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AL: Bay has big debut as Red Sox top A’s
By The Associated Press
Saturday, August 2, 2008 12:15 PM PDT
BOSTON — Jason Bay made a smashing debut with Boston, tripling and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning Friday night as the Red Sox began the post-Manny Ramirez era with a 2-1 win over Oakland.
Bay was obtained from Pittsburgh on Thursday in the three-team deal that sent Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He failed to put the ball in play in his first five at-bats — two walks, a hit by pitch and two strikeouts — before he came up with two outs in the 12th against Alan Embree (1-4). He hit the ball high off the wall in left and slid into third with a triple. J.D. Drew was walked intentionally.
Jed Lowrie, who had left the bases loaded in the 10th, hit a soft bouncer past the mound. Shortstop Bobby Crosby grabbed it and threw to first, but Lowrie beat the throw, scoring Bay.
Mike Timlin (4-3) got the win. He was the last of five Boston pitchers who allowed one run in 5 2-3 innings in relief of Tim Wakefield. It was just the second win in seven games for Boston.
Oakland is 2-13 in its last 15 games.
Jack Cust had tied the game 1-1 in the eighth with his 20th homer. Brad Ziegler extended his record shutout streak to start a career to 32 innings by blanking the Red Sox in the eighth and ninth.
Angels 1, Yankees 0
NEW YORK — Torii Hunter hit an RBI single off Mariano Rivera in the ninth, and Ervin Santana pitched eight stellar innings as Los Angeles won its fifth straight.
Rivera gave up a run for the third straight time when no save was involved, and the fourth in the last six. Rivera is 26-of-26 in save chances.
After walking Mark Teixeira to start the inning, Rivera (4-4) gave up a single to Vladimir Guerrero to put runners at the corners before Hunter lined a single up the middle to score pinch-runner Reggie Willits.
The Angels began the day 121⁄2 games ahead in the West, their largest lead in club history. They are 12-2 since the All-Star break.
Los Angeles is 7-1 on its current road trip through Baltimore, Boston and New York.
New York lost for the fifth time in six games.
Santana (12-5) struck out eight. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 45th save.
Sidney Ponson allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings, his best start since joining the Yankees in June.
Rays 5, Tigers 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria hit solo homers, and Tampa Bay’s bullpen limited Detroit to one hit over the last 4 1-3 innings.
Grant Balfour (3-1) struck out three of the four batters he faced in relief of All-Star Scott Kazmir to get the victory. The right-hander, who began the season in the minors, lowered his ERA to 1.20 with four runs allowed and 45 strikeouts in 30 innings.
Pena’s homer off Zach Miner (5-4) snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth, was his fourth in eight games and briefly lifted him into a tie with Longoria for the team lead with 19.
Longoria, leading all major league rookies in home runs, hit No. 20 off Joel Zumaya to make it 5-2 in the seventh.
Troy Percival worked the ninth to finish the four-hitter, moving ahead of Randy Myers for sole possession of eighth place on the career saves list with 348.
Kazmir allowed two runs and three hits, and tied a career high with six walks in 4 2-3 innings.
Twins 4, Indians 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Mauer’s two-run homer in the seventh spoiled another strong start by Jeremy Sowers against Minnesota.
Mauer’s seventh homer broke a 1-1 tie and Brendan Harris added an RBI double to back Nick Blackburn (8-6), who gave up one run and six hits in seven innings as Minnesota won for the sixth time in seven games.
For the second straight start against Minnesota, Sowers (1-6) took a perfect game into the sixth inning before Harris spoiled it with a leadoff double.
After Mauer’s homer put the Twins ahead 3-1, Harris doubled home Randy Ruiz to chase Sowers, who gave up four runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 30th save.
Cleveland’s Kelly Shoppach went 2-for-4 in his first game since tying a major league record with five extra-base hits — three doubles and two homers — in a 13-inning loss to Detroit on Wednesday.
White Sox 4, Royals 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ken Griffey Jr. drove in two runs in his debut with Chicago and Javier Vazquez won for the first time in seven starts.
The White Sox sent two players to Cincinnati for Griffey, a 38-year-old slugger who’s battled injuries and struggled most of this season. Batting seventh for the first time since his rookie season in 1989 — he hit third for the Reds — Griffey fought off a tough pitch from Luke Hochevar (6-9) with two strikes, then lined a two-out single up the middle for the game’s first run.
Griffey came up with two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth, and fisted a ball between first and second for a single that put Chicago up 2-0. He advanced on Nick Swisher’s run-scoring infield hit and scored on Juan Uribe’s single to make it 4-0.
Griffey went 2-for-3 in his first AL game since 1999.
Vazquez (8-9) allowed two runs and five hits over six innings, winning for the first time since June 17 against Pittsburgh. Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Rangers 9, Blue Jays 8
ARLINGTON, Texas — David Murphy’s two-run single with one out in the bottom of the ninth capped Texas’ three-run rally.
Pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia drew a one-out walk from B.J. Ryan (2-4), and Michael Young followed with single.
Brandon Boggs, who entered the game when Josh Hamilton left with dizziness after the sixth inning, doubled to score Saltalamacchia.
Ryan, who blew his third save in 23 chances, intentionally walked Marlon Byrd to load the bases.
Murphy, who drove in four runs, hit a grounder just past a diving Scott Rolen at third to bring in the tying and winning runs.
Orioles 10, Mariners 5.
SEATTLE — Garrett Olson threw eight scoreless innings before running into trouble in the ninth and the Baltimore Orioles scored six early runs off Jarrod Washburn in a 10-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Olson was working on an eight-hitter before the Mariners chased him during a five-run ninth inning. He worked 8 1-3 innings, and was charged with three runs and 11 hits. |
