Davis pitches Tampa Bay past New York
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Wade Davis throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Friday. (AP)
Published: Jul 31, 2010 18:50 Updated: Jul 31, 2010 20:39
ST. PETERSBURG: Wade Davis shrugged off a rocky start to pitch seven innings and Matt Joyce hit a three-run homer Friday night to lead the surging Tampa Bay Rays over the New York Yankees 3-2 in the American League.
Tampa Bay forced Alex Rodriguez to wait at least one more day to join the 600-home run club, and the second-place Rays matched their longest winning streak of the season at seven games. The Rays pulled within one game of the American League East-leading Yankees with their 11th win in 12 home games.
Derek Jeter singled and Nick Swisher homered to begin the game against Davis (9-9), who settled down to limit the Yankees to one hit - Robinson Cano's sixth-inning, broken bat single — and three walks over after that.
Blue Jays 8, Indians 1: At Toronto, Jose Bautista hit a grand slam and Fred Lewis added a solo shot as Toronto beat Cleveland for its sixth win in seven games.
Bautista went 3 for 3 and walked twice before being lifted for a pinch runner in the eighth inning. His grand slam was his major league-leading 31st home run.
The Blue Jays have homered in 11 consecutive games, hitting 27 over that span, and lead the major leagues with 157, including league highs at home (87) and in July (42).
Bautista leads the majors with 11 home runs this month.
Nineteen of his homers this season have come at Rogers Center.
Shaun Marcum (10-4) pitched seven innings to win his third straight start.
Tigers 6, Red Sox 5: At Boston, Jhonny Peralta hit two homers in his first game since being traded and struggling Detroit withstood a grand slam by David Ortiz in the ninth inning to post the victory.
Peralta, obtained from the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, hit a solo homer in his first at bat in the second inning then connected again off Jon Lester, a two-run shot in the fifth.
Detroit took a 6-1 lead into the ninth and Jose Valverde struck out leadoff hitter Eric Patterson. Then he walked the next three batters and Ortiz connected for his 22nd homer, just clearing the low fence in right field. With two outs, Adrian Beltre doubled and J.D. Drew was walked intentionally before Mike Cameron took a called third strike.
Angels 9, Rangers 7: At Anaheim, California, Juan Rivera homered and drove in four runs and Erick Aybar also went deep as the Los Angeles Angels handed Texas' Tommy Hunter his first loss of the season.
Ervin Santana (10-7) beat the Rangers for the second time in seven days despite one of his worst outings of the season. The right-hander allowed seven runs — four earned — and 10 hits over six innings with four strikeouts.
Trevor Bell and Fernando Rodney both pitched a scoreless inning of relief and Brian Fuentes worked a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 23 attempts, helping snap the Angels' four-game losing streak.
The victory put the Angels back into second place in the division, but they trail the Rangers by eight games. It was the second time this season the Angels won after trailing by as many as five runs. They did it on May 30, in a 9-7 win against Seattle, when Howie Kendrick led the comeback with two home runs — including a two-run shot in the ninth.
White Sox 6, Athletics 1: At Chicago, Lucas Harrell pitched six strong innings in his major league debut and Dayan Viciedo had three hits as the Chicago White Sox got their 12th straight home win in a victory over Oakland.
Gordon Beckham also had two hits and drove in two runs for the AL Central-leading White Sox, who are 19-1 at home since June 9. Chicago moved to a season-high 14 games over .500.
After losing two out of three games to at Oakland last weekend, the White Sox have won five in a row and have their longest home-winning streak since a 13-game stretch July 1-Aug. 5, 1989.
Harrell was called up from Triple-A Charlotte to start after Daniel Hudson was dealt to Arizona in the Edwin Jackson trade in the afternoon. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and then coasted behind a strong offense for his first victory.
Twins 5, Mariners 3: At Minneapolis, Matt Capps worked a scoreless ninth inning for a save in his first appearance with Minnesota to preserve a victory over Seattle.
Capps, acquired from the Washington Nationals the previous night, gave up a two-out single to Chone Figgins before striking out Casey Kotchman, ending the game with a pump of his fist. Of his 94 career saves, Capps has 11 against AL teams.
Jim Thome and Alexi Casilla homered in support of Scott Baker (9-9), who evened his record with some help from another last-place opponent.
Royals 7, Orioles 5: At Kansas City Missouri, Alex Gordon hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Kansas City snap a five-game losing streak with a victory over Baltimore.
Orioles closer Alfredo Simon (2-2) retired the first two batters in the ninth before walking Rick Ankiel and giving up a single to Wilson Betemit. Gordon's second home run of the season landed in the Royals bullpen.
It was the Royals' first game-ending home run since David DeJesus on July 12, 2008 against Seattle.
Blake Wood (1-2), who worked the ninth, picked up his first major league victory.
