Rays/MLB

MLB: roundup

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 21, 2006

WHITE SOX 20, CARDINALS 6: CHICAGO - Missouri native Joe Crede had a busy day reading text messages from friends and family back home. They were joking with him, telling him who they'd be rooting for: "Go Cardinals!"

Crede's response came once the game started.

He homered twice and was the catalyst for an 11-run, 12-hit third to lead the White Sox to their biggest outburst in 10 years.

"It was something I don't think I've ever been a part of," Crede said after getting four of the White Sox's 24 hits. "Everybody was able to have quality at-bats and it showed. ... Once a few guys start getting hits here and there, everybody followed suit."

Crede started the third with a double, and he and A.J. Pierzynski homered in an inning that featured seven straight hits off Mark Mulder.

"When you throw that bull I was throwing up there, it's not going to get it done," Mulder said. "Just a whole bunch of pitches over the middle of the plate. They were swinging at all of them and hitting all of them."

Starting with Crede's leadoff double, the White Sox sent 16 batters to the plate in their biggest inning of the season. They finished with season highs in runs and hits.

The White Sox scored 20 for the first time since May 15, 1996, against Milwaukee. They had their most hits since they had 24 vs. Seattle on Aug. 9, 2000.

"They kicked our butt," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I'm probably going to have to sleep standing up."

NOTABLE: White Sox reliever David Riske and manager Ozzie Guillen were ejected in the seventh after Riske hit Chris Duncan with a pitch. The Cardinals' Sidney Ponson hit both Brian Anderson and Pablo Ozuna with the bases loaded in the sixth.

METS 9, REDS 2: NEW YORK - Steve Trachsel pitched six effective innings and hit the third home run of his career to lift the Mets.

Xavier Nady hit a two-run homer in the seventh and a drive in the eighth for New York. Carlos Delgado also had a two-run shot.

Trachsel won his third straight decision. He weakened in the seventh, giving up hits to Austin Kearns and Brandon Phillips sandwiched around a walk to load the bases with none out.

Duaner Sanchez relieved and allowed Javier Valentin's sacrifice fly, then got pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia to hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Mets broke it open with four runs in the seventh as Nady hit his 10th home run and Paul Lo Duca drove in two with his second double.

NOTABLE: Mets leftfielder Lastings Milledge, the former Northside Christian standout, cut down Ryan Freel trying to stretch a leadoff single into a double in the first. It was his third assist in 18 games.

MARLINS 6, ORIOLES 2: BALTIMORE - Dontrelle Willis fell one out short of his third complete game. That did nothing to blunt his satisfaction at helping Florida tie a franchise mark with its ninth straight win.

Willis scattered 12 hits to remain unbeaten in June. He earned his 50th career win, breaking a tie with A.J. Burnett for most in Marlins history.

"It's a blessing," he said. "I never fathomed being in a situation like this. I truly have great teammates playing hard behind me, and it shows."

Willis stressed that Florida's winning streak was far more important than his ascension to the top of the franchise victory list.

"Winning is fun. It's fun because you all said we" stunk, he said. "It's fun to go out there and make you guys write something different."

Willis was pulled with two outs and two on in the ninth after throwing his 116th pitch.

"We just got to a pitch count that I wasn't comfortable with, and we have a closer that's done a great job," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "I know (Willis) wanted to finish that game, but I worry about his next start, the start after that and his next start."

NOTABLE: The Orioles' previous series was against the Mets, who went in with an eight-game winning streak. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to open successive series against clubs with winning streaks of eight or more was the 1951 St. Louis Browns (who moved to Baltimore in 1954).

YANKEES 9, PHILLIES 7: PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Howard's spectacular night ended the way it has for many: against Mariano Rivera.

Johnny Damon hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth to help New York overcome Howard's two homers and seven RBIs.

With runners on first and second in the ninth, Rivera retired Howard on a bouncer to second. "That's what it's all about. As a closer, you have to face those guys, you have to face the best hitters," Rivera said. "I want to face the best."

The Yankees snapped a three-game skid.

NOTABLE: Howard's first-inning blast reached the third deck in rightfield and traveled an estimated 461 feet. It was the first to reach that level in the three-year history of Citizens Bank Park.

TIGERS 10, BREWERS 1: MILWAUKEE - Rookie Zach Miner pitched his first complete game and Magglio Ordonez hit two of Detroit's four home runs.

Craig Monroe and Ivan Rodriguez homered for the Tigers, who won their sixth straight. Detroit is a major league-best 28-10 on the road, five more wins than any other team.

Miner efficiently kept the Brewers off-balance with a big breaking ball and a fastball in the low 90s.

The right-hander, 24, retired 20 in a row after a single in the second before giving up a double in the ninth. Miner, who wasn't on the 40-man roster to start the season, also doubled in his first major-league at-bat and scored.

Ordonez hit both home runs off Brewers starter Rick Helling to give him five in 21 career at-bats against the veteran right-hander, who lasted 21/3 innings. It was Helling's shortest start since Sept. 23, 2000, with the Rangers, when he lasted 12/3 innings against the Angels.

NOTABLE: Helling, making his first start since Sept. 27 after spraining his right elbow earlier this season, struck out all three Tigers in the first on nine pitches.

RED SOX 11, NATIONALS 3: BOSTON - Tim Wakefield pitched six strong innings to lead the Red Sox to their fifth straight victory.

Wakefield won for the second time in his past seven starts and earned his first interleague victory at Fenway Park since 2000.

The Red Sox, who have won 11 of their past 12 interleague games, had a season-high 17 hits. Alex Cora was 3-for-3 with three runs and is 19-for-50 (.380) over his past 17 games.

Boston sent 12 men to the plate in the second.

Trot Nixon led off with a single and scored on Doug Mirabelli's double. Mark Loretta had a two-run single and Cora and Manny Ramirez added run-scoring singles. Nixon capped the scoring with a double that chased Nationals start Livan Hernandez after 12/3 innings, his shortest start of the season.

Hernandez has given up 14 runs in his past three starts.

NOTABLE: Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson missed his third straight game with a lower back strain and is still day to day.

INDIANS 4, CUBS 2: CLEVELAND - Cliff Lee outpitched Greg Maddux, and the Indians snapped a four-game losing streak.

In his first career start against the Cubs, Lee continued to bounce back nicely from a 1-4 record in May. He is 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA in four June starts.

Grady Sizemore homered and the Indians made three first-inning runs stand up to win for the third time in 12 games.

Maddux, pitching at Jacobs Field in the regular season for the first time, lost for the seventh time in 10 starts. After starting 5-0, Maddux is 2-7 with a 6.83 ERA since May 3.

The Cubs are 1-7 since a three-game winning streak.

Chicago was handed its first run in the second when Indians second baseman Ronnie Belliard made two errors on one play. With Matt Murton on second, Belliard stopped, then dropped Jacque Jones' grounder up the middle.

Murton never stopped running, and he scored when Belliard threw it in the dirt and to the backstop.

NOTABLE: A three-man crew worked most of the game after first-base umpire Jerry Crawford left in the middle of the first with lower back tightness.

GIANTS 3, ANGELS 2: SAN FRANCISCO - Matt Morris pitched six strong innings to win his sixth straight interleague start and also provided the offense with a two-run double for the Giants.

Mark Sweeney doubled and singled, and rookie catcher Eliezer Alfonzo doubled and scored twice for San Francisco, 4-4 in interleague play with two straight wins after being swept by the Mariners in Seattle.

Morris improved to 6-0 in his past seven interleague outings dating to a win at Oakland on June 15, 2004. He followed his first complete game of the season Thursday at Arizona with another strong performance.

It came a day after rookie Matt Cain carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of the Giants' 2-1 win that ended their three-game skid.

NOTABLE: The Giants are 33-20 against the AL in their waterfront ballpark since 2000, but they were 3-6 last season.

MARINERS 9, DODGERS 4: LOS ANGELES - Adrian Beltre made a triumphant return to Dodger Stadium, hitting a two-run homer in his first at-bat, adding a double and two walks and scoring four runs for Seattle.

Richie Sexson had three hits, including his 12th homer, for the Mariners, who have won four straight and 10 of 14. They are 7-0 interleague play.

The Dodgers, who dropped out of a first-place tie with San Diego in the NL West, have lost four in a row and six of seven.

Beltre, who played six-plus seasons with the Dodgers before signing a five-year, $64-million contract with the Mariners after the 2004 season, received a mixed reaction from the crowd of 43,949 when he hit Brad Penny's 1-and-1 pitch out to right-centerfield in the first.

NOTABLE: The Dodgers activated Cesar Izturis before the game. Manager Grady Little said Izturis, a Gold Glove shortstop two years ago, will be the team's everyday third baseman.

PADRES 6, RANGERS 5: ARLINGTON, Texas - Mike Cameron hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth for San Diego.

Trevor Hoffman got the final three outs for his 17th save of the season. With one out and a runner on first, Mark Teixeira hit a fly ball down the rightfield line that seemed to go over the foul pole. Teixeira started to celebrate as if it were a winning homer, but the first-base umpire called it foul.

The umpires confered for two minutes and stuck with their initial call. Teixeira popped out to third base for the second out.

Trailing 4-3 in the sixth, San Diego scored three with two outs. Ben Johnson had a run-scoring double off Scott Feldman, and Cameron followed with his fifth homer of the season to give the Padres a 6-4 lead.

The Rangers closed to 6-5 in the bottom half on Gary Matthews' run-scoring groundout.

NOTABLE: Bruce Bochy won his 900th game as a major-league manager. He's 900-933 in his 12th season, all with San Diego.

ROYALS 10, PIRATES 6: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - David DeJesus and John Buck drove in two each, and the Royals erased an early deficit in a clash between the worst teams in the majors.

Starters Mark Redman and Kip Wells were a combined 13-33 last season for Pittsburgh, and neither showed signs of great improvement.

A shaky Redman gave up four runs in the first and issued five walks before settling down to get his fourth straight victory as the Royals improved to 20-49.

Wells lasted 31/3 innings in his first start since March surgery for a blocked artery as the Pirates dropped to 26-46. The right-hander gave up one run in the first and three in the second. The Royals then took a 6-5 lead with two in the fourth inning of the sloppily played game.

The Pirates tied their season high with three errors and set a season high with 11 walks.

NOTABLE: Pittsburgh first baseman Sean Casey was not in the lineup after getting hit just above the right elbow by a pitch Sunday. He is day to day.

ROCKIES 6, ATHLETICS 0: DENVER - Jason Jennings and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for Colorado.

Jennings overcame six walks for his third straight win. After Monday night's 7-0 Rockies win, Coors Field hosted back-to-back shutouts for the second time in its 11-year history.

Jennings, Tom Martin and Brian Fuentes held the A's hitless after the first for the first consecutive shutouts at Coors Field since five Rockies pitchers did it April 30 and May 1, 2002.

It was the first one-hitter in Rockies history and the third game of one hit or fewer at Coors Field. Hideo Nomo had a no-hitter for the Dodgers on Sept. 17, 1996, and Florida's Pat Rapp held the Rockies to one hit on Sept. 17, 1995.

Colorado has had consecutive shutouts three times in team history, in 2001 at San Diego and the two at Coors in 2002.

It was the seventh shutout, fourth by the Rockies, at Coors this season, breaking the record set in 1997 with 47 games still left at the hitter-friendly park.

NOTABLE: Oakland's Eric Chavez was 0-for-3, dropping him to 6-for-39 over the past 11 games.

TWINS 6, ASTROS 5 (10): HOUSTON - Justin Morneau led off the 10th with a home run as Minnesota extended its winning streak to eight games.

Morneau, who has a career-high 11-game hitting streak, hit his 17th homer to left-center on the first pitch from Trever Miller.

Luis Castillo put the Twins ahead 5-4 in the top of the ninth when he scored on a wild pitch by Brad Lidge. But Preston Wilson homered off Nathan with two outs in the bottom half.

The Twins trailed 4-1 before they pushed across three runs in the seventh to tie it. Pinch-hitter Terry Tiffee hit an RBI single to left, Castillo drove in a run with a groundout and Nick Punto doubled in a run.

NOTABLE: Craig Biggio's single in the fifth inning was the 2,866th hit of his career, moving him past Harold Baines for 39th on the career major league hits list. Brad Radke has allowed 75 career home runs in the first inning, five this season.

BLUE JAYS 6, BRAVES 5: ATLANTA - Reed Johnson homered and had three hits to help Toronto extend the Braves' longest losing streak in 17 years.

Atlanta has lost eight straight for the first time since April 24-May 2, 1989, and has lost 18 of 21 to drop to the bottom of the NL East.

Alex Rios drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth for the Blue Jays, who rebounded from a three-game weekend sweep by Florida.

In the eighth, Rios drove in pinch-runner Eric Hinske from third with a single to left. Hinske was running for Bengie Molina, who led off the inning with a walk off Tyler Yates.

NOTABLE: Molina extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest for the Blue Jays this season, with his run-scoring single in the fourth inning.

[Last modified June 21, 2006, 01:50:42]