INTERLEAGUE
AP, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, losing his bid for a complete game on Juan Castro’s single with two outs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 on Saturday.
Boston made several outstanding defensive plays on hard-hit balls, but it was Castro’s soft single over shortstop that finally fell. Matsuzaka (3-1) retired Shane Victorino to end the eighth, and Daniel Bard worked a perfect ninth to finish the one-hitter.
Castro, filling in for injured shortstop Jimmy Rollins, looped a 3-1 pitch just out of Marco Scutaro’s reach. The shortstop lunged with his glove and tumbled to the turf, but the ball dropped cleanly in short left field.
ATHLETICS 1, GIANTS 0
At Oakland, California, Gio Gonzalez retired his final 20 batters as Oakland scored an unearned run to beat Matt Cain and San Francisco in the Bay Bridge Series.
An error by first baseman Aubrey Huff set up Coco Crisp’s sacrifice fly in the third inning. The Giants managed only three hits and matched a season high with their fourth straight loss.
Gonzalez (5-3) allowed two hits in eight innings.
Cain (2-4) pitched a five-hitter for his first complete game since last Aug. 3 against Houston.
WHITE SOX 4, MARLINS 1
At Chicago, Alex Rios hit a two-run homer and Gavin Floyd pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings to help the Chicago White Sox beat Florida.
Rios drove in three runs for the White Sox, who won back-to-back games for the first time since April 25 when they swept the Seattle Mariners. Chicago has only won consecutive games three times this season.
Marlins starter Chris Volstad (3-5) gave up three runs over six innings.
TWINS 8, BREWERS 7, 12 INNINGS
At Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jason Kubel’s sacrifice fly in the 12th inning lifted Minnesota over Milwaukee.
Jesse Crain (1-0) picked up the victory for the Twins despite issuing a five-pitch walk to Prince Fielder his fourth of the game to start the 12th. Crain got the next two batters and struck out Jody Gerut looking to end the inning.
NATIONALS 7, ORIOLES 6
At Washington, Adam Dunn’s two-run single capped a sixth-inning rally that carried Washington past Baltimore, which wasted a bizarre inside-the-park homer by Adam Jones.
Jones hit the second inside-the-park homer in the three-year history of Nationals Park — and the second in four days. With a runner on in the fourth, Jones hit a drive to deep center that sent Nyjer Morgan to the base of the wall. The ball hit Morgan’s glove and bounced out, and Morgan immediately went into a tirade. Left fielder Josh Willingham retrieved the ball, but too late to prevent Jones from circling the bases.
ANGELS 10, CARDINALS 7
At St Louis, Missouri, Scott Kazmir ended a string of three straight losses with his best outing of the season as Los Angeles backed him with 13 hits in a victory over St Louis.
The Angels have won three of four and became the first team to score in double figures against the Cardinals.
Kazmir (3-4) gave up Matt Holliday’s fifth homer, ending a 107 at-bat homer drought, and then walked David Freese and Colby Rasmus in the second. The left-hander retired the next 17 in a row and left with a 10-3 lead, allowing three hits in seven innings to match his season high.
ROCKIES 3, ROYALS 0
At Kansas City, Missouri, Jeff Francis and three relievers combined on a six-hitter and Troy Tulowitzki homered to help Colorado beat Kansas City.
Francis, who won 17 games in 2007 and missed all of last season after having shoulder surgery, earned his first victory since Aug. 25, 2008.
He held the Royals to five hits over six-and-one-third innings, while walking two and striking out three. Francis (1-0) has given up just one run and 12 hits in 13-and-one-third innings since coming off the disabled list.
RAYS 4, ASTROS 2
At Houston, Texas, Jeff Niemann struck out five batters in seven efficient innings and Dioner Navarro had a two-run double as Tampa Bay got away with some sloppy play to beat Houston.
The 27-year-old Niemann (4-0), a former first-round draft pick out of Rice, allowed four hits and one walk. He hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts.
In other interleague play, it was:
• Reds 6, Indians 4
• Dodgers 6, Tigers 4
• Mets 5, Yankees 3
• Diamondbacks 8, Blue Jays 5
• Cubs 5, Rangers 4, 10 innings
• Padres 2, Mariners 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Derek Lowe remained unbeaten against Pittsburgh, and Melky Cabrera hit his first home run for Atlanta to help the Braves extend their season-best winning streak to five games.
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