NEW YORK — Nelson Cruz has been hitting homers all season. J.J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent.
NEW YORK — Nelson Cruz has been hitting homers all season. J.J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent.
Cruz hit his 23rd home run, Hardy connected for his first of the year and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 6-1 after starter Bud Norris left with tightness in his right groin.
Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also went deep off struggling soft-tosser Vidal Nuno, helping the Orioles rebound after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss Friday night.
“Big win for us,” Hardy said.
Cruz and Pearce each had a two-run shot. Hardy ended a drought of 339 at-bats that dated to last September.
“It definitely felt nice,” he said. “I felt like I forgot how to do it.”
“I think it probably is a little bit of a relief. I started to question myself if I ever was going to hit one again,” Hardy added.
Mark Teixeira hit his 12th home run for the Yankees, who had won four straight and eight of 10, but that was all they managed against Norris and three relievers.
During a pregame ceremony on the field, former New York first baseman Tino Martinez was honored with a plaque to be placed in Monument Park.
Making his first start against the Yankees, Norris (7-5) allowed three hits in five innings and matched a career high by winning his fourth straight start. He warmed up on the mound for the sixth but was pulled for Ryan Webb, who pitched two scoreless innings.
Tommy Hunter got the final five outs.
Norris said he felt something “kind of funny” while throwing a fastball in the fifth.
“It kind of grabbed on me,” he said. “I’ve had groin stuff before, especially my left one but not necessarily my right one. You’ve got to be real careful with those.”
“I could see it getting a little worse and I wanted to be smart, but really, hats off to the offense for scoring and to the bullpen for picking me up,” Norris added. “Pretty sore right now.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Norris probably will pitch the night game of a split doubleheader Friday against Tampa Bay, but the right-hander said it was too soon to tell.
Pressed into the rotation because of injuries to CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, Nuno (1-4) is having a hard time with the homer-friendly dimensions at Yankee Stadium.
The left-hander yielded five runs — four earned — and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. He allowed three home runs and has served up 13 in 39 1-3 innings this season at home, where he is 0-3 with a 7.09 ERA.
TWINS 4, WHITE SOX 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Mauer hit a two-run double that just missed reaching the seats and Kevin Correia pitched a smooth six innings to help the Twins beat the White Sox for the third straight game.
Glen Perkins pitched another tenuous ninth inning but got his 19th save in 22 tries after giving up two runs to blow one the night before. Adam Eaton led off with a triple and scored on Gordon Beckham’s sacrifice fly.
Pinch-hitter Paul Konerko then smacked a single up the middle, but Perkins struck out Jose Abreu and Adam Dunn to end it and punctuated the final swing and miss with a big pump of his left arm.
MARINERS 2, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dustin Ackley drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out ninth inning single as the Mariners beat the Royals.
Ackley’s single to right on a 2-2 count scored Kyle Seager, who doubled with two outs to start the game-winning rally. Seager moved to third on Stefen Romero’s infield single before Ackley’s hit. Ackley is 5-for-10 off Jason Vargas (7-3), who took the loss.
Yoervis Medina (4-1) worked a flawless eighth, striking out two to pick up the victory. He has not allowed a run and only three hits in his past 10 outings, covering 10 1-3 innings. Fernando Rodney worked the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities, getting Eric Hosmer to ground into a game ending double play.
REDS 11, BLUE JAYS 1
CINCINNATI — Jay Bruce’s homer helped the Reds get ahead 8-0 for the second day in a row, and Mike Leake made this big lead stand up, pitching eight innings for a victory over the Blue Jays.
A day earlier, the Blue Jays pulled off the second-biggest comeback in their history. Down 8-0 after the second inning, they rallied to a 14-9 victory behind a pair of homers from Edwin Encarnacion.
The Reds got ahead 8-0 after four innings on Saturday against J.A. Happ (6-4), and the Blue Jays didn’t have another big comeback in them. Leake (5-6) had a lot to do with it, allowing the Blue Jays only four hits, including Colby Rasmus’ homer.
The Blue Jays are 9-5 all-time against the Reds, having won their four previous interleague series.
CARDINALS 4
PHILLIES 1
ST. LOUIS — Matt Holliday broke an eighth-inning tie with a double, and Adam Wainwright tossed eight strong innings to lead the Cardinals to a win over Philadelphia that snapped the Phillies’ season-high five-game winning streak.
Holliday ripped a one-out double off Cole Hamels to bring in Matt Carpenter to make it 2-1. Carpenter started the rally with a leadoff walk.
Wainwright (10-3) allowed one run and six hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter for the Cardinals, who broke a three-game losing streak. Wainwright pitched on 10 days’ rest after missing a start due to elbow tendinitis.
Trevor Rosenthal earned his 21st save in 24 attempts.
Hamels (2-4) gave up three runs and seven hits over 7 1-3 innings. He had a scoreless streak of 24 2-3 innings snapped on Matt Adams’ second-inning sacrifice fly.
A’S 2, RED SOX 1
10 innings
OAKLAND, Calif. — Coco Crisp singled in Alberto Callaspo with one out in the 10th inning and the Athletics beat the Red Sox to extend their winning streak to five games.
Callaspo drew a leadoff walk against reliever Edward Mujica (2-3) and was sacrificed to second. Red Sox closer Koji Uehara replaced Mujica before Crisp lined his first pitch into right field. Boston right fielder Brock Holt made a strong throw but Callaspo slid home with the game-winner.
It’s the second game-ending hit for Crisp this season and seventh of his career.
The A’s have won the first three games of this four-game series by a total of four runs.
Boston was shut out for the first seven innings before Dustin Pedroia scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.
RAYS 8, ASTROS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jake Odorizzi allowed one hit and struck out 10 while pitching into the eighth inning as the Rays beat the Astros.
Odorizzi (3-7) retired his first 10 batters before Jose Altuve’s one-out infield single in the fourth that went off the pitcher’s leg. The right-hander, who went 7 1/3 innings, won for just the second time in his last 14 starts.
Only one runner reached second base against Odorizzi, who walked two. Brad Boxberger and Kirby Yates completed the one-hitter.
Jake Buchanan (0-1) gave up five runs, eight hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings in his major league debut.
METS 4, MARLINS 0
MIAMI — Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings to earn his first win for the Mets in a victory over the Marlins.
Lucas Duda hit a two-run home run, his 10th, and David Wright had three hits and an RBI for New York, which has won three of four.
It was the second shutout in the series for the Mets as Zack Wheeler tossed a 1-0 shutout on Thursday. For deGrom (1-4), who had been winless in first seven starts, it was finally a chance to celebrate. He struck out seven, allowed five hits and issued three walks.
Jeurys Familia pitched the eighth and Jenrry Mejia came in for the ninth to preserve the shut out.
Marlins starter Tom Koehler (5-6) retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing two runs and four hits in seven innings while striking out eight.