Scherzer (2-4) allowed two hits, walked four and hit a batter in his first game with Detroit since he was sent to Triple-A Toledo following an awful start. The right-hander fell just two strikeouts short of Mickey Lolich’s team record despite being taken out in the sixth inning.
Scherzer was acquired from Arizona over the winter and went 1-4 with a 7.29 ERA in his first eight starts with the Tigers. He was only called back up because Armando Galarraga, Sunday’s scheduled starter, pitched in relief on Friday and wasn’t available.
Miguel Cabrera had four hits, including his 14th homer, and four RBIs for the Tigers, who finished with 15 hits. Joel Zumaya pitched two scoreless innings for his first save.
Daric Barton hit a two-run homer for Oakland. Dallas Braden (4-5) allowed five runs and 11 hits in six innings.
Angels 9 Mariners 7: At Anaheim, Calif., Howie Kendrick hit his second home run of the game with one out and two on in the ninth inning, giving the Angels the win a day after Kendry Morales broke his leg celebrating a winning grand slam for Los Angeles.
Manager Mike Scioscia met with his team before the game to change the club’s policy on home plate celebrations, and it was put to the test in short order. Kendrick had a clear path and touched home without a jump as his jubilant teammates ran on the field and kept a safe distance from the foul line before mobbing him.
Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer in the first for Los Angeles. Fernando Rodney (4-0) pitched a hitless ninth for the victory.
Eliezer Alfonzo had three hits, including his first homer of the season, and drove in four for Seattle. Closer David Aardsma (0-3) got the loss.
Twins 6 Rangers 3: At Minneapolis, Denard Span had two hits, an RBI and made a lunging catch while colliding with Orlando Hudson to end the game and the Twins completed a rare three-game sweep with a victory over the stumbling Rangers.
The Twins gathered around Hudson in center field and watched quietly while trainers attended to him. After several minutes, he got up and walked off under his own power.
Scott Baker (5-4) allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings for the Twins, who recorded just their second sweep of the season in eight tries. Jason Kubel added two hits and two RBIs.
Rangers starter Derek Holland (2-1) left with no outs in the second inning because of soreness in his left shoulder.
Blue Jays 6 Orioles 1: At Toronto, Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 16th homer, Ricky Romero threw a six-hitter and Toronto finished off the three-game sweep.
Alex Gonzalez and Lyle Overbay also had solo drives for the Blue Jays, who have a club-record 53 homers in May and a majors-best 88 overall. Toronto, which also swept a series at Baltimore from April 9-11, recorded consecutive three-game sweeps of the Orioles for the first time since August 2001.
Romero (5-2) struck out seven and walked two in his second complete game of the season. The left-hander retired 15 of 18 after Nick Markakis’ RBI single in the first inning.
Jeremy Guthrie (3-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings to lose for the first time since May 3 against the New York Yankees. He had won his last three decisions.
Red Sox 8 Royals 1: At Boston, David Ortiz capped his big May with his 11th homer of the season and Jon Lester pitched seven strong innings, helping the Red Sox salvage a split of the four-game series.
Mike Cameron doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored three times for Boston. Jason Varitek added a solo homer.
The Red Sox, who are off on Memorial Day, went 18-11 in May after going 11-12 in April. Ortiz, who hit .143 with one homer and four RBIs in the first month of the season, batted .363 in May with 10 homers and 27 RBIs.
Lester (6-2) allowed one run and four hits to improve to 6-0 with a 1.43 ERA in his last seven starts.
Kansas City reliever Brad Thompson (0-4) was tagged for six runs and seven hits in 1 2-3 innings.
Yankees 7 Indians 3: At New York, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer in New York’s five-run seventh, leading the Yankees to the victory.
Hours after the Indians learned they would be without star center fielder Grady Sizemore for at least six to eight weeks and possibly longer, they were reminded that their problems are more extensive.
Alex Rodriguez was 0 for 3 a day after hitting Cleveland pitcher David Huff in the head with a line drive. Huff showed no symptoms of a concussion before the game, smiling and joking around in the dugout.
Derek Jeter hit a two-run single off Justin Masterson with two out in the seventh to cut Cleveland’s lead to 3-2. Tony Sipp (0-1) came on and gave up a double to Curtis Granderson before Teixeira’s eighth homer.
A.J. Burnett (6-2) gave up one earned run and five hits in eight innings for New York.
Roughly 24 hours after Huff’s injury put a scare into both teams, Mariano Rivera had to leap over the barrel of Luis Valbuena’s broken bat to field the ball for the final out.
White Sox 8 Rays 5: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jayson Nix hit his first career grand slam, helping Chicago split a four-game series with the AL East leaders.
Nix connected against James Shields (5-3) in the sixth for his first homer of the season, giving the White Sox a 7-3 lead. He replaced Mark Teahen, who left in the fourth with a right middle finger injury, at third base.
Ben Zobrist homered and had two RBIs for the Rays, who went 2-5 on a seven-game homestand.
Chicago right-hander Jake Peavy (4-4) allowed five runs and 10 hits over 5 1-3 innings.
Alex Rios hit an RBI single in a two-run first and a solo shot in the third for the White Sox.
