Rays/MLB

AL Roundup

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 16, 2006

WHITE SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 2: CHICAGO - In his Toronto debut, A.J. Burnett discovered first hand what many teams and pitchers already know: Don't miss your spot when you're facing Paul Konerko.

Konerko hit two two-run homers, Mark Buehrle pitched eight strong innings and Tadahito Iguchi made a stellar ninth-inning defensive play to lead Chicago.

"I got a couple of good mistakes to hit, and I didn't miss," Konerko said.

Konerko's tiebreaking homer in the fifth was his third in two games.

"Both those balls leaked over the middle right toward him, and he did what you're supposed to do with them," said Burnett, fresh off the disabled list.

Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth for his fourth save. After Troy Glaus hit a one-out single, Iguchi raced in to field Bengie Molina's slow hopper over the mound, and as he was falling he got off the throw to first for the out. Shea Hillenbrand then grounded out.

QUOTABLE: "He was gambling, taking a lot of risks. You go, "Oh no don't do it,' and, "Oh, good.' " - Ozzie Guillen, White Sox manager on Iguchi's throw

INDIANS 7, TIGERS 2: DETROIT - Fausto Carmona left quite an impression in his major-league debut.

The right-hander, 22, allowed one run in six innings to lead Cleveland. Carmona, recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to replace C.C. Sabathia (abdominal strain), gave up five hits to help the Indians snap a three-game losing streak. He walked two and struck out four.

"He was very good," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "He had a power sinker working and he did a good job of utilizing his breaking ball as well as his changeup."

Carmona got just as much praise from the other clubhouse.

"It's always tough when you don't even have tape of a pitcher, but this kid's different," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I was very impressed. He's the real deal."

While Carmona shined, Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman struggled. He lost his second start in a row, giving up seven runs and eight hits with a walk in 32/3 innings. The Tigers have lost five of six since a 5-0 start.

"I got my butt kicked, plain and simple," he said.

NOTABLE: Indians catcher Victor Martinez extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a first-inning single.

ATHLETICS 5, RANGERS 4: OAKLAND, Calif. - Eric Chavez, Frank Thomas and Milton Bradley homered on consecutive pitches in the sixth inning, and Oakland snapped a four-game losing streak.

Chavez led off the inning with a shot into the rightfield seats, Thomas followed with his 451st career homer and third of the season and Bradley connected to chase starter Vicente Padilla.

The last time a team homered on three straight pitches was Sept. 29, 2001, when Fred McGriff, Rondell White and Todd Hundley did it for the Cubs against Houston's Dave Mlicki at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The A's hit three straight homers for the eighth time, the first since June 23, 2000, against Kansas City, when Randy Velarde, Jason Giambi and Ben Grieve accomplished the feat.

The home runs came minutes after Phil Nevin gave Texas the lead with a three-run homer off Rich Harden, who won despite not having his best stuff.

Nick Swisher added a two-run homer in the fifth for the A's, who returned to .500 at 6-6, the same mark they had in 2005.

NOTABLE: Rangers infielder Mark DeRosa was held out a day after he tweaked his left ankle in his first game after missing six with a high left ankle injury.

ORIOLES 3, ANGELS 2: BALTIMORE - Erik Bedard pitched eight strong innings to earn his third win, and Baltimore used a three-run fifth to beat Bartolo Colon and Los Angeles.

Colon gave up one earned run in seven innings, but the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner remained winless in three starts. Colon did improve his ERA from 12.86 to 7.07.

Bedard went in 0-2 with a 6.19 ERA in three career starts against the Angels.

Held to one hit through four innings, the Orioles took a 3-2 lead with a three-run fifth fueled by catcher Jose Molina's error.

Ramon Hernandez singled and scored on a double by Jeff Conine, who was batting .050 and in an 0-for-16 slump since opening day. Brian Roberts then singled off the glove of second baseman Chone Figgins, and Conine scored when Molina dropped Figgins' throw to the plate. David Newhan followed with an infield hit before Melvin Mora singled in a run.

NOTABLE: Angels centerfielder Darin Erstad returned to the team one day after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child.

MARINERS 3, RED SOX 0: BOSTON - Joel Pineiro escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs. Tim Wakefield couldn't overcome two passed balls and a misplayed fly in one wild inning.

That combination gave Pineiro the edge in a pitcher's duel. It was even more impressive because the Seattle right-hander was 2-5 with a 7.71 ERA in his first eight starts against Boston.

"You can say I was due," he said.

He almost was done in the second inning. After leaving two runners stranded in the first, he allowed a double and two walks to the first three batters in the second.

"I wouldn't want to be on the mound" in that predicament, Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "I'd want to be somewhere in Tibet probably, but he did a good job."

Pineiro, who pitched 61/3 innings and combined with J.J. Putz and Eddie Guardado on a five-hitter, struck out the next two batters, then retired Alex Cora on a groundout.

"That was the turning point," Pineiro said. "Then we came back the next inning and scored some runs."

QUOTABLE: "It was getting to where I was going to ask him, "What do you want?' " - Pineiro on Josh Bard's 12-pitch at-bat in the second that ended in a walk, loading the bases

TWINS 6, YANKEES 5: MINNEAPOLIS - Justin Morneau hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera to lift Minnesota to its fifth straight come-from-behind win.

The Twins trailed 5-4 heading into the ninth with Rivera, one of the league's best closers for the past decade, on the mound.

But Luis Castillo, who had four hits, beat out an infield hit leading off and advanced to third on a single by Joe Mauer, who reached second when Hideki Matsui threw to third.

Rivera struck out Rondell White and Torii Hunter, but Morneau hit a lazy, broken-bat single to right, and Mauer beat Gary Sheffield's throw, whipping the more than 42,000 in attendance into a frenzy.

The comeback put the Twins above .500 (6-5) for the first time after a 1-5 start.

NOTABLE: Jaret Wright's first start of the season for New York was a rough one. He pitched three-plus innings with eight hits, four runs (three earned), a hit batter and a wild pitch.

[Last modified April 16, 2006, 01:00:06]