ST. PETERSBURG, Fl. – the Tampa Bay rays jumped on Baltimore Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen for five runs in the first inning and Rays starter David Pricemade those runs stand up pitching into the eighth inning, striking out five and walking two. He retired the first 13 Orioles batters.
Luke Scott drove into on a single in the first and Sean Rodriguez had an RBI bunt. Tthat brought Hideki Matsui to the plate and he hit the first pitch he saw deep into the right-field seats of Tropicana Field and the Rays grabbed a 5-0 lead. Chen settle down and did not allow a hit for the rest of his start which lasted 5 2/3 innings. The Orioles have now lost six games in a row and nine of the last 11.
The Rays were forced to use closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth-inning after the Orioles loaded the bases with one out. Rodney struck out Mark Reynolds and got Chris Davis to ground out to first to end the game. The Rays now hold a one-game advantage over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East standings. The two teams resume their series tomorrow afternoon.
CLEVELAND – Derek Lowe (7-3) pitched into the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins as the Indians downed the Twins 7-1 . Lowe gave up five hits, one earned run and struck out two. He walked only one. Jason Kipnis hiit a grand slam off Twins starter Carl Pavano in the fourth inning to give the Indians a 7-0 lead. The game was never in doubt from that point forward.
DETROIT – Curtis Granderson had a grand slam home run in the second inning off Tigers starter Casey Crosby to get the New York Yankees 5- 1 lead. Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia pitched effectively for seven innings giving up three runs and striking out five. The Yankees won the game with the Tigers 9-4 . The Tigers had 11 hits but scored only four runs in the losing effort. The Tigers have now lost four of their last five games and are four games under 500.
KANSAS CITY, Mo – The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 behind a strong pitching effort from Felipe Paulino and some timely hitting by Mike Moustakas and Yuniesky Betancourt. It was the A’s ninth loss in a row. Jonathan Broxton earned his 12th save. Bartolo Colón pitched well for the A’s but lacked any offense of support as the A’s had just three hits.
CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox won for the ninth straight game as they rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-4. the White Sox took advantage when center fielder Michael Saunders dropped Paul Konerko‘s fly ball for a two-base error, leading to three unearned runs. Gordon Beckham hit two home runs off Mariners starter Felix Hernandez. Adam Dunn blasted his 17th home run.
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Don’t look now but the Los Angeles Angels are playing better baseball, much better baseball. the Angels won for the ninth time the last 11 games and trailed the Texas Rangers by only 4 1/2 games. On April 30 they trailed the Rangers by nine games. Angels rookie Mike Trout an RBI triple in the sixth inning in a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning to lead the Angels comeback against the Rangers on Friday night and secure the win, 4-2 . Trout finished the game with three RBI and some spectacular play in the outfield. the Angels made the most of six hits and starter Jerome Williams earned his sixth victory.
