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Rays/MLB

AL: roundup

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 3, 2006

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RED SOX 3, TIGERS 2: DETROIT - In 24 hours, Detroit experienced baseball's full range of emotions.

One night after rallying in the ninth inning for a dramatic victory over the New York Yankees, the Tigers saw the same thing from the other side as Kevin Youkilis' two-run homer with two outs in the ninth gave Boston a victory.

"Twenty-four hours ago, we were the happiest team in baseball," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Now we're probably the most disappointed. That's baseball."

It was the second loss in four days for closer Todd Jones.

"I've been here before - I just wish it hadn't been back-to-back outings," he said. "That's why this job isn't for the faint of heart."

With Detroit leading 2-1, Jones (0-3) retired the first two batters in the ninth. But Mike Lowell singled and Youkilis drove an 0-1 pitch just over the glove of left fielder Craig Monroe and into the bullpen for his sixth homer.

"Getting that hit was huge for the team," Youkilis said. "You never think home run - I was just trying to get a good swing at the ball."

Detroit has lost five of six, while the Red Sox improved to 2-2 at the start of a 10-game road trip.

Rudy Seanez (1-0) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief, and rookie Jonathan Papelbon pitched the bottom of the ninth for his 20th save in as many tries.

The game started as a pitching duel between the teams' aces.

Curt Schilling allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for Boston. He struck out eight without walking a batter. Kenny Rogers allowed one run and five hits in seven innings for the Tigers. He struck out a season-high seven and walked one - Ortiz with the bases empty and two outs in the sixth.

"Going against Curt, you don't feel like you are going to get a lot of runs to work with," Rogers said. "That's why you try to maximize your effort."

QUOTABLE: "Not everyone can be Mariano Rivera. Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug." - Jones, referring to the New York Yankees' closer

RANGERS 4, WHITE SOX 3: CHICAGO - Gary Matthews scored the tying run in the seventh and doubled home the winning run in the ninth.

Texas has won 6 of 8 while Chicago has lost four in a row.

The White Sox scored three in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, getting a bases-loaded single by ex-USF standout Ross Gload and run-scoring groundouts by Juan Uribe and Brian Anderson.

The Rangers tied it in the seventh. Jon Garland walked Matthews with two outs, and Michael Young knocked the first pitch from Jeff Nelson down the leftfield line for a double that drove in Matthews.

Then with one out in the ninth, Chicago's Brandon McCarthy walked Ian Kinsler. Bobby Jenks, Chicago's closer, came on and gave up a double to Matthews on the first pitch.

The White Sox had the tying run on after A.J. Pierzynski singled with two outs in the ninth, but Paul Konerko flied out to short right.

NOTABLE: Brad Wilkerson's homer, a two-run shot in the second, was the 17th allowed by Garland. That ties him for most in the majors with the Orioles' Bruce Chen.

TWINS 2, A'S 1: OAKLAND, Calif. - Minnesota's Johan Santana pitched eight innings of two-hit ball and Justin Morneau hit a two-run homer in the eighth to spoil the chance of three straight shutouts by Oakland.

Santana gave up both hits in the second inning. After Bobby Kielty's two-out single, Santana retired the final 19 batters he faced before Joe Nathan finished for his seventh save in as many chances.

Santana (5-4) won for the first time in four starts since beating the White Sox on May 12. He struck out nine and didn't allow a walk.

The A's had gone 25 innings without allowing a run, and Kirk Saarloos appeared in position to follow the feats of Joe Blanton and Barry Zito, who had shutouts before him, but Morneau sent a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence for his 11th homer of the season.

The A's missed a chance at their first three-game winning streak since five straight victories from May 14-19.

NOTABLE: The A's Frank Thomas homered for the third straight game to give him 461 for his career.

ANGELS 10, INDIANS 3: CLEVELAND - Rookie Jered Weaver's road debut was almost as impressive as his premiere at home.

Weaver took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning and won his second start in the majors, leading Los Angeles to victory over Cleveland.

Until the Indians pushed a run across in the seventh on consecutive hits, Weaver was on his way to trumping his dazzling debut of May 27, when he limited Baltimore to three hits in seven scoreless innings.

He allowed two runs and four hits in 61/3 innings, walked two and struck out eight. The Indians managed to get just one runner to second base before Casey Blake singled and scored on Ben Broussard's double.

His unorthodox delivery - he briefly turns his back to the plate, making it tough to pick up the ball - baffled the Indians. Beyond that, Weaver's fastball was consistently in the low 90s and he occasionally mixed in a slider and changeup.

NOTABLE: The Angels had a season-high six steals.

YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 5: BALTIMORE - Derek Jeter singled in the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning, and depleted New York got homers from Andy Phillips and Jason Giambi in a victory over Baltimore.

Returning from a two-day absence because of a hand injury, Jeter went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. The Yankees finished with 12 hits.

With the score 5-all, Johnny Damon hit a one-out single in the ninth off Chris Ray (1-1). With two outs, Damon tried to steal second and was called out when tagged by Brian Roberts, but the second baseman was charged with an error when the ball popped from his glove.

Jeter followed with an opposite-field single to right, assuring the Yankees their sixth win in seven games.

Miguel Tejada, Ramon Hernandez and Javy Lopez all had three hits for the Orioles.

NOTABLE: The Yankees have nine straight games with at least 10 hits for the first time since July 1958, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

[Last modified June 3, 2006, 01:29:10]

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