Monday, July 29, 2002
AL roundup
Angels edge Mariners to regain lead in NL West
By HOWIE RUMBERG
AP Sports Writer
Kevin Appier and the Anaheim Angels finished their weekend in Seattle just a little bit better than Jamie Moyer and the Seattle Mariners.
Appier matched Moyer with eight shutout innings Sunday, then Shawn Wooten hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give the Angels an 1-0 win and a two-percentage point lead in the NL West over the Mariners.
“It's July so we've got to make sure we don't blow that out of proportion,” Appier said. “But we're in a great position.”
The Angels have beaten Seattle in six of their last seven meetings and have climbed all the way back from 10 1/2 games behind on April 23.
Appier allowed four hits, walked one and struck out six to complete Anaheim's weekend of strong pitching. The Angels outscored Seattle 10-3 and outhit them 27-15 to take two out of three at Safeco Field. Anaheim shut out the Mariners 8-0 Saturday behind rookie John Lackey.
Moyer, who gave up four hits and one walk to lower his ERA to 2.86, fifth best in the AL, didn't get much satisfaction.
“I'd rather be on the other end of it,” Moyer said. “But that's baseball.”
In other AL games, it was: Boston 12, Baltimore 3; New York Yankees 9, Tampa Bay 1; Cleveland 9, Detroit 6; Oakland 12, Texas 2; Minnesota 4, Toronto 0; and Chicago White Sox 4, Kansas City 2.
In the ninth, Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki (2-4) replaced Moyer and gave up an infield single to Tim Salmon and a single to Garret Anderson. After throwing a wild pitch, Sasaki struck out Troy Glaus. Wooten followed with his sacrifice fly to deep center to score the game's only run.
“I was just trying to hit the ball over Mike Cameron's head,” Wooten said. “In the minor leagues, they teach you to try to hit the ball over the center fielder's head or down third base. He (Sasaki) got a split up and I got a good swing on it. I just tried driving it.”
Red Sox 12, Orioles 3
Derek Lowe pitched six scoreless innings for his 14th win and Brian Daubach drove in three runs as Boston beat Baltimore in a game marred by a bench-clearing brawl.
Baltimore's Gary Matthews Jr. and reliever Willis Roberts, and Boston pitching coach Tony Cloninger were ejected after the brawl in the top of the fourth. Few punches appeared to be thrown. The benches emptied after Lowe hit Matthews with the first pitch in the inning.
Lowe (14-5), who lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.23, allowed four hits, walked two and struck out two.
Yankees 9, Devil Rays 1
In St. Petersburg, Fla., Robin Ventura hit his 16th career grand slam and Andy Pettitte allowed one run in 7 1-3 innings for New York. Ventura tied Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Dave Kingman for sixth place on the all-time list.
Pettitte (5-4) tied his career-high with 12 strikeouts, equaling his total against Boston on Sept. 16, 1997.
Indians 9, Tigers 6
Jim Thome, in what could be his final at-bat for the Indians at Jacobs Field, hit a grand slam with one out in the ninth off Juan Acevedo (1-5) to give Cleveland a comeback victory.
Thome went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, including his second grand slam this season and seventh of his career. The first baseman can become a free agent after the season and has been a constant subject of trade rumors.
Athletics 12, Rangers 2
In Arlington, Texas, Barry Zito became the AL's first 15-game winner after Miguel Tejada drove in six runs in the final two innings as Oakland beat Texas.
Tejada gave Oakland a 4-2 lead with a three-run homer in the eighth and hit a bases-loaded double in the ninth as the A's scored 11 runs against the Rangers' bullpen.
The Rangers took a 2-1 lead into the eighth. Mark Ellis hit a leadoff double against Jay Powell and went to third on a groundout. Pinch hitter Olmedo Saenz drew a walk from Juan Alvarez (0-3), who faced only one batter before Tejada homered off Dave Burba.
Zito (15-3) allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings as the A's snapped a four-game losing streak.
Twins 4, Blue Jays 0
In Minneapolis, Johan Santana allowed two hits and struck out a career high 13 in eight innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to their fourth straight victory.
Torii Hunter went 3-for-4 with a solo homer for the Twins, who maintained their 14-game lead over the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
Santana (5-2), who had never struck out more than nine in a game before this, ran into trouble only once, when he walked consecutive Toronto hitters with one out in the fifth inning.
White Sox 4, Royals 2
Royce Clayton went 3-for-4 with two doubles, and three Chicago relievers combined to retire the final 15 Kansas City batters as the White Sox completed a three-game sweep at home.
Bob Howry (2-2) relieved spot starter Rocky Biddle to start the fifth and retired all nine batters he faced, striking out one. Biddle gave up one run and five hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Keith Foulke retired the side in the eighth and Damaso Marte struck out the side in the ninth for his third save.
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