INTERLEAGUE
AP AND REUTERS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Tim Wakefield tied a franchise record for most games started and threw six shutout innings to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Atlanta Braves 1-0 on Saturday.
PHOTO: AFP
Wakefield allowed just three hits, striking out one and walking one, in his 382nd start for the Red Sox, which equaled Roger Clemens for most career starts in a Boston uniform.
“Just to be mentioned with the names that I’m mentioned with is pretty cool,” Wakefield told reporters. “It’s a testament to not only longevity and perseverance, but also the organization for keeping me around and giving me a chance to still pitch in a Red Sox uniform.”
The 42-year-old Wakefield (10-3) shows little sign of slowing down. He became the American League’s (AL) third 10-game winner, allowing just three singles against the struggling Braves.
“It feels really good to have 10 wins before the All-Star break,” Wakefield said.
Boston manager Terry Francona had nothing but praise for the veteran pitcher.
“He continues to pitch his rear end off,” Francona said. “He just keeps going out there and doing what he’s supposed to do. It’s fun to watch. I’m proud of him.”
Mark Kotsay drove in the lone run of the game with a sixth inning single off loser Javier Vazquez (5-7), who allowed just one run on six hits over 7-2/3 innings with eight strikeouts.
“We’ve got to keep our heads up and keep battling,” Vazquez said. “The guys are going to come out of this.”
The Braves have now lost four straight games to slip to a season-worst six games under the .500 mark at 34-40.
Boston (46-28) has the best record in the AL and second best mark in the majors and have held the Braves to just one run in the first two games of this series.
Manny Delcarmen got four outs and Justin Masterson two outs before Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 131st career save, leaving him just one behind Bob Stanley for the team record.
PHILLIES 10, BLUE JAYS 0
At Toronto, J.A. Happ pitched a five-hit shutout, Jayson Werth homered twice and Philadelphia whitewashed Toronto.
In the first complete game of his career, Happ (5-0) won for the first time in four starts, helping the Phillies snap a three-game losing streak.
Werth’s two-run drive into the Bell Center upper deck was the first there in five years.
CARDINALS 5, TWINS 3
At St Louis, Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run homers, helping St Louis pound Minnesota’s 10-game winner Kevin Slowey.
Pujols leads the majors with 28 homers and 74 RBIs after his 29th career multi-homer game, and sixth this season. Both homers came off Slowey (10-3). Pujols’ second long ball put the Cardinals ahead 5-3 in the third and helped see off Slowey, who matched his shortest outing of the season.
ANGELS 2, DIAMONDBACKS 1
At Phoenix, Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift Los Angeles over Arizona.
Napoli hit a one-out, 0-1 pitch from Chad Qualls (1-1) 130m to center field to give the Angels their fourth straight win and 11th in the last 14.
Los Angeles also improved their major league-best record in interleague play this season to 13-4. Arizona have lost four straight.
WHITE SOX 8, CUBS 7
At Chicago, Gordon Beckham singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth and Scott Podsednik homered while tying a career high with four hits to lift the White Sox over the Cubs.
Bobby Jenks (2-2) retired the Cubs in the ninth before the White Sox pulled it out in the bottom half.
YANKEES 5, METS 0
At New York, A.J. Burnett combined with two relievers on a one-hitter and Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada hit opposite-field homers as the Yankees rolled past the Mets again.
Alex Cora got the Mets’ only hit, a single leading off the sixth.
The Mets have been outscored 14-1 and outhit 22-4 in the first two games.
Burnett (6-4) struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings. Tim Redding (1-3) took the loss.
ASTROS 8, TIGERS 1
At Houston, rookie Felipe Paulino pitched seven solid innings and Houston used a five-run third to pull away from Detroit and win the series.
Paulino (2-4) came off the disabled list for the start. It’s his first win as a starter after getting his other victory this season as a reliever.
Detroit starter Alfredo Figaro (1-1) lost his second major league start.
PIRATES 6, ROYALS 2
At Pittsburgh, Delwyn Young homered and drove in a career-high four runs to lead Pittsburgh to a fourth straight win.
Paul Maholm (5-4) allowed only two runs in seven innings and Jack Wilson and Adam LaRoche each had two hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh.
Willie Bloomquist had two hits and scored twice, and Billy Butler had two RBI singles for the Royals, who got an effective start from Bruce Chen (0-1), making his first major league appearance in more than two years.
ORIOLES 6, NATIONALS 3
At Baltimore, Nolan Reimold hit a three-run homer, Gregg Zaun and Aubrey Huff had solo shots, and Baltimore received a strong performance from their bullpen in a victory over Washington.
After Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-7) allowed three runs in five shaky innings, four Baltimore relievers limited the Nationals to three hits the rest of the way.
REDS 7, INDIANS 3
At Cleveland, Homer Bailey pitched five innings for his first major league win in nearly two years and Jay Bruce hit his 18th home run for Cincinnati to beat Cleveland.
Bailey (1-0) was recalled from Triple-A to make his second start of the year and won for the first time since September 2007.
Indians starter Tomo Ohka (0-2) needed 27 pitches to record an out in the second inning. By then, the Reds had a 4-0 lead.
RAYS 3, MARLINS 2
At St Petersburg, Florida, Carlos Pena hit his AL-leading 23rd home run and Willy Aybar broke a ninth-inning tie with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, giving Tampa Bay a victory over Florida.
Jason Bartlett singled off Burke Badenhop (5-3) with one out in the ninth, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored easily on Aybar’s fly ball to center field, as the Rays won their fourth straight.
Brett Carroll homered for Florida.
PADRES 7, RANGERS 3
At Arloington, Texas, rookie Kyle Blanks drove in three runs as San Diego had a season-high 16 hits while ending Texas’ three-win streak.
Blanks had the first RBI of his career with a double in the second.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 7, GIANTS 6
At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the sixth and knocked in the winning run as Milwaukee rallied with three runs in the ninth for a wild win.
After Corey Hart’s RBI single, J.J. Hardy slapped a shot off the glove off second baseman Juan Uribe.
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