Associated Press
Associated Press
BOSTON — Jonny Gomes hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, completing a doubleheader sweep.
Daniel Nava was aboard on a leadoff walk when Gomes followed with a towering shot off Joel Peralta (1-3) that cleared the Green Monster and bounced off the sign just to the right of the foul pole.
It was a dramatic ending to a very long day, which started at 1 p.m. with Boston’s 5-1 win in the opener, which was delayed almost three hours by rain.
Nava also homered in the second and Felix Doubront pitched eight shutout innings for Boston in the night game. Doubront struck out six and held the Rays to three singles.
Andrew Bailey (3-0) gave up Kelly Johnson’s tying homer in the ninth, but was bailed out by Gomes’ fifth homer.
David Ortiz drove in three runs in the doubleheader opener, and Alfredo Aceves (4-1) pitched five solid innings for his third straight win.
The first game was marked by a rain delay in the fifth inning of 2 hours, 59 minutes, extending the makeup of an April 12 rainout.
Highly touted Rays prospect Wil Myers made his major league debut and picked up his first career hit in the second game. He went 1 for 7 on the day.
Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer (1-3) was charged with four runs, three earned, and five hits in 4 2-3 innings in the first game.
ORIOLES 5, TIGERS 2
DETROIT — J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones homered off Justin Verlander, and Manny Machado added a double and two sparkling plays at third base for Baltimore.
Hardy hit his third homer off Verlander (8-5) this month, connecting for a two-run shot in the fourth inning, and Jones added a three-run drive in the fifth.
Orioles starter Zach Britton (1-1) allowed a run and five hits in 5 1-3 innings after being called up earlier in the day from the minors.
Four Baltimore relievers finished. Detroit put two on in the ninth for Miguel Cabrera, but the Triple Crown winner bounced into a game-ending double play on the first pitch from Jim Johnson, who got his 26th save in 30 chances.
Verlander gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings. Matt Tuiasosopo homered for the Tigers.
ATHLETICS 6, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Moss and John Jaso homered off Yu Darvish, helping AL West-leading Oakland get the victory.
Jarrod Parker (6-6) limited the Rangers to two runs and three hits over seven innings to improve to 4-0 his last five starts.
Darvish (7-3) struck out 10, increasing his majors-best total to 137, but still hasn’t won in more than a month.
Moss put the A’s ahead to stay when his 13th homer led off the second. Jaso led off the next inning with his third homer and a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers got within 3-2 in the third when Ian Kinsler scored on a vicious collision at the plate, his face slamming into the mask of catcher Jaso while sliding feet-first. Kinsler needed three stitches near his left jaw and had blood on his jersey when he returned to the field to play second base.
INDIANS 4, ROYALS 3
CLEVELAND — Michael Brantley’s sacrifice fly capped Cleveland’s three-run eighth inning, rallying the Indians to the victory.
Held to one run and three hits over seven innings by Ervin Santana, the Indians finally strung something together in the eighth off Kelvin Herrera (3-5) and Tim Collins. Michael Bourn and Jason Kipnis delivered RBI hits before Brantley drove in Mike Aviles with the go-ahead run.
Cody Allen (2-0), whose throwing error in the eighth helped the Royals take a 3-1 lead, got the win. Vinnie Pestano gave up three singles and a walk in the ninth but held on for his second save.
The Royals lost for just the third time in 14 games and missed a chance to move over .500 for the first time since May 18.
TWINS 7
WHITE SOX 5
MINNEAPOLIS — Ryan Doumit hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning, leading Minnesota to the win.
Joe Mauer homered and Trevor Plouffe had an RBI single in Minnesota’s four-run first inning off Dylan Axelrod.
The White Sox came back to tie it at 5 in the eighth when Alex Rios worked a leadoff walk against Jared Burton (1-4), stole second and scored on Paul Konerko’s single that bounced off the pitcher’s mound and into center field.
Clete Thomas walked with two outs against Ramon Troncoso (0-2) in the eighth. Mauer followed with a single — his third hit of the game — and Doumit drove a double to left center that gave the Twins the lead.
Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
INTERLEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 8, ROCKIES 3
TORONTO — Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer, J.P. Arencibia and Maicer Izturis added back-to-back shots and the Blue Jays won their seventh straight game.
It’s the longest winning streak for Toronto since a 10-game run in late 2008.
Esmil Rogers (3-2) worked 6 2-3 innings to beat his former team and win his second straight start. Rogers didn’t allow a hit until Jonathan Herrera singled with one out in the sixth.
The Rockies lost for the fifth time in seven games and dropped to 0-8 at Rogers Centre.
Jeff Francis (2-5) allowed season highs of eight runs and 10 hits in six innings, losing for the first time in four career starts against Toronto.
ASTROS 10
BREWERS 1
HOUSTON — Matt Dominguez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs to back another solid performance by Jordan Lyles, and Houston rolled to the victory.
Carlos Pena had a three-run homer and Chris Carter had two hits and drove in a run as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games.
The 22-year-old Lyles (4-1) yielded seven hits and one run over seven innings.
The Astros were up by one in the fifth when Pena launched his home run to chase Milwaukee starter Alfredo Figaro (1-1) and extend the lead to 5-1. Dominguez’s first career grand slam came in Houston’s five-run seventh.
METS 6, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA — Zack Wheeler lived up the hype in his major league debut, pitching six scoreless innings to lead the New York Mets to a 6-1 victory over the first-place Atlanta Braves and a doubleheader sweep.
Wheeler gave up only four hits and struck out seven while consistently reaching the upper 90s on the radar gun. He struggled a bit with his control, walking five, but got out of every jam.
It was a long day that gave New York’s long-suffering NL fans hope for a brighter future, led by two of baseball’s most dynamic young pitchers. In Game 1 of the doubleheader, 24-year-old Matt Harvey (6-1) struck out a career-high 13 to lead the Mets past the Braves 4-3.
John Buck homered for the Mets in the first game, and Anthony Recker went deep in the second game. Bobby Parnell got four outs in the opener for his 10th save.
Recker, hitting just .158 coming into the game, broke up the scoreless duel between Wheeler and Paul Maholm (7-6) in the seventh, crushing his second homer of the season.
Atlanta rookie Alex Wood (0-1) lost his first career start in the doubleheader opener, lasting only three innings.
PIRATES 4, REDS 0
CINCINNATI— Pedro Alvarez singled home a pair of runs in the first inning, and Pittsburgh ended Mat Latos’ streak of 21 regular-season starts without a loss.
Latos (6-1) hadn’t lost a regular-season game since last August, setting a club-record streak of avoiding defeat. He couldn’t overcome Pittsburgh’s three-run first inning.
Charlie Morton (1-1) was better during his second start since returning from elbow surgery. He gave up three singles and threw 61 pitches in 5 1-3 innings, starting the Pirates toward their NL-leading 12th shutout.
Latos had nine of Cincinnati’s 17 strikeouts, which matched the club’s nine-inning record. The Reds also had 17 strikeouts on opening day, but that came in a 13-inning loss against the Los Angeles Angels.
Cincinnati’s lineup managed four hits while getting shut out for the second time in their last four games.
PHILLIES 4
NATIONALS 2
PHILADELPHIA — Cliff Lee struck out nine in eight impressive innings for Philadelphia, and Michael Young tied a career high with three doubles.
Lee (9-2) allowed two runs and five hits to win his fifth straight decision. The three-time All-Star left-hander lowered his ERA to 2.53 and helped the Phillies move into a second-place tie with the defending NL East champion Nationals.
Jayson Werth and Jeff Kobernus hit homered for Washington.
Ross Detwiler (2-5) took the loss in a game that started one hour, 10 minutes late because of rain. He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 14th save a night after blowing his first of the season and then getting the win.
CUBS 4
CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS — Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ransom hit back-to-back homers in a four-run first inning and that was plenty for Jeff Samardzija, who pitched the Cubs to the victory.
Chicago started fast against Adam Wainwright (10-4) and broke a five-game losing streak in St. Louis.
Pinch-runner Shane Robinson was called out for interference while trying to break up a double play to end the game.
Carlos Beltran hit his team-high 17th homer for the Cardinals, who lost for the third time in five games but still lead the majors with a 45-26 record.
Samardzija (4-7) gave up two runs and seven hits in 8 1-3 innings. Kevin Gregg got David Freese to ground into a game-ending double play for his 10th save.