Alex Rodriguez hit his major-league-leading 38th and 39th homeruns, and the visiting New York Yankees scored seven runs in thesecond inning en route to walloping the Cleveland Indians 11-2 onSaturday and giving starting pitcher Mike Mussina his 100th victorywith the team.
Rodriguez, who has hit six homers in five games this seasonagainst the Indians, hit a pair of two-run blasts to help theYankees improve to 22-8 since the All-Star break. Jason Giambi alsohomered and Jose Molina went 4-for-5 in place of injured JorgePosada (sore neck) for the Yankees, who moved 14 games above .500for the first time this season.
Rodriguez's first homer completed a seven-run second againstlosing pitcher Paul Byrd (10-5) that sapped the energy out of thefourth capacity crowd at Jacobs Field this season. His second homercame in the eighth and finished off his fifth multihomer game of theseason and the 49th of his career.
All of that was more than enough for Mussina (8-7), who allowedtwo runs and eight hits in 7* innings to become the 16th pitcher towin 100 games for the Yankees. He is only the ninth pitcher in major-league history to win 100 games for two teams, earning his first 147victories with the Baltimore Orioles.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 2
Josh Beckett came within one out of a shutout and became thefirst pitcher in the majors to reach 15 victories, and Julio Lugoand J.D. Drew each had two RBI to pace Boston past host Baltimore.
Beckett (15-5) scattered eight hits and struck out eight in 8*innings. He was lifted after yielding an RBI single to Miguel Tejadaand a run-scoring double to Kevin Millar. After Manny Delcarmenwalked Aubrey Huff, Jonathan Papelbon came on to retire Melvin Moraon a pop-up for his 27th save. The Orioles are the only team in themajors that hasn't been shut out this season.
Tigers 5, Athletics 2
Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning, andJustin Verlander earned his first victory in four weeks to sparkDetroit past visiting Oakland. The result ended the Tigers' three-game losing streak.
Verlander (12-4) hadn't won since July 15 and gave the Tigersonly their second victory from a starter in the last 24 games. Heallowed two runs and seven hits in six-plus innings before fourrelievers finished, with Todd Jones pitching a 1-2-3 ninth for his31st save.
Angels 4, Twins 3
Maicer Izturis highlighted a four-run eighth inning with a two-run homer, and John Lackey (15-6) joined the Red Sox' Josh Beckettas the only pitchers in the majors with 15 victories despiteallowing 10 hits in eight innings as host Los Angeles slipped pastMinnesota.
Royals 4, Blue Jays 1
Alex Gordon went 3-for-3 and fell a double short of the cycle,and Leo Nunez (2-0) allowed one run and two hits in five innings inhis third big-league start to help Kansas City topple visitingToronto. The Blue Jays' Troy Glaus ended an 0-for-27 slump with asingle in the seventh.
Devil Rays 3, Rangers 0
Edwin Jackson (3-11) pitched a four-hitter and struck out eightfor his first career shutout and complete game, and Delmon Young hadtwo doubles, a run scored and an RBI as Tampa Bay blanked hostTexas.
No comments:
Post a Comment