Jul 5, 2008 - 12:28 AM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
BOSTON 6, NY YANKEES 4 ----------------------
BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Kevin Youkilis' triple actually stayed on top of the left field wall for a few seconds and Mike Lowell's homer took little time to sail over the fence. Those hits added up to another win for the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees.
Lowell belted a tiebreaking three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning as the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 6-4.
Youkilis had a two-run triple in the third and Lowell tied a season high with four RBI for Boston, which has won the first two games of the weekend series following a season-high five-game losing streak that knocked the Red Sox out of first place in the American League East Division.
Josh Beckett (8-5) allowed three runs - all in the first - and scattered four hits over six frames. He walked two, struck out four and threw 69 of 102 pitches for strikes en route to his fourth consecutive win over the the Yankees.
The Red Sox beat New York for the fifth time in seven meetings this season by scoring six runs off Darrell Rasner (4-7) to rally from a 3-0 deficit.
Boston had runners on in every inning against Rasner but left the bases loaded in the first and hit into an inning-ending double play in the second.
The Red Sox finally broke through in the third when Jacoby Ellsbury trotted home on Lowell's sacrifice fly and tied it on Youkilis' liner in the fourth.
With runners on first and second, Youkilis capped a seven-pitch at-bat with a drive toward Yankees left fielder Johnny Damon, who made a leaping attempt to catch it. The ball popped out of Damon's glove and landed on top of the wall before rolling back on to the field. Both runners scored to tie the game at 3-3.
Damon suffered a left shoulder contusion and an MRI also revealed a sprain in his left AC joint. After that, things got worse for the Yankees, especially in the fifth.
Ellsbury and Manny Ramirez singled ahead of Lowell in the fifth and the third baseman put Boston ahead for good when he crushed a 2-1 offering into the seats in left for his 13th home run.
Alex Rodriguez had a two-run double for the Yankees in their three-run first, but also bounced into inning-ending groundouts in the fifth and seventh.
The Yankees lost for the fifth time in six games and this one came less than 24 hours after manager Joe Girardi closed the clubhouse for 30 minutes to conduct a team meeting after Boston lefthander Jon Lester fired a five-hitter to lead the Red Sox to a 7-0 win.
SEATTLE 4, DETROIT 1 --------------------
SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Erik Bedard pitched five excellent innings to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Bedard (6-4) yielded a run, five hits and three walks while striking six in posting his second consecutive win. The lefthander's only mistake was a leadoff homer by Miguel Cabrera in the top of the second.
Seattle reliever Sean Green allowed just two hits in 2 2/3 innings before Brandon Morrow came on to record the final out in the eighth. Morrow then retired the side in order in the ninth to notch his sixth save.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Raul Ibanez hit a one-out, 3-2 pitch from Kenny Rogers (6-6) over the right field wall to put the Mariners ahead. Jose Lopez delivered a two-run double off the lefthander in the eighth to provide the final margin.
BALTIMORE 10, TEXAS 4 ---------------------
BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Kevin Millar, Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey had two RBI apiece as the Baltimore Orioles erased an early deficit and rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.
After Milton Bradley's RBI double in the top of the first inning gave the Rangers a 1-0 edge, the Orioles scored eight unanswered runs over the first three frames against Vicente Padilla (10-5). Millar, Jones and Fahey finished a combined 6-for-11 with six RBI and six runs.
Freddie Bynum hit Padilla in the hand with a hard single, which rolled into shallow center field and plated two runs to cap a four-run third. Padilla left the game with a bruised right thumb and X-rays were negative.
Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (5-7) tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Bradley, Ian Kinsler and Jarrod Saltalamacchia each had two hits for Texas, which used a three-run seventh to cut the deficit to 8-4.
TAMPA BAY 11, KANSAS CITY 2 ---------------------------
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs and Edwin Jackson pitched eight strong innings to pace the Tampa Bay Rays to an 11-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.
Jackson (5-6) allowed two runs and four hits while striking out two for Tampa Bay, which won its fifth game in a row and ninth in its last 10 contests.
Rookie Evan Longoria recorded his second three-hit performance in as many days for the Rays.
Mark Grudzielanek belted a solo home run in the seventh inning for Kansas City, which lost for the fifth time in its last seven games.
OAKLAND 7, CHI WHITE SOX 1 --------------------------
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Joe Blanton pitched seven outstanding innings, lifting the Oakland Athletics to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Blanton (5-11) allowed a run, six hits and two walks while striking out five to notch just his second win in seven starts. The righthander had been roughed up for 29 runs in his previous 32 2/3 innings, going 1-5 in that span.
Jack Cust, who homered against Chicago in Oakland's 3-2 win on Thursday, belted a two-run shot off White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (6-7) in the fourth inning to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.
With Oakland already leading, 2-1, in the sixth, Jack Hannahan delivered an RBI double and scored on Ryan Sweeney's single later in the frame to make it a three-run bulge.
Donnie Murphy capped a two-run seventh with an RBI single and also plated a run with a double in the ninth.
Buehrle had his four-game winning streak halted, allowing four runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
MINNESOTA 12, CLEVELAND 3 -------------------------
MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Delmon Young had three hits - including a three-run homer - and four RBI to power the Minnesota Twins to a 12-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Young's blast snapped a 2-2 tie in the third inning against Indians starter Paul Byrd (3-10), who allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
In the sixth, the Indians cut their deficit to two runs at 5-3 after a homer by Ben Francisco, but Brendan Harris responded by plating Young with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.
Justin Morneau and Young each had run-scoring singles in the seventh and Nick Punto had a bases-clearing double in the eighth to give the Twins an 11-3 lead.
Twins starter Livan Hernandez (9-5) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings for his third victory in four outings.
LA ANGELS 8, TORONTO 2 ----------------------
ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Jered Weaver tossed 7 1/3 strong innings and Howie Kendrick drove in three runs, sending the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to an easy 8-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
One start after being part of an eight-inning no-hitter in which his team lost, Weaver (8-8) allowed two runs and six hits with a walk and six strikeouts. The righthander combined with reliever Jose Arredondo to shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday, only to be on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss.
In this contest, the Angels quickly jumped on A.J. Burnett (8-8), getting a solo homer from Torii Hunter in the second inning to stake Weaver to an early 1-0 lead. Three batters later, Kendrick added an RBI double to double the advantage.
In the sixth, Gary Matthews Jr. sparked a three-run frame with a run-scoring double before Kendrick plated two more runs with a single that just eluded second baseman Joe Inglett, giving the Angels a 5-0 bulge.
