings. The 23-year-old Venezuelan righty has made just five starts since getting recalled from Triple-A on June 27, and this was his first start since Aug. 7.
Backe (7-12) gave up 11 earned runs for the second time in three outings. He also allowed 11 in 3 1-3 innings against the Cubs in Chicago on Aug. 6.
Ty Wigginton hit an RBI triple and two doubles for the Astros, who’ve lost eight of the last nine meetings with Arizona.
Montero’s slam capped a five-run first for the Diamondbacks. He began the game with only one home run in 132 at-bats this season.
Backe came in with a 7.56 ERA in first innings this season and he ran into immediate trouble by walking Stephen Drew and giving up a single to Young.
Conor Jackson grounded out before Adam Dunn lined an RBI single and Mark Reynolds walked. Montero drove a 3-1 pitch into the upper deck in right field.
Darin Erstad doubled and scored on Lance Berkman’s single in the Houston first. Berkman has 12 RBIs in his last eight games.
Montero led off the fourth with another homer to right. It was his second career two-homer game and his first since he hit a pair against San Diego last Sept. 5.
Marlins 2, Cubs 1
MIAMI – Hanley Ramirez homered and Cody Ross singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to help the Florida Marlins snap the Chicago Cubs’ nine-game road winning streak with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night.
Florida’s Anibal Sanchez (2-2) pitched 5 1-3 innings for the Marlins, who avoided tying a season-high four-game losing streak. Kevin Gregg, who surrendered a game-winning home run on Friday night, pitched a scoreless ninth for his 27th save in 33 chances.
Henry Blanco homered for the Cubs, who had won five straight overall and hadn’t lost a road game since July 22, at Arizona.
The Cubs began the day with the best record in the National League and a 51/2 game lead in the NL Central over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Marlins remained four games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.
Chicago’s Sean Marshall (2-3) gave up two runs and four hits with eight strikeouts in five innings in his first start since July 6.
Sanchez allowed one run and three hits, walking five and striking out six. In his last two starts, he has 14 strikeouts in 12 1-3 innings. Sanchez won 10 games and threw a no-hitter as a rookie in 2006, then missed most of last season and more than half of this one because of a shoulder injury that required surgery in June 2007. He made his first start this season on July 31.
Florida went ahead 2-1 in the fifth when Ross singled home Jeremy Hermida from second.
Hermida led off with a walk and took second on Matt Treanor’s ground out. Sanchez struck out and Ramirez was walked intentionally before Ross lined Marshall’s first pitch into right for a single.
Blanco homered to left-center with two out in the fourth to tie it at 1. It was Blanco’s third homer.
Ramirez’s 27th home run gave Florida a 1-0 lead in the first. It was Ramirez’s 22nd career leadoff homer and seventh this season.
Braves 11, Giants 5
ATLANTA – Cast in the unlikely role of last man standing among the Braves’ four former 20-game winners, Mike Hampton prospered.
Hampton gave up two runs in six innings and Atlanta beat the San Francisco Giants to end a five-game losing streak, including four straight at Turner Field.
Rockies 13, Nationals 6
WASHINGTON – Troy Tulowitzki drove in three runs and the Colorado Rockies scored six times in the fifth inning to extend the Washington Nationals’ losing streak to nine games.
Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe and Ian Stewart had two RBIs apiece for the Rockies, who broke open a 5-2 game in the fifth. The first eight hitters reached base safely, Colorado drew four walks and starter Livan Hernandez helped himself with a run-scoring double.
Copyright Associated Press 2008