Cincinnati sweeps series from Indians
CINCINNATI (AP) – With two well-timed swings, Adam Dunn and Joey Votto gave untouchable Cliff Lee his comeuppance. Dunn homered for the fourth straight game, and Votto finished off Lee with the first pinch-hit homer of his career Sunday, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 victory and a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians.
No one had treated Lee (6-1) that way all season.
The left-hander came into the game on an amazing run, having allowed only four earned runs and one homer all season. Cincinnati’s left-handed swingers got the best of him, deciding a matchup of the majors’ two stingiest starters.
Edinson Volquez (7-1) gave up four hits and a pair of runs in six innings, raising his earned run average from 1.12 to 1.33.
Astros 5, Rangers 4
ARLINGTON, Texas – Brandon Backe pitched into the seventh inning, Miguel Tejada had three hits and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 Sunday.
Backe (3-5) retired the first nine batters of the game and didn’t give up a run until allowing consecutive homers to Milton Bradley and David Murphy in the seventh.
White Sox 13, Giants 8
SAN FRANCISCO – Nick Swisher hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the eighth as a pinch-hitter, lifting the White Sox to their fifth straight win.
Chicago got three straight one-out singles off Tyler Walker (1-2) in the eighth to load the bases. He then struck out Brian Anderson before Swisher stepped into the box and produced his second hit of the series.
Matt Thornton (1-0) gave up three runs in relief but earned the win. Nick Masset got his first major league save.
Diamondbacks 4, Tigers 0
PHOENIX – Randy Johnson pitched seven scoreless innings for his 288th career victory, and Arizona improved to a major league-best 28-16.
The 44-year-old Johnson (4-1) went a season-long seven innings to win his fourth straight decision, allowing six hits and a walk and striking out five.
Detroit starter Nate Robertson (1-5) retired 10 of the first 11 men he faced before giving up a pair of two-out hits in the fourth.
Red Sox 11, Brewers 7
BOSTON – David Ortiz homered twice and drove in four runs for the Red Sox.
Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer and Dustin Pedroia also homered for Boston, hitting a solo shot ahead of Ortiz’s first of the game.
Ryan Braun hit his 12th and 13th homers, J.J. Hardy had a two-run shot and Prince Fielder added a solo homer for the Brewers, who lost their fifth straight.
Josh Beckett (5-3) pitched seven innings, allowing six runs – all on homers – six hits, while striking out nine and walking one.
Carlos Villanueva (2-5) took the loss for Milwaukee.
Rockies 6, Twins 2
DENVER – Jeff Francis won for the first time this season and Todd Helton homered and drove in three runs, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 Sunday in the rubber match of their three-game series.
Francis (1-4) struck out seven in 6 1-3 innings for his first regular-season win since Sept. 23, at San Diego. In his previous three starts in May, Francis was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA – including giving up eight runs and 13 hits in 4 2-3 innings during his last start at Arizona.
Mets 11, Yankees 2
NEW YORK – Oliver Perez shut down the slumping New York Yankees, Jose Reyes homered for the second consecutive game and the Mets cruised for a rain-shortened sweep of their crosstown rivals.
Ryan Church also homered and Moises Alou drove in three runs for the Mets, who beat Chien-Ming Wang and won a series at Yankee Stadium for only the second time since interleague play began in 1997. They took two of three in 2005.
This one was a two-game sweep after Johan Santana beat the Yankees 7-4 Saturday. Friday night’s scheduled opener was rained out and is likely to be made up when the teams meet again June 27-29, possibly with a two-ballpark doubleheader.
Royals 9, Marlins 3
MIAMI – Jose Guillen homered and drove in four runs and Zack Greinke went six innings.
The Royals won for the sixth time in seven games. Florida remained atop the NL East despite finishing the week with only one victory in six games.
The Royals built an early 6-0 lead for Greinke (5-1), who gave up three runs, matching the most he has allowed since Aug. 4. He also went 2-for-3 with a double and an infield single, hiking his lifetime average to .375 (3-for-8).
Braves 5, Athletics 2
ATLANTA – Yunel Escobar had three hits, including a go-ahead, two-run single, and Omar Infante added a two-run triple in the eighth inning.
The A’s had at least one baserunner in every inning but left runners stranded at third base in the second, sixth, seventh and eighth. The A’s were 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position in their last five games before adding to their scoring woes in Sunday’s loss.
Cardinals 5, Rays 4
ST. LOUIS – Skip Schumaker doubled with one out in the ninth inning over a drawn-in outfield, driving in the winning run and capping the Cardinals’ rally from a three-run deficit.
Chris Perez (1-0) retired the bottom of the Rays’ order in only five pitches in the ninth.
Gary Glover (0-2) walked .132-hitting Jason LaRue to start the bottom of the ninth and Cesar Izturis reached on an infield hit with one out before Schumaker lofted a drive over the head of left fielder Carl Crawford.
Mariners 3, Padres 2
SEATTLE – Jose Lopez lined a two-out, two-run double in the eighth for the difference.
Heath Bell (0-3) took the loss.
Arthur Rhodes (2-0) got the final out of the eighth to get the victory, and J.J. Putz pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven chances.
Blue Jays 6, Phillies 5
PHILADELPHIA – Lyle Overbay’s three-run pinch-hit homer and Shannon Stewart’s two-run double helped the Blue Jays beat the Phillies in a game that was delayed twice by rain.
Ryan Howard gave the Phillies a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning with his 10th home run.
After the inning ended, the game was stopped by rain for 2 hours, and 4 minutes. A second delay of 39 minutes halted the game in the sixth inning. When play resumed, Toronto ace Roy Halladay made his first relief appearance since July 22, 2001. He pitched 2 1-3 innings giving up a hit. He struck out two. Halladay last pitched on Thursday.
Jason Frasor (1-0) picked up the win for the Blue Jays. B.J. Ryan earned his ninth save in nine opportunities despite surrendering a two-out solo homer to Pat Burrell.
Nationals 2, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE – Rookie John Lannan took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, Cristian Guzman homered, and the Nationals ended Baltimore’s four-game winning streak.
Lannan (4-4) allowed one run and four hits in 7 1-3 innings, the longest he’s lasted in 15 career starts. The left-hander struck out five, walked one and lowered his ERA to 3.40.
Jon Rauch got three outs for his 10th save.
Angels 10, Dodgers 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mike Napoli homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs to power the Angels over the Dodgers.
The Angels took two of three in the “Freeway Series,” including Friday night’s opener.
Napoli hit a three-run home run off Derek Lowe (2-4) in the second inning and added a solo shot against Scott Proctor in the sixth for his 10th homer. Napoli had an RBI single in the fourth and finished 3-for-4.
Jered Weaver (3-5) held the Dodgers to two runs through 5 1-3 innings. He gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked two. Relievers Jose Arredondo, Justin Speir and Chris Bootcheck shut out the Dodgers the rest of the way.
Copyright Associated Press 2008