Rays/MLB

MLB roundup

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 18, 2006

RANGERS 8, D'BACKS 4: ARLINGTON, Texas - Gary Matthews hit a two-run homer and robbed Shawn Green of a homer for the Rangers.

Texas took a 3-0 lead in the first against Kevin Jarvis, who made his first start of the season. The right-hander, 36, was called up from Triple A on May20 and entered with a 9.95 ERA in four relief appearances.

Matthews, the leadoff batter, was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a Michael Young single. Two outs later, a walk and wild pitch put runners at second and third, and Kevin Mench's single made it 3-0.

Matthews caught Green's drive in the fourth. He raced into right-center, leaped at the warning track and stuck his glove over the wall. Jerry Hairston led off the bottom half with a triple, and Matthews followed with a homer to make it 7-1.

NOTABLE: John Koronka earned his first win since May9. In his previous six starts, he was 0-3 with three no-decisions as his ERA went from 3.65 to 5.11.

QUOTABLE: "I just wanted to be able to go back to the wall, to make a judgment whether or not I could make a play."

- Matthews on his catch

ASTROS 7, ROYALS 2: HOUSTON - Lance Berkman had four RBIs to lead the Astros. Mike Lamb had a run-scoring single and three runs for Houston, which has won 9 of 12.

Berkman went 3-for-4, capping his day with a double to left-center in the eighth that scored Lamb and Chris Burke.

The Royals have lost 6 of 8.

Taylor Buchholz shook off a shaky first in what might be his last start for a while. Manager Phil Garner is considering pulling the rookie, 24, from the rotation when Roger Clemens returns Thursday.

If Buchholz is sent to the minors or moved to the bullpen, he left on one his best outings, snapping a personal three-game losing streak.

NOTABLE: Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg went 0-for-2 with three walks in his first start since bruising his right shoulder June9.

QUOTABLE: "I figured I was allowed one free pass." - Berkman on skipping pregame infield practice to watch Rice, his alma mater, in the College World Series

ORIOLES 4, METS 2: NEW YORK - Kris Benson, traded by the Mets in January, homered and got the win. He allowed no hits after the fourth and retired his last 15 hitters.

"It was a baseball trade," Benson said. "I'm having a great time in Baltimore, and I'm still in baseball."

The Mets had runners on second and third with one out in the second. But Jose Reyes popped out to first and Carlos Beltran grounded out to first.

Then leading off the third, Benson tied it at 2 with the first homer by an Orioles pitcher since Roric Harrison in 1972, the year before the designated hitter rule was adopted.

Nick Markakis opened the Orioles' fifth with a single and scored on Brian Roberts' double. Roberts took third when Pedro Martinez's pickoff went into centerfield, and Brandon Fahey's single made it 4-2.

NOTABLE: The victory clinched the Orioles' second road series win this season.

QUOTABLE: "Whenever I fall behind (a pitcher), I'm not going to fool around. Make him hit it. The next time up, he (flied out). Same pitch. Same location. Fastball. Eighty-five, 86 mph." - Martinez on Benson's homer

NATIONALS 11, YANKEES 9: WASHINGTON - Daryle Ward lumbered around the bases to score the go-ahead run, capping the Nationals' rally from a seven-run deficit.

It was the first time New York lost after having a seven-run lead since 10-7 at Cleveland on July14, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Nationals trailed 9-2 after the Yankees' seven-run fifth. Alex Rodriguez (a two-run shot) and Jorge Posada hit consecutive homers. Then Robinson Cano doubled, Melky Cabrera reached on an error and pitcher Shawn Chacon (reliever Saul Rivera's first batter) walked to load the bases.

Johnny Damon cleared them with his second grand slam of the year on a 3-and-1 pitch.

But Washington scored four in the bottom half, capped by Brian Schneider's two-run single on reliever Matt Smith's fourth pitch.

Washington got two more in the seventh. Ward led off with an upper-deck homer off T.J. Beam, who made his major-league debut. Jose Guillen followed with a double, and he scored two outs later on pinch-hitter Robert Fick's single to make it 9-8.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera entered in the eighth with one out and Alfonso Soriano, whom Scott Proctor walked, at first. With Ward at the plate, Alfonso Soriano stole second on a 2-and-0 pitch. With the count full, Soriano took off for third on Ball 4, and Posada's throw went into leftfield to allow Soriano to score.

Ward stayed at first, and Guillen followed with a triple to right-center. Ward, generously listed at 240 pounds, legged his way home well ahead of the throw.

"At third, I was looking at (the coach) like he was crazy, but he was still waving his arm," Ward said. "I was like, "Okay.' I'm just making sure my arms were pumping as hard as I can to keep my legs going."

Ryan Zimmerman singled home Guillen for the insurance run as the Nationals ended a five-game losing streak.

NOTABLE: Ward entered in the third for Nick Johnson, who strained his back and is day to day.

QUOTABLE: "There's no way I should walk the leadoff guy. And if they get four or five base hits in a row, then fine. But I was disappointed in that walk and definitely disappointed in not being given the opportunity to get out of it." - Chacon on the Nationals' fifth; 45 of his 100 pitches were balls

TWINS 5, PIRATES 3: PITTSBURGH - Justin Morneau hit Minnesota's third homer of the game to break an eighth-inning tie and extend its win streak to six. The Twins were eight games under .500 at 25-33 on June7 but have won 8 of 9.

Jason Kubel and Terry Tiffee, making a rare start at third, homered in the third, the Twins' first consecutive homers since Juan Castro and Shannon Stewart on May28, 2005.

Kubel, who homered for the fourth time in five games, also drove in the run that made it 3-1 with a groundout in the fourth.

The Pirates, 1-4 on a seven-game homestand, tied it at 3 on Freddy Sanchez's two-run single in the fourth that chased Boof Bonser, a Gibbs High grad making his first start since June7.

Morneau's homer came on the first pitch he saw after Damaso Marte quickly retired Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer.

NOTABLE: Morneau is 16-for-36 (.444) during a nine-game hitting streak.

QUOTABLE: "He was behind too many hitters, and it didn't look like he was going to be able to locate the ball." - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on Bonser, whose previous turn in the rotation was skipped and now has allowed 16 runs in his past 201/3 innings.

ANGELS 3, PADRES 2: ANAHEIM, Calif. - Dallas McPherson saw Dave Roberts crumpled on the ground in the leftfield corner and kept running, all the way to the first inside-the-park homer of his life.

McPherson didn't celebrate during or after the play, saying he would have preferred getting a double to prevent Roberts' injury.

"I saw him down. I saw the ball. I just kept going," McPherson said. "I didn't know how it happened. My thoughts and wishes are with him. It was tough watching him out there hurt."

Garret Anderson homered with one out in the sixth to tie it at 1, and one out later, Juan Rivera was hit by a pitch.

McPherson then sliced an 0-and-1 pitch down the leftfield line. Roberts slid, but the ball went off his glove. He slammed awkwardly into the fence, banging his right knee.

The ball bounced away, and McPherson circled the bases while Roberts lay on the ground, unable to get up. Roberts left the field on a cart. X-rays and a CT scan at a local hospital were negative, and the team said Roberts is day to day with a bruise.

"I got a good view of it, and it didn't look good," said Eric Young, who replaced Roberts in leftfield. "But that's the way Dave plays, all out. He was lunging and going into the concrete, and when I saw him grab his knee, I said, "Uh, oh."'

Anderson, the Angels' leftfielder, said the padding on the fence stops about a foot above the ground.

"I've adjusted my game accordingly," he said. "If he hit the padding, he wouldn't have laid down on the ground like that. He'd be hurt, but he wouldn't have that feeling of his knee going against concrete."

The Padres got an unearned run off Scot Shields in the eighth on shortstop Orlando Cabrera's two-out throwing error and Brian Giles' double.

Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for the Angels, converting his 16th save in 18 chances. He gave up a two-out walk to Khalil Greene and a single to Vinny Castilla before getting Josh Barfield to ground out to third to end the game.

NOTABLE: McPherson's was the Angels' 23rd inside-the-park homer and second this season. On May27, Vladimir Guerrero hit one when Orioles rightfielder Jay Gibbons was hurt sliding into a fence and the ball bounced away.

QUOTABLE: "If we thought there was anything going on with Jake, we wouldn't have pitched him or we would have pulled him out. But he felt great and threw great. He was just a victim of bad luck." - Padres manager Bruce Bochy on starting pitcher Jake Peavy, who has been hampered by tendinitis in his shoulder this season and has one more loss than all of last year

RED SOX 5, BRAVES 3: ATLANTA - David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis homered for Boston. Youkilis homered to lead off the game, and Ortiz's double scored Mark Loretta, who led off the third with a walk. Ortiz scored on Trot Nixon's single to make it 3-0. Ortiz's homer to lead off the fifth made it 5-1.

Boston starter Josh Beckett overcame a loss of control in the fifth to allow only one run. With one out, Matt Diaz and pinch-hitter Pete Orr singled, and Marcus Giles and Edgar Renteria walked on eight consecutive balls to force in a run. But Wilson Betemit and Andruw Jones popped out to short and second, respectively.

NOTABLE: The Braves, who have lost 16 of 19, fell nine games under .500. That's the lowest since the end of 1990, the last time they didn't win a division title and finished 67-95.

QUOTABLE: "I do the best I can, but the DH is my role." - Ortiz, who was supposed to have a day off but played first base when Manny Ramirez woke up with a stiff knee

WHITE SOX 8, REDS 6: CINCINNATI - Second baseman Brandon Phillips' throwing error in the ninth let in two runs, and Jose Contreras' unbeaten streak was preserved.

Contreras, who entered with a 15-game regular-season win streak for Chicago, left in the sixth trailing 5-3. A.J. Pierzynski drove in a run with a groundout in the seventh, and Juan Uribe homered in the eighth to tie it, giving Contreras a no-decision.

The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Joe Crede, who hit a grand slam Friday, grounded to shortstop Felipe Lopez. He tossed to Phillips for one out, but Phillips' relay went into a photo booth behind first base, letting in two runs. Uribe followed with a run-scoring single.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half, and Lopez's groundout cut it to 8-6. But Ken Griffey struck out.

NOTABLE: Contreras' career-high 13 strikeouts were the most by a White Sox pitcher since Alex Fernandez's 13 against the Red Sox on June12, 1996.

BREWERS 3, INDIANS 2: Geoff Jenkins hit a two-run single in the ninth to lift Milwaukee while Bob Wickman (1-2) blew his second save in 11 opportunities and wasted Jake Westbrook's dominating performance in a duel with Brewers starter Dave Bush.

Wickman got the first out of the ninth, but walked Carlos Lee and Prince Fielder. Bill Hall hit a soft single to load the bases for Jenkins, who is hitting .295 with runners in scoring position despite his .256 overall average.

Westbrook was coming off a commanding win on the road against the White Sox and had the game in hand when he left after eight innings. He retired nine in a row at one point and struck out the side in the first. Westbrook allowed just five hits and an unearned run.

The Indians grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Ronnie Belliard's fielder's choice scored Jhonny Peralta. Westbrook helped his own cause with a run-scoring double, his first major-league hit in his eighth career plate appearance.

NOTABLE: Westbrook, who called for the trainer before pitching the seventh, tied his career high for strikeouts (10) for the seventh time.

MARLINS 8, BLUE JAYS 2: MIAMI - Brian Moehler pitched seven strong innings for his fifth win in his past six decisions as Florida won its seventh in a row.

The Marlins, winners of 17 of 23, are on their longest winning streak since a nine-game run Aug.27-Sept.8, 2004. Florida improved to 13-4 all time against Toronto.

Rookie Casey Janssen had his worst performance in 11 starts as Toronto lost its fifth straight interleague game and ninth in its past 10.

Florida batted around in a four-run third. Jeremy Hermida and Miguel Olivo hit bases-loaded singles, and Moehler had a run-scoring single, his second career hit and RBI.

Mike Jacobs hit a two-run homer into the rightfield stands off Janssen in the fourth to stretch Florida's lead to 7-2.

Florida added a run in the seventh when Francisco Rosario hit Dan Uggla with a pitch with the bases loaded.

NOTABLE: Marlins rookie shortstop Hanley Ramirez is hitless in his past 28 at-bats.

TIGERS 9, CUBS 3: CHICAGO - Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco had three hits for Detroit, which has won 8 of 10.

Curtis Granderson led off the game with a triple and scored on Polanco's single. Two outs later, Guillen drilled a 1-and-0 pitch into the seats in right.

The Cubs got second and third with none out in the second. With a run in, Henry Blanco sent a drive to left ruled foul, which manager Dusty Baker argued. Blanco lined out to short, and pitcher Carlos Marmol grounded into a double play.

Up 4-1 in the eighth, Ordonez and Guillen had consecutive one-out singles. Pinch-hitter Omar Infante followed with a hit that bounced in and out of the net above the centerfield wall but was ruled a triple.

NOTABLE: With Michael Barrett nursing a sore back, Blanco started his second straight game at catcher.

QUOTABLE: "I don't want to touch that one." - Cubs centerfielder on if Infante's hit was a homer

MARINERS 8, GIANTS 1: SEATTLE - A little extra rest did wonders for Gil Meche and his balky back.

Meche threw a five-hitter, and Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez homered for Seattle.

Meche got two extra days of rest for his sore back and responded with his first complete game since a 2-0 win over Boston on Sept.12, 2004. He held Barry Bonds without a home run and San Francisco scoreless until the ninth inning.

"My fastball was jumping out of my hand like it hasn't all year," Meche said.

Meche (7-4) won for the sixth time in eight starts.

"It's all from the extra days off," he said. "It kind of makes me realize I don't need to throw every day between starts."

Bonds had a seventh-inning double after grounding out and lining out against Meche. Bonds had homered in each of his previous two games.

NOTABLE: Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki singled to extend his hitting streak 17 games, second-longest in the AL this season behind his 18-game one last month.

QUOTABLE: "It's fun, but it's an intimidating thing." - Meche on facing Bonds

CARDINALS 6, ROCKIES 5: ST. LOUIS - Jeff Suppan earned his 100th career win and Juan Encarnacion homered twice for the Cardinals.

Aaron Miles added a two-run double for St. Louis, which has won five of six after beating Colorado for the fourth time in five games this season.

Garrett Atkins' three-run homer with two outs in the eighth off Josh Hancock cut Colorado's deficit to two. Jason Isringhausen gave up a homer to pinch-hitter J.D. Closser in the ninth before finishing.

Suppan, who won 16 the past two seasons, is 100-98. He joined teammate Mark Mulder in reaching 100 this season with his first win since May 21. In his previous four starts, he allowed 18 earned runs in 22 innings.

NOTABLE: Encarnacion, batting cleanup regularly since Albert Pujols went on the disabled list June 4 with a strained right side muscle, is 17-for-37 (.459) with nine RBIs during a nine-game hitting streak.

QUOTABLE: "As a professional you try to go out there and treat it as any other game. But I will say I'm glad it's over." - Suppan on his milestone

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 02:04:28]