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Baseball
April 18, 2003
NEW YORK -- Warming up in the bullpen Thursday, Jeff Weaver noticed his fastball didn't have its usual hop. No problem. He made a few adjustments and pitched the Yankees to a 4-0 victory over the Blue Jays.
"My fastball was for show today," Weaver said after combining with reliever Chris Hammond on a five-hitter. "My curve and slider were for outs. I was glad I made the early adjustment and didn't wait until the fourth or fifth inning to figure it out."
Weaver took a shutout into the eighth and Hammond got the final four outs. Yankees manager Joe Torre was impressed with Weaver's work.
"He had to feel his way for a while," Torre said. "He's a grinder. He challenges people. He's a tough kid."
Weaver was in a scoreless duel with Toronto starter Pete Walker (1-1) until the fifth inning, when Raul Mondesi led off with a home run. An inning later, Alfonso Soriano hit a first-pitch homer. After three walks loaded the bases, Hideki Matsui delivered a two-run double against reliever Doug Creek.
"I hung a couple of sliders," Walker said. "I got them in the wrong location and they took care of them."
MARINERS 4, A'S 3 (10): Mark McLemore atoned for his error that allowed Oakland to tie it in the ninth with a two-out run-scoring single in the 10th for host Seattle.
The Mariners took three of four from the A's, who have lost seven of eight after a 7-1 start.
With two outs in the 10th, Mike Cameron walked and stole second. Jeremy Fikac (0-1) walked Carlos Guillen before McLemore blooped his single to left on a 3-and-1 pitch to score the speedy Cameron.
RANGERS 9, ANGELS 7: Ryan Drese looked as if he were in for another short outing. Instead, he recovered from a four-run first with six shutout innings and host Texas rallied to take three of four from the World Series champions.
"There is no scare, no quit in him," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "He wasn't going to feel sorry for himself, he was going to try to find a way to get it done."
David Eckstein hit a leadoff home run and Troy Glaus added a two-run shot as the Angels quickly jumped ahead 4-0. But that's all they managed against Drese (1-1).
The Rangers No. 5 starter, who got only one out and gave up six runs in his first outing against Seattle, struck out eight while throwing 137 pitches in seven innings. By the time he left, Texas led 9-4.
WHITE SOX 8, ROYALS 2: Esteban Loaiza (3-0) matched a career high with 11 strikeouts, winning his third straight start for host Chicago.
"This is the best three starts I ever had in my career," Loaiza said after allowing four hits and a run in six strong innings. "I'm feeling good and I've been successful so far. I just hope I can get a lot of wins."
Loaiza, whose ERA is 1.31, had plenty of help as Chicago beat Kansas City (11-3) for the second straight day. Slumping Carlos Lee's grand slam was one of four White Sox homers off Chris George (2-1). Loaiza didn't allow a hit until Brandon Berger singled leading off the fifth.
O'S 6, INDIANS 4 (12): Jeff Conine's two-out, two-run single in the 12th won it for visiting Baltimore. Conine, who homered in the second, fouled off four pitches with two strikes before completing a 10-pitch at-bat by lining a single off Carl Sadler to score pinch-runner Jose Morban and Melvin Mora. The Orioles won twice in the three-game set and evened the season series at three. The teams won't see each other again until 2004.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 0: Bobby Kielty homered twice and Kenny Rogers pitched eight scoreless innings to complete a three-game sweep for host Minnesota. Torii Hunter went 2-for-3, including two doubles and an RBI as Minnesota won its sixth in a row after losing six straight. Rogers struck out nine, one shy of his career high, and gave up seven hits and no walks. Detroit lost its fourth in a row and fell to 1-13, the worst start in the majors since the 1997 Cubs started 0-14.