Major League Baseball
Rays’ Sonnastine stops Angels for 13th victory ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske hit two-run homers for Tampa Bay, helping Andy Sonnanstine get his 13th win in a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
The first-place Rays won for the eighth time in 10 games, holding off the team with baseball’s best record despite another baserunning gaffe by B.J. Upton, who has been benched three times in the past two weeks for not hustling.
The speedy center fielder was caught jogging on the bases again and thrown out at second on what should have been a routine double. But unlike last Friday in Texas, Upton wasn’t removed from the game by manager Joe Maddon.
Sonnanstine (13-6) allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings to pull within one victory of the Rays’ single-season record. Rolando Arrojo won 14 in 1998, and Sonnanstine’s total matches the 13 Scott Kazmir won a year ago.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE – Jon Lester outpitched Jeremy Guthrie, and Jason Bay homered twice for Boston.
Lester (12-4) allowed one run, four hits and a walk in seven innings to improve to 5-0 lifetime against the Orioles. The left-hander is 9-1 since May 25.
Manny Delcarmen issued a pair of two-out walks in eighth before Jonathan Papelbon gave up a double to Aubrey Huff that cut Boston’s lead to 4-3. After David Ortiz hit an RBI double in the ninth and scored on a grounder by Bay, Papelbon finished for his 33rd save in 37 tries.
Jason Varitek also homered for the Red Sox, who have won eight of 12 and lead the AL wild-card race.
Guthrie (10-9) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings.
White Sox 13, Mariners 5
CHICAGO – Nick Swisher hit a two-run home run and Orlando Cabrera started a six-run fifth inning with another two-run shot to help Chicago beat dismal Seattle.
After hitting a grand slam on Sunday, rookie Alexei Ramirez hit a three-run homer and Jermaine Dye doubled twice and drove in two runs for the White Sox, who have won six of their last seven games and moved one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.
Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run in the eighth for Chicago, who lead the majors with 182 homers. They hit four homers for the second straight game.
White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (11-10) survived a shaky performance to improve to 8-3 at home. He allowed five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Athletics 3, Twins 2
MINNEAPOLIS – Kirk Saarloos pitched 3 2-3 shutout innings after Justin Duchscherer left with a hip injury and Oakland beat Minnesota.
Mark Ellis homered and Kurt Suzuki had two RBIs for Oakland, which got a nice effort from Saarloos (1-0) after he was called up from Triple-A Sacramento earlier in the day to bolster a struggling A’s bullpen that was 1-5 over its last 18 games.
Duchscherer departed with right hip pain after throwing a pitch to Joe Mauer with two outs in the third and Oakland leading 1-0.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Minnesota and wasted a good start from Blackburn (9-7). The rookie pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
Brewers 9, Astros 3
MILWAUKEE – CC Sabathia improved his perfect record with Milwaukee, pitching another complete game to beat Houston.
Sabathia also hit a two-run single in a five-run fourth inning. He is 8-0 with a 1.60 ERA and five complete games in nine starts for the Brewers since they acquired him from Cleveland in a July 7 trade.
Last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner has won 11 straight decisions overall.
Sabathia threw 130 pitches. The big lefty struck out nine, walked two and gave up 11 hits as the Brewers pulled 21/2 games ahead of idle St. Louis in the NL wild-card race. They also moved within five games of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
Randy Wolf (2-1) took the loss, giving up six earned runs and five hits in four innings, his shortest outing in five starts since joining the Astros on July 22.
Giants 5, Braves 0
ATLANTA – Barry Zito had one of his best starts of the season, leading San Francisco over Atlanta.
Zito (7-15) allowed five hits in seven innings, combining with Keiichi Yabu and Sergio Romo on a seven-hitter. Zito pitched out of trouble, stranding two runners each in the third, fifth and seventh.
The major league leader in losses, Zito has won just 18 of 58 starts since signing a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants before the 2007 season.
He improved to 97-5 in his career when receiving four or more runs of support, including 12-1 with the Giants. San Francisco has scored one run or none in 24 of his starts.
San Francisco pitched its ninth shutout, one shy of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the NL leader. Aaron Rowand homered and drove in two runs.
Atlanta has lost six of seven and was outscored 47-22 during a seven-game homestand.
Jorge Campillo (7-6) gave up five runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Copyright Associated Press 2008