Tigers knock around Igawa, continue mastery of Yanks

From Call wire services

May 10, 2008

Kenny Rogers pitched into the seventh inning and Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and drove in a pair of runs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-5 Friday night.

Rodriguez drove in a pair of runs and Rogers (3-3) held the Yankees to two runs on nine hits before New York scored three runs off Todd Jones in the ninth, but still lost for the third time in four games.

Rogers picked Wilson Betemit off first base in the second inning, giving him the big league record with 92 career pickoffs. The stat has been kept since 1974.

Detroit won for the second time in eight games since sweeping the Yankees in a three-game series in New York. It was the Tigers' first sweep of at least three games at Yankee Stadium since 1966.

Kei Igawa's season debut was a forgettable one for New York. He lasted just three-plus innings, allowing six runs on 11 hits.

In the third inning, Rodriguez drove in a run with an infield double, and Magglio Ordonez and Gary Sheffield also had run-scoring hits to give Detroit a 4-1 lead. The Tigers scored two more in the fourth, on left-fielder Hideki Matsui's error and Placido Polanco's RBI single.

Twins 7, Red Sox 6: At Minnesota, Struggling Mike Lamb lifted the Twins with a two-run single in the ninth inning against Jonathan Papelbon, who blew his second consecutive save opportunity. Delmon Young led off the ninth with a single, and he advanced on a sacrifice by Matt Tolbert. Adam Everett popped out, Young stole third without a throw, and Carlos Gomez walked and moved up on a steal. Then Lamb, hit a 1-2 pitch from Papelbon (2-2) to win it.

Orioles 7, Royals 4: At Kansas City, Mo., Aubrey Huff and Melvin Mora homered, Steve Trachsel earned his first victory since April 4 and Baltimore won for their 11th consecutive time in the series. Huff, who has hit safely in 18 of his past 20 games, hit a three-run homer with two out in the fifth to snap a 2-2 tie. Huff's sixth homer came after the Royals intentionally walked Nick Markakis. Freddie Bynum led off the inning with a single.

Indians 6, Blue Jays 1: At Cleveland, Casey Blake and Ben Francisco hit two-run doubles in a six-run seventh to help C.C. Sabathia and the Indians defeat Roy Halladay.

Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells jammed his left wrist while making a diving catch and left in the sixth as Toronto lost for the 13th time in its last 14 games in Cleveland.

Sabathia (2-5) struck out nine over seven innings. The reigning AL Cy Young winner gave up six hits, walked two and won for the first time in five decisions at home this season.

Halladay (3-5) lost for the fourth time in five starts and is 5-1 lifetime against Cleveland.

Rangers 4, Athletics 0: At Arlington, Texas, Scott Feldman and three relievers combined for Texas' third consecutive shutout and Brandon Boggs drove in three runs.

Boggs recovered from an early hard crash into the wall to go 3-for-4 with a homer as Texas ended the A's four-game winning streak.

Rays 2, Angels 0: At St. Petersburg, Fla., James Shields pitched a one-hitter and Evan Longoria's two-run, ninth-inning homer snapped a scoreless tie and led Tampa Bay.

Shields (4-2) rebounded from the second-shortest outing of his career to post his second shutout in his past three starts. The 26-year-old right-hander limited the Angels to Brandon Wood's one-out single in the third and retired the last 17 batters he faced after hitting Erick Aybar in the fourth.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 3, Braves 2: At Pittsburgh, Freddy Sanchez singled home Brian Bixler with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the Pirates.

Sanchez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and is 9-for-17 in four games since being moved to the top of the Pirates' lineup.

Marlins 7, Nationals 3: At Washington, Ricky Nolasco joined first-place Florida's win parade with six strong innings, and Luis Gonzalez passed the 1,400 career RBIs mark with a bases-loaded double. Nolasco (2-3) took a no-hitter into the fourth inning and broke a three-game losing streak, getting his first win in nearly a month, as the Marlins (21-14) ran their winning streak to a season-high five games.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 3: At Milwaukee: Rickie Weeks hit a bases loaded, two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as the Brewers snapped the Brewers' six-game losing streak. After looking lethargic most of the game, the Brewers came alive after Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen recorded two outs on the first two pitches in the ninth.

Cubs 3, Diamondbacks 1: At Chicago, Ted Lilly led the Cubs in the first meeting between the teams since the Diamondbacks' first-round sweep in last year's playoffs. Chris Young homered off Lilly in Game 2 last October during Arizona's 8-4 win, prompting Lilly to slam his glove on the pitcher's mound in frustration, a move seen more often among Little Leaguers than big leaguers. This time Lilly surrendered a first-inning solo homer to Young, then gave up just two hits over the next six innings. Lilly (3-4) struck out 10 against and drove in the tying run off Dan Haren with a fifth-inning single.