Red Sox outlast Phillies
Toolbox
By The Associated Press - Published: June 13, 2009
PHILADELPHIA — Jacoby Ellsbury hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 13th inning and Boston won an interleague matchup between division leaders 5-2.
Ryan Howard's solo homer off fill-in closer Ramon Ramirez with one in the ninth tied it, but the Phillies couldn't pull out their third straight comeback win in extra innings.
Takashi Saito (2-0) got the only batter he faced, Jimmy Rollins, to bounce into a double play to end the 12th. Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless 13th for his first save. He hit two batters to bring the tying run to the plate before fanning Shane Victorino to end it.
Yankees 9, Mets 8
NEW YORK — Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez's lazy popup with two outs in the ninth inning as two runs scored, and the Yankees escaped with a wild 9-8 victory over the Mets on Friday night.
David Wright had put the Mets ahead 8-7 with an eighth-inning double off Mariano Rivera (1-2), and Francisco Rodriguez (1-1) appeared to escape a ninth-inning jam on the popup by A-Rod, just 1 for 17 in his career off K-Rod, including the postseason.
Rangers 6, Dodgers 0
ARLINGTON, Texas — Vicente Padilla worked five effective innings, Hank Blalock homered and the Texas Rangers recorded shutouts on consecutive nights at home for the first time in 29 seasons.
Texas, which beat Toronto 1-0 on Thursday night, had never posted shutout victories on back-to-back nights at home since Rangers Ballpark opened in 1994. The last time the Rangers held visitors scoreless on consecutive days was April 1981, when they had four in a row.
Twins 7, Cubs 4
CHICAGO — Joe Mauer rediscovered his power stroke with a homer and three RBIs and Kevin Slowey became the majors' second nine-game winner.
Slowey (9-2) allowed three runs on four hits over six innings, striking out 10 and walking one. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
Indians 7, Cardinals 3
CLEVELAND — Shin-Soo Choo got the job done again — this time without any avian assistance.
A day after his winning hit glanced off a gull in the outfield, Choo drove in three runs for the Indians to help rookie David Huff get his second big league win.
Marlins 7, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO — Cody Ross hit a tiebreaking grand slam and Chris Coghlan had a career-high four hits.
Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay left after three innings because of a sore groin.
Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez returned to the starting lineup after missing one game with a sore groin and went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
Tigers 3, Pirates 1
PITTSBURGH — Rick Porcello threw seven crisp innings and had a pair of RBI singles for his first major league hits.
Placido Polanco went 4 for 4 for AL Central-leading Detroit, which has won six of eight. Porcello (7-4) allowed one run and six hits.
The Pirates and Tigers opened a weekend interleague series on the same night the Pittsburgh Penguins were playing the Red Wings in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Detroit. The crowd at PNC Park was announced at 18,369.
Porcello drove in Magglio Ordonez with a two-out single off Ian Snell (1-7) in the second inning. Ordonez led off with a base hit, stole second and moved to third on Ramon Santiago's single.
Brewers 7, White Sox 2
MILWAUKEE — Struggling Corey Hart drove in three runs on a double and a triple and saved two more with a diving catch for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The win snapped Milwaukee's four-game losing streak even though the Brewers have stayed in first place in the NL Central through a 4-7 stretch.
In this one, the Brewers trailed their former AL Central foes 2-0 after a run-scoring double by A.J. Pierzynski and an RBI single by Chris Getz in the fourth.
Royals 4, Reds 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luke Hochevar tossed a three-hitter in his first career complete game and Alberto Callapso hit a two-run homer.
The Royals went 2-7 on their road trip and had lost 23 of 30 overall, in dire need of something positive in their first game at Kauffman Stadium this month.
Hochevar (3-2) did his part, needing just 80 pitches for his second straight solid outing. There wasn't much offense, but homers by Callapso and Billy Butler were enough to beat Reds starter Matt Maloney (0-1) in his second career start.
Braves 7, Orioles 2
BALTIMORE — Brian McCann tied a career high with four hits and Tommy Hanson recorded his first major league victory.
McCann's third hit, a bases-loaded single, scored Nate McLouth and gave Atlanta a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning. Garret Anderson followed with a run-scoring walk.
Rockies 6, Mariners 4
DENVER — Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the second complete game of his career and had an RBI single to help Colorado extend its winning streak to nine.
The Rockies' franchise record is 11 consecutive wins from Sept. 16-27, 2007.
Jimenez (5-6) allowed four runs and eight hits and struck out three.
Rays 4, Nationals 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One pitch after an error prolonged his at-bat, Gabe Kapler hit a pinch-hit home run.
Kapler, mired in a 3-for-31 slump that dropped his batting average to .234, went deep against Ron Villone (3-2) after first baseman Nick Johnson dropped a pop foul that would have been the third out.
J.P. Howell (2-2), the fourth Tampa Bay pitcher, worked 1 1-3 innings to get the victory that moved Tampa Bay (32-31) one game over .500.
Washington's Elijah Dukes had a two-run double, helping his team take a 3-0 lead in his first trip to Tropicana Field since the Rays traded their former prospect to the Nationals after the 2007 season.
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